Deepcherry

Hello all, it has been a good while since last here.
I finally got my sticky fingers on a friend's MB-2. Lugged loveliness 💕

He called me up recently and just said 'take it away, I got a new bike and it breaks my heart to leave it here rusting...' I guess I owe him a beer or two.
It needs a little finessing to run smooth, and it appears to be 90% complete original.
My first thought is to strip it to the bare bones and restore it, and perhaps flip it, but now I'm not so sure.

Paint is not too pretty, I suppose I should give it a good clean and acid wash to de-rust. There are decals on ebay for 45 dollars.

I should perhaps just use it.

merziac

@Deepcherry

Great score.

Well its also a comp so not sure exactly what that means but looks like full Ritchey as it could be. Yes pretty grungy, no matter, these are very good examples of the real deal and garner lots of love and respect.

I would encourage you to go full clean, scrub and polish on it.

And especially if it fits you close enough, keep it.

base2 

It's nothing a good quality wax & polish wouldn't make passsable.

Deepcherry

I may just have to err on the side of caution and just strip it down and give it a clean. I wouldn't half mind some new stickers though.....

merziac

Yeah, stickers too, make it so.

Daveysprockets1

Awesome bike there, I am sure what ever you do to it it will come out great

Korina

Definitely, clean it and ride it. And post lots of pics. You might owe your buddy a six-pack.

BocaJr

Great find! Looks to be a '91. The decals can be pretty fragile and flake off easily.

Kabuki12

I think, as far as your friend is concerned, seeing that bike brought back and ridden will be a great reward. That is why he gave it to you. Of course a beer or three wouldn’t hurt!

due ruote 

I have a Prestige Stumpy from that era set up with drop bars. It's a favorite ride with lots of pep. I would predict your bike will be a gem. I would certainly clean it up enough to give it a fair chance before contemplating unloading it.

retroshifter

Since 1991, I have kept at least 1 Bridgestone mb in my active bike stable either as a mountain bikes or commuter/beater bike. They have 72 degree head angles and are the most road bike handling mountain bikes of that era. I vote to put some high quality slick tires on it and make your MB2 a fast around town bike. I’ve tried drop bars on my MB, but the top tube is too long for my liking with drop bars. Straight or “alt” bars work best for me. Maybe try to remove some of the rust around the lugs, but otherwise the cool factor is the lugs and prestige frame. It has the right amount of faded paint for a 30+ year old bike.

Deepcherry

It is now reduced to a pile of bits and the frame is getting my patented lazy vinegar based rust removal. I live off road up a hill so it will retain its off-roadiness and take benefit of some good modern rubber.
It is a large-ish (19.5") so great for me at 5'10". Can't wait for my first spill!

Deepcherry

Brown-stained pebbledash effect at the rear.

Reduced to a pile of junk

Brown stains have to go...

Vinegar time, tomorrow 'wheel' see how it went, meanwhile the alloy mech bits in diluted vinegar mixed with bicarb.

Deepcherry

Definitely an improvement. Vinegar, bicarbonate of soda and some elbow grease.

Korina

Grant's latest blahg talks about designing Bridgestone MB's.

stardognine

I have that Ritchey Comp headset, on my Soma Saga, but don't have that sweet cable hanger you got. 😋😉
You also got those cool early Deore thumbies. 👍 You'll want to shoot some Tri-Flow inside them, to clean them out good & relube them, before using them much/any. The plastic bits can get messed up, if any crud is on the friction parts.

Good luck. 🙂

BTW, dang, that's a long stem, especially for a quill. 😲😁

Deepcherry

With a bit of free time I managed to get the frame more or less presentable. It is full of the usual chips and scraped/missing decals.
I managed to touch up with my existing stores of random paint and nail varnish.
I even have a small can of the bright green! I have no idea why I have it.

The old Panaracers look great on the very shiny Vantage rims.

That quill is a Ritchey Force, I imagine it came new with the bike, which already has a relatively long top tube, in this L size frame.

The seat post was shot (cracked) so this Spesh will have to do for now.

All mechs and brake parts stripped as far as possible and cleaned and lubed.

A couple more bench sessions and she should be ready for a blast.



Looks great from 20 feet


Random paint matched well


Long stem Ritchey Force

Kabuki12

Looking' good!

Deepcherry

Luckily it was being used daily until very recently, so at least nothing is seized. Thanks for the tip!