I wanted to share this beauty with you all.
This is an exact copy of the very first adult bike I had. I got it new in 1995 from Price Club. I think it cost something like $250 back then and was a pretty decent bike. Chromoly main frame with high-ten fork, Shimano STX rear derailleur, Altus front derailleur, and Altus or Alivio brake/shifter levers. Basic Shimano low-profile cantilever brakes. Shimano Parallax hubs on Araya VP-20 rims. Decent mid-level '90s stuff on a department store bike. I still have that bike, and spray bombed it years ago because I didn't like the factory purple/black fade, and now my daughter rides it as her mountain bike.
I saw this guy pop up on Craigslist for $40 a few months ago, and I paid $20 for it. This is what my old bike was, but some klutz (me) hadn't yet repainted it! It had brand new (but super heavy) Cheng Shin 2.1" knobbies on it, and I swapped those for these Duro Twin March 2.0" tires for a smoother ride and easier pedaling (so it's now officially a hybrid! LOL). I've put a riser bar on it and painted it and the stem metallic silver to match some of the other bright work on the bike, and it's more or less a utility bike for me at the moment. My daughter and I ride them on local MTB trails for fun.
It had a lot of knicks and cuts from storage and such, and I found two near perfect Testors acrylic model paint colors matches. Gloss Black and Grape Purple. Much of the fork has been touched up, but you can't see it in pictures because the paint is such a close match. I've gotten re-inspired to get a good cantilever brake setup with this bike (rather than swapping V Brakes, which I would otherwise do). I've got them pretty good, though there's just a touch of heel interference on the rear brake. Still working that.
I'd like to put fenders on it and use it as a rainy day/winter bike this coming snow season.
Enjoy this blast from 22 years ago!
