TenGrainBread 

I've REALLY wanted an 80s High Sierra for a while now, but finding one in good shape in one of the smaller sizes has been difficult, especially because I don't want one of the black chrome frames (I already have a black chrome Giant ATX 760. Giant also made the High Sierra). Finally saw a frameset posted on eBay with one of the two tone paint jobs from 1986 and jumped on it.

This is the "Sahara Bronze/Sable Brown" colorway. The paint is pretty nicked up. Looks good from 10 feet and no rust anywhere. Frame and fork are straight and threads are good everywhere. In 1986 the High Sierra came with Suntour Roller Cams front and rear, so it has U Brake mounts on the fork and seatstays. The frame/fork are LIGHT. Haven't weighed it but compared to other ATB framesets of the era this feels pretty feathery. The tubing is Schwinn's "Tri-Oval Tri-Caliber Chromoly". Meaning triple-butted and ovalized in certain places.

Serial number on bottom bracket: G0186. According to @T-Mar database , made by Giant in January of 1986.

TenGrainBread 

Here is a scan of the Schwinn catalog specs for 1986 ATBs. The Waterford catalog site doesn't have the ATBs for 1986, but @Scooper has linked to this scan in the past so here it is.

TenGrainBread 

As for build - I am thinking of keeping it traditional and close to the original ATB/expedition intent. Meaning no drop bars or slick tires. I will be building it as a mid-to-late 80s ATB, with major period-ish upgrades to the original spec.

The first question is, Suntour Roller Cams or Deore XT U brakes? I have an NOS pair of each (Suntour XC Sport Roller Cams and Deore XT II U-brakes). Anybody have any opinions? I think the Roller Cams will look the part and of course are the OEM brakes for this model. The XT U-brakes are a little more unique though.

@pastorbobnlnh I feel like I'm slowly becoming you First the Sports Tourer and now this. Soon I'll be looking for a congregation

jetboy 

SCORE! and preach it brother!

3speedslow

Jeff Wills

I vote for SunTour - it's what was stock and it kind of marks the sunset of the original SunTour

The Thin Man 

You rock those Roller Cams, TenGrainBread!

I can't tell you how many comments I've had on them. Sometimes even while riding.

And don't listen to the naysayers either. When Roller Cams are set up correctly, they are absolutely fine for stopping power.

pastorbobnlnh 

My riding buddy from church has an '86 in that color. He's the original owner and we keep it in tip-top shape. We ride our High Sierra's mostly on our local packed gravel Rail Trail, which is the longest continuous one in NH. This is a picture of us at the beginning of an end to end ride (60+ miles) one October. My yellow one is an '88. "B138" on the post tells us that Boston's North Station is 138 miles to the south.

madpogue 

I was never a fan of how U-brakes worked. On the couple I have now, when you release the arms to move the pads away from the rim, they move "down" where they converge and contact the tread. Just not an elegant design, esp wrt. wheel removal. And I think it would look way out of place on the front. Can't say a thing functionally about the roller cams, but visually, they look like gorgeous bridge architecture. I'm guessing they're semi-unobtanium, though, eh?

Yummy find, BTW. the build.

Duo

nice. i still have my high sierra and mesa runner from about 1985. great for the kinda trails you are using, but i found it difficult on the wilder mtb trails as shifting wasn't too fast. perhaps get better shifters than the oem if i wanted to accomplish that kinda riding. my bikes i generally keep stock unless they break and generally do not.

enjoying this thread, the high sierra helped get me back into riding after the ten speed boom of the seventies.

TenGrainBread 

The arm thing you're talking about on the U-brake probably depends on the design of the specific U-brake. I've used a few U-brakes and never had the issue. They have always had lots of clearance for me.

The XC Sport Roller Cams are actually far more common than the Deore XT U-brakes. The Roller Cams were specced OEM on quite a few bikes in the mid-80s, so a lot were made and are still around, whereas the XT U-Brake was more of an aftermarket upgrade option than an OEM brake, so far fewer lying around.

2cam16

I'd go with the rollers..

ryansu

I think the cool lugged uni-crown fork on lasted a year or two - nice score

Metacortex

If it still has the original headbadge the 4-digit number stamped on it will indicate the day the bike was built.

TenGrainBread 

It has the headbadge but no number stamped on it.

Bianchi84

I've got the Rollercams on my Cannondale and they're RAD!
Using Grey Kool-Stop pads.

John E

My Project KOM-10, the next-generation version of the Parmountain, came with a RollerCam up front and a Shimano U-brake under the chainstays. Stopping power and brake modulation control are superb on both, when equipped with KoolStop pads.

TenGrainBread 

It's been a while but I finally started the build.

NOS Suntour XC Pro/WTB Greaseguard headset installed. These are normally very expensive but since this is a JIS headset it was quite cheap on ebay.

Also am using a Campy QR seat binder.

TenGrainBread 

Mounted the XC Sport rollercam set I had new in the bag. Upon opening the bag I discovered Suntour also sent the matching U-brake braze-on studs, which is pretty cool. I'll have to build a bike with these some day. It also came with instructions, including the proper spacing of the mounts depending on the rim being used.

