Mountain Biking - Rigid fork for 1993 Bridgestone MB1

Does anyone have an idea where I could get an original rigid front fork for a 1993 Bridgstone MB1? I have a 52cm frame. Thanks in advance for any help!

Khuon, a member, is gonna flip, he wants your bike!. I ride a Ritchey. I will link to our last post.

A Bridgestone is a factory copy of a Ritchey P-series race geometry IMO.
What you want to do, is find a Ritchey unicrown fork. They are still made. New about $150 US. The fork MAY have been removed as some were Ritchey forks and very sweet. Or it was removed stupidly to use a suspension fork.

Eeeek, my laptop battery just beeped.

>be back when I plug in. >jef.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=60319

There are links to info on older hq mtbs in my post. As I stated before, Ritchey was the designer, his fork was used, you can find them new, some used, not sure of the size you need.

http://www.ritcheylogic.com/ can locate dealer.

Best of luck!

>jef.

Also you need to find what kind of steerer you need. Threaded or non.
You may need a 1 inch threaded fork if you are running the original headset.
I'm not sure as I am only familiar with Ritchey.

http://unr.edu/homepage/addison/bridgestoneandrivendell.html Link to some kind of info on your bike.

>jef.

Are you searching for the original Ritchey-designed "biplane"/gussetted bonded fork that was used on the MB1 and MB2 of that era? If so, let me first commend you on your impecable taste!

http://unr.edu/homepage/addison/bstonecatalog1993/93-38b.jpg
http://unr.edu/homepage/addison/bstonecatalog1993/93-50b.jpg

I would suggest trolling through the various seller's sites (try craigslist or ebay) to see if anyone is selling a MB1 or MB2 with the original fork. Barring that, I suppose you could just substitute in almost any 1" threaded rigid fork such as the Tange Switchblade that this guy used.

http://ccrider.nebraska.edu/mybikes/mb1/mb1side01.JPG
http://ccrider.nebraska.edu/mybikes/mb1/mb1front.jpg

Thanks Khuon.

>jef.

The fork should be matched to the frame, Ritchey Logic forks curve and have the wheel set as far away from the frame as possible. They have a longer wheel base than non-racing frames I think. An example of a fitted fork. Compare to the straight one, I think the straight one would mess my bike, perhaps not the Bridgestone.

I thought they had a more advanced design, the one Khuon posted is a 'traditional' frame geom, not racing. The lugs are nice I guess.

What metal did they use? Tange?

The second picture is of the 'advanced' geom and suspension and still, the wheel sits more foreward.
Pre 1990 Ritchey bikes resemble the Bridgestone.

>jef.

What metal did they use? Tange?

Ritchey Logic Prestige. Bridgestone was pretty faithful to Ritchey.

Ritchey Logic Prestige. Bridgestone was pretty faithful to Ritchey.

Ya, it's Tange. I ride just Logic. Guess a bit older, my frame is maybe 1990-1991?

A mech decided to drill the hole through one side of the fork (unicrown) As Ritchey only did one side.

My pal, says 'Not a problem, do it all the time." Well, 10 min later, 5 bits, one re-sharpened and me holding onto the bike. All to go through 4 mm of Tange Chromo.
The other shop mech asked "what kind of metal are you drilling?" Grunts "Chromo!"
I thought my friend was going to blow a gasket, big viens popping out, sweating, drilling.

I, from this, assume that Tange Logic tubing is SUPER tubing as the sticker claims. That is one hard steel.

It bloody impressed my mech. Guess all that Alu has made him soft.

>jef.

I believe you should be looking @ Ritchey. The original was. It was removed probably to add suspension, or the Ritchey was the dual crown, collectable, or unicrown-used on racing bikes (break one, grab a new.)

If you match the cm to inch (Ritchey is US.) to this websites bike listings, you may have a way to figure the right fork, then order from Ritchey, possibly direct.

http://www.oldmountainbikes.com/ under bike listings. Not specific lugged bikes, but pre 1990, in the correct size.
If the Bridgestone was using these forks, the frame geom is 'probably' the same.

And the fork man is still doin'.

Work-yours. I may do a search for used forks, but it's your bike.

Type .used Ritchey logic fork. into Google and spend a few hours..

>jef.

