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Last week, we looked at my tutorial on polishing vintage bicycle components. But how do I find my components in the first place? Over the years, I’ve developed a bit of a knack for finding period-correct pieces for my builds, using various sources. Today, I’ll be using my 1991 Yo Eddy as an example to walk y’all through my process for finding the appropriate parts. Let’s check it out below…
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be working on my Yo Eddy! restoration project I began last year. If you recall, I bought an early Yo Eddy! frame from my friend Martin at Second Spin Cycles and sent it off to Rick at D&D Cycles for a new paint job and a few minor repairs. Well, the frame is back in my hands, so it’s time to get crackin’ on this restoration project.
My vision for the build includes polishing a Syncros 29.4⌀ seatpost, as this build kit will have a mix of black and silver components. Most of these seat posts are pretty faded and scratched, so I thought polishing one up would be nice.
Back in 2009, I made a post on this website about polishing vintage seat posts. At the time, I was restoring various Merckx frames and had scored a few unique seat posts. But what if your seatpost, or other bike components, has a colored anodizing finish you’re just not into? Well, read on below for the full tutorial.
The MCR Descender was a bicycle ahead of its time. It was the first suspended mountain bike and dreamed up by Brian Skinner whose contributions to mountain biking would go on to span the entire sport. On the technology side, Skinner started with the Descender but later led development on innovations such as index shifting, trigger shifters, SPDs, Onza porcupines and Answer taperlites. His first passion in the sport of mountain biking was as a race promoter though, and it was from that passion that the other half of this bike’s name MCR — Mountain Cross Racing —was born.
1980s road bikes make for pretty alright gravel bikes, as evidenced by Tom’s Lotus Odyssey, the bike he shared with us for Readers’ Rides today! Let’s check out what Tom did to make this bike more capable below…
A rare machine, this 1983 Mantis XCR tells the story of the then-nascent Southern California mountain bike scene. The movement that grew out of Marin would eventually bring radical and different ideas to mountain bike design the world over. In tandem with founding Mantis Bicycles in 1981, Richard Cunningham’s first production racing mountain bike would serve as a catalyst to the burgeoning mtb scene, and stand in contrast to more traditional Marin-born frame designs. For the next ten years he would relentlessly innovate, exploring geometry, materials and design along the way. Read on for more of Noah Gellner’s words with photos by Joey Schusler…
Next week, I’m loading up the Troopy and heading West to the Keyesville Classic. Every year, vintage mountain bike aficionados descend upon the Kern valley to race vintage bikes while the “real” race occurs. This vintage race is quite the spectacle, and if you’ve never seen it in person, you ought to check out Erik Hillard’s gallery he shot a few years ago for The Radavist.
At any rate, I just finished buttoning up my bike I’ll be bringing to Keyesville to ride and, yes, take part in the vintage race. Let’s check it out in detail below…
With Mid South approaching, we were browsing our content from last year’s event when we realized we never posted this gallery. D’oh. At any rate, it’s never too late to share the stoke that District Bicycles brings to Stillwater. Let’s check out Jerod and his Muddy Fox Pathfinder below!
Many different forms of cycling contributed to the development of the mountain bike, including balloon tire bikes, touring bikes, and BMX bikes. Separate from that was the influence of motorcycles, and more specifically off-road motocross bikes. The early suspension fork pioneers — Paul Turner (Rock Shox), Mert Lawwill (Lawwill), Horst Leitner (AMP), and Doug Bradbury (Manitou) — all came from motorcycle backgrounds and knew the benefits of suspension. But before that innovation came about, Doug Bradbury began by building fully rigid mountain bikes. In this edition of our Vintage Bicycles series, we look at Doug’s personal 1987 Manitou…
I found this Bridgestone MB-2 as a complete on Marketplace in December of 2021. It’s January of 2023 and I’ve just wrapped up the build. The time in between was spent having some frame modifications made, aging the frame, making custom head badges and acquiring various components. Once I had my parts, the build should have only taken about a day but stretched into a week as I inched along with minor changes. The final outcome, though, is better than I could have hoped!