I had to sand down the fork studs about 0.005". They were a bit too thick for the brakes' brass bushings to slide on nicely.

TenGrainBread 

Also installed a Specialized slingshot stem with the matching Specialized X-1+2 riser bars. This is the version of the X-1 bars with a couple more degrees of sweepback than the regular bars. The bars are heat-treated aluminum made by Nitto. Probably the thickest alloy bar I've seen! Don't think these will break anytime soon.

The stem has a set screw underneath that lets you lock the cable hanger in position once rotated to the right angle.

TenGrainBread 

Finished the build today. Drivetrain and brake levers are all first generation Deore XT (M700, aka "Deerhead"). The wheels I got for $20 off craigslist. They were probably stock wheels on a mid-90s Cannondale. They were covered in grime and bird crap but once wiped down I saw they had never actually been used. Brake track was spotless and Shimano red grease still in the hubs. The headset, crankset, seatpost, and wheels are slightly anachronistic, coming from the early-mid-90s rather than 80s, but close enough.

Headset: WTB Greaseguard/Suntour XC Pro
Stem: Specialized Slingshot
Bars: Specialized X-1+2 risers
Grips: Ritchey WCS
Brake levers: Deore XT M700
Shifters: Deore XT M700
Brakes: Suntour XC Sport roller cams
Front derailleur: Deore XT M700
Rear derailleur: Deore XT M700
Crankset: Suntour XC Pro
Pedals: Suntour XC II
Bottom bracket: Tange
Seatpost: American Classic
Saddle: Fujita Belt
Seat QR: Campag
Wheels: AceraX hubs with Sun TL18 rims
Tires: Panaracer/Swift "Ripp Johnson"

TenGrainBread 

The roller cams were not as difficult as I expected to set up. I did not have the Suntour "third hand tool" but you can easily make do with a clamp holding the bottom of the brake arms in so that the brass rollers are set in the correct position. They work pretty well.

The Golden Boy 

Sweet build.

You have an interesting criteria- most people gravitate TOWARDS the black chrome. IMO- the fillet brazing on the later models is a huge attraction. The High Sierra (and the Cimarron) were such cool, cool bikes. I got mine in 1991- so this was "bike" to me. When I started getting into bikes, this bike imprinted what I think is cool- and I conflated those characteristics with "mountain bikes" instead of the way ATBs were kind of a give and take with touring bikes. I used to lust after bikes like the Paramountain and the MB-1 and MB-Zip- but these mid 80s ATBs had the really cool stuff- the long LONG chainstays, dozens of braze ons for bottles, racks, pumps, fenders... then the top notch wide range badass, yet beautiful components. Mine came with MT-60 Deore stuff- it really doesn't get more understated, yet ballzy.

The parts on there are awesome- XC Pro stuff is the best. I like that you mixed and matched Suntour and Shimano- just like the stock builds. Right now my 87 High Sierra is living with trekking bars- I've done the drop bar thing with them- but it didn't do what I wanted it to do. I was also able to score a set of sealed bearing XC wheels- which would have been pretty close to period correct.

You can get the 3rd hand tool pretty inexpensively... it's just a piece you stick in the roller Allen heads- to hold them 33mm apart.

I hope you really enjoy that bike- it's so cool and has so many cool features- maybe some might consider them evolutionary dead ends- but the roller cams (especially on the front) look so cool- and that lugged unicrown fork- quirky, but it speaks of how fast technology was developing back then.

BTW- the tires look like they could almost pass for the original Schwinn Terra tires!

madpogue 

Dang that's pretty! And +1 on the brake setup; I just picked up a High Sierra at (get this) St. Vinny's (one of two!), and I just used a piece of old innertube rubber as a "clamp" to set/center them. I love how they work, even with the stock pads. They must rock with those Kool Stop duals.

Any special tricks you used to clean up the rollers? I've got mine de-crudded, but they don't shine like that ^^^^^ . I wonder if even a little baking soda and water on a shop towel might do it without being too rough.

TenGrainBread 

Interesting points @The Golden Boy. I already have a black chrome early 90s Giant, so I didn't want a second black chrome bike (though the Schwinn was made by Giant as well). The real attraction of this frame was the double U-brake mounts. I have a thing for weird brakes (self-energizing Pederson cantilevers going on the next build). I also like the two-tone paint jobs a lot.

Yes, this bike was right before the NORBA craze started to take off and racing dominated mtb design. The last gasp of mtbs as primarily off-road expedition machines. This will be my touring bike. I'm making a custom front rack that will host low-riders and a top section for a basket.

Your point about these bikes having a lot of tech dead-ends is interesting and true. The three that jump out at me on this bike are the roller cams, the Greaseguard caged bearing headset, and the slingshot stem. The roller cams did not live on, although U-brakes are still ubiquitous in BMX and the cam design is used here and there. Greaseguard probably died because cartridge bearings won out, another nail in the Suntour coffin. The slingshot was short-lived, but recently Nitto has been making a chromoly version (V-4) popularized by the Japanese bike shop Blue Lug.