Tange Prestige was definately one of the best tubesets used for cro-mo MTBs. I had a Nishiki Ariel which used Tange Prestige and it rode great, could be ridden all day long without beating me up and took a beating from regular use and crashes without failure. As a matter of fact, as a full rigid, I never saw any need to "upgrade" to suspension (not even front) because the frame was so comfortable and responsive. The new Ritchey Nitanium is a worthy successor to Logic tubing.

Tange Prestige was definately one of the best tubesets used for cro-mo MTBs. I had a Nishiki Ariel which used Tange Prestige and it rode great, could be ridden all day long without beating me up and took a beating from regular use and crashes without failure. As a matter of fact, as a full rigid, I never saw any need to "upgrade" to suspension (not even front) because the frame was so comfortable and responsive. The new Ritchey Nitanium is a worthy successor to Logic tubing.

Hey, thanks for posting that Bridgestone page, I actually read it!! And finally know that Logic is heavier guage than Logic Prestige.
That is EXACTLY what I wantede to hear, as the first P-series race bikes did fold. I think Ritchey dealt with quick, I was always worried it was the Logic that was faulty.
I think now, that he tried to use Prestige tube the same diameter as the Logic on my prototype and they bent under high stress. The later Ritchey P-series prestige LOOK as though the diameter is slightly larger.

I'm going to have a little look in a very stocked bike junk yard. I'll look for the dual crown for you Khuon, for our poster, a Ritchey unicrown.

I doubt I'll find, but I'll give her a shot. MTBing has a long history in B.C. and the Rockies. Heck, I found an unused Ritchey bike here!

>jef.

I'm going to have a little look in a very stocked bike junk yard. I'll look for the dual crown for you Khuon, for our poster, a Ritchey unicrown.

Actually, I think you should point the original poster to the bonded-crown fork if you can find it as that would truly make the MB1 as-original. For me, I have yet to acquire an MB1 frame still.

I bought the bike a year ago because I once had an MB2 and let it get away and have always regretted it. The MB1 was originally purchased by a guy that just rode it to school and back for a couple of years and then it sat idle until I got it. It had very little use and it's in pristine condition. Except for the fact that someone put a RockShox on it :( . So that's why I'd like to "put it right" with the world. Even with the wrong fork this bike rides like a dream. I've never been on any bike like these Bridgestone's. It's kind of weird, it's almost like you don't think about about the fact that you're ridding a bike. They just turn and move and accelerate at will. It's also got all the original Suntour/XC components which are awesome. I love this bike!!

I contacted Ritchey and they don't have a 1" steerer tube fork like the original :( .

Any help would be greatly appreciated in finding an original front fork.

It had very little use and it's in pristine condition. Except for the fact that someone put a RockShox on it :( . So that's why I'd like to "put it right" with the world.

I never understood why people would replace such a high-quality steel fork with suspension forks. I say this because early suspension forks (which is probably what you have on there now) had limited travel and I feel that a quality steel forks offers better shock-absorbtion than small-travel suspension. And putting anything with longer than a 1/2" travel on a non-suspension geometry frame screws the handling. I really admire that you're trying to return justice to the bike and wish I could point you to a place to get an original Bridgestone fork. Good hunting and please post pictures.

DUDE!! Wake up!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3693675602

MAY be off a 17 inch frame, the steerer tube might be too short.

my .02. in the early 90's, i had an MB-6, then MB-3. let those get away. now have a mid-90's kona cindercone w/o suspension-- which i picked up a couple years ago, but think has a similar frame feel and geometry. it was bridgestone who taught me to the be the no-frills, pure basics, non-suspension retrogrouch i am today. just picked up a bianchi pista fixed ss track bike, and i love the simplicity of it. would love it more if i could find an MB-1, or even one of their road bikes, which i can't for the life of me remember the names. not the RB series, or is it?

Thanks Jeff. I sent him a question about steerer tube length. We'll see what he says.

Perhaps pose the question in the mech forum, measure your headset tube, and post the steerer-4.5 inch?

The mechs will probably know, don't forget to tell them you are putting a quill stem\threaded headset.

good luck, Jeff.

Another way to go is remove the threaded headset, This will give you more options. As less theaded are made now, most headset clamp to the long non-threaded steerer tube.

(sorry if I'm telling you something you already know.)