The mountain bikes of the late 1980s were not prepared for what the 1990s would bring to the American framebuilding scene, which was on the precipice of the aluminum revolution. Aluminum bikes were lighter and featured oversized tubing diameters, making a buff canvas for some wild paint jobs. This 1990 Klein Attitude is perhaps one of the most iconic bikes, donning the “Team USA” or “Dolomite” colors; green, white, and magenta—all sprayed on Klein’s thicc “Aluminum Power Tubing.”
While I was in Los Angeles, camping out at The Cub House, Sean got this bike all polished up for a quick shoot, so let’s check it out below!
It’s no secret Rivendell Bicycle Works pulls inspiration from Tolkien’s Middle Earth. Grant Petersen is a big Tolkien fan and, over the years, many of the brand’s bicycles have adorned names from Tolkien’s writings. When it comes to beings of power and mystique, there are none more significant than Tom Bombadil. Older than Middle Earth and more powerful than any, Bombadil was omitted from the Jackson-envisioned big-screen movies for several reasons, but that didn’t keep Grant from naming Rivendell’s first mountain bike after the most powerful being in Middle Earth.
A Bombadil is a rare bird. Perhaps as rare as the fabled Legolas, Riv’s ‘cross bike, so I never expected I’d find one in my size, a 60cm. Then, one morning, an eBay alert popped into my email; there it was; a sunny Bombadil just begging to be purchased…
While we love our share of vintage mountain bike builds, dressed with period-correct components, and embrace the patina that has been rubbed in over the decades, there’s something to the resto-mod style of vintage builds. Baskets, racks, modern bars, and the like all add to a bike’s longevity and encourage its use. Plus, a vintage mountain bike just oozes cool and generally is cheaper to build up from a parts bin than buying something brand new. On my last trip to Los Angeles, I was hanging out at The Cub House, avoiding the rain, when Simon, their mechanic, showed me a customer’s bike that rolled in for some TLC, and I had to document it…
This is part two of an in depth conversation between Tom Ritchey and Ryan le Garrec where Ryan seeks to identify key periods in Tom’s life alongside key people. Perhaps second only to Tom’s father, it seems that Jobst Brandt had significant influence of the young Tom. Below, Ryan shares excerpts from Tom’s side of their conversation that highlight Jobst’s character, his notorious rides, and his lasting impact. Enjoy!
It ain’t news that older 26″ MTBs make for great commuters and Matt is the latest to submit a tasty conversion to our Readers’ Rides email. Let’s check out his USA-made Nishiki Backroads commuter conversion below!
Post a photo of drop bars on a mountain bike, and chances are, someone will reference the American rider John Tomac. In the late 1980s, this BMX racer turned full-on MTB superstar and became known for sporting a style never before seen in the growing sport. Drop bars, Tension Disc, and tabletops, Tomac had it all. In 1991, Merlin Titanium crafted this Raleigh John Tomac Signature frame from titanium and carbon fiber.
The bike made its debut at the XC World Championships in Il Ciccio, Italy before a limited run of frames was produced for public consumption, and today, we’re debuting it on The Radavist for your consumption. Check out the full history by Eric Rumpf and photos by Elizabeth Wilcox below!
When it comes to the paint jobs of 1980s Ritchey frames, it’s hard to beat a Commando. These bikes were painted by Rick at D&D and remain one of the most iconic bikes of the mid-late 1980s. Ron sent in his 1986 Commando with photos by Mike Blanchard of RUST Magazine, so let’s check it out below!
This week’s Readers’ Rides breaks the mold a bit. Thad’s submission speaks to a bigger picture; a bike’s longevity and its ability to adapt to life’s changes. Read all about it below!
Like most towns, ours is full of sprint segments.
They’re those little spots on the road that only a place’s cadre of cyclists know about, invisible to the untrained eye; from this driveway to that mailbox, this street sign to that intersection, this rise to that tar snake.
The best group ride leaders will try to organize her or his group before they reach those starting spots, asking anyone who’s not planning to sprint that day to give way in the paceline to those who are. They remind their riders to stay right of the yellow lines, that straying into the oncoming lane, even when there’s no traffic is not worth winning a sprint that is essentially meaningless.
