Tx, built up from frame only, had been hoarding parts for a long term Stumpy project so this was a no brainer when it came along, still have some good parts so the Stumpy may get a klunker build at some point, it has horrible paint that looks like it was scraped very hard in some places with serrated kitchen knife. :troll:

PS, I'm just merziac, Jim would be Mr. ;)

Interesting, Jim. Is the Ritchey to catalogue spec or did you take some liberties?

I have an opportunity to buy a little used '91 Stumpjumper Team (the one with the wild purpleish/black paint and the yellow graphics), but unfortunately the frame is only 18" so too small for me -- I'm fine with anything from 19" to 20". Thing is, it's still catalog spec with all the Suntour XC Pro components in fine, little used condition. They're asking $450 for the bike and I'm tempted to make an offer to scoop up the parts and recoup some of the money by selling the frame. I hate to part out a nice original Stumpy like that, but it's no good to me in the wrong size even if it would get ridden very little.

So Jim Merz is Merz the framebuilder, PortlandJim here on the forum.

He doesn't build anymore but does some amazing machine work and restoring.

I'm just a fan here in Portland where he built his frames before going to Specialized to really leave his mark on the cycling industry which he very much did.

The Ritchey frame is believed to have been a frame only, no S/N and no one I have talked to has seen another chrome one.

The parts are a collection of what was used on many early MTB's when they started, Big S used TA triple cranks on the early Stumpys as well as Mafac cantis with Magura and Tomaselli levers. Many parts were sourced from motorcyles at the time before the bike industry got up to speed on them.

I put Magura levers and Mafac touring/tandem canti's on the front and it came with the Charlie Cunningham/SunTour roller cam on the back, this frame also came with the incredible original fillet brazed bullmoose bars and Campy headset.

I used SunTour thumbies that are a bit newer than the frame I think and nice wheels with Bullseye hubs and modern Ritchey tires and grips instead of oldschool Oury grips that I normally use which I did have on here to begin with.

Shimano (not my favorite just because) Deerhead/MT (same thing) drailleurs were used as they were early recognizable, very reliable choice used by many.

Its a long and winding road as the components changed rapidly in the early days as companies scrambled to get it right with what they had to work with. :twitchy:

Well done Merziac:thumb:Nice bike

Congrats, Merziac!

Adding on to the Schwinn Sierra shown above, here's a 1985 I picked up the other day. "Black chrome" finish and I believe is all original except tires. It rides nicely!

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...7d761b01a1.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...0c8740cbf5.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c53976a585.jpg

I don't have a strong opinion on newer ones like this, if the components are in good shape and you can go there, make it so.

I always look at it that you can put newer parts on an older frame as that happened organically along the way through attrition.

I also think it ok to retro fit a good example with older parts if the retro vibe can be strengthened by the frame in question.

Anything that came with a fugly unibrow fork is fair game to change IMO, they just kill the vibe for me and yes the Ritchey has one but not much I can do about that, its a Tange, lugged, fits perfect so here we are, it came that way and a correct fork would have to be made from scratch for it, just not happening on my watch. :twitchy:

Tx guys.

Thanks for the build info. on your Ritchey, merziac. It sounds like it's period correct and that's probably about all you could do with no other guidance for a frameset only. That's crazy your chrome one seems to be a one-of-one frame.

The XC Pro parts on the '91 Stumpy I referred to would likely go on a '90 Bianchi MTB frameset-- Bianchi used XC Pro on many of their high-end MTBs back in the day so it would certainly be period correct.

You're welcome, always glad to go down the rabbit hole on any of this. :twitchy:

Well it can be whatever it needs to be really, another term I like to use is "sympathetic resto, build" etc, very open, to very loose interpretation, by design. ;)

It's entirely possible that somebody had this chromed or it was a one off, maybe when it was built.

The best thing about this is it being big enough for me, no small feat.

Bullmoose handlebars on a dinky little kid size bike! There is so much awesome going on here!

Here's a 1988 KHS Montana XT I picked up recently from the original owner. Deore XT throughout, and Araya RM-20 rims. It had heavy tires with super heavy "flat proof" tubes. I replaced with lighter tires and regular tubes.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...7581072c0e.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...7ed02cc6b9.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...0f723fc978.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d8e677a2b4.jpg
​​​​​​​

Before and after. This one was almost too far gone but I embraced the challenge of bringing it back to life because I used to have one just like it back in the day. Hoping to take this one on a dirt/gravel adventure tour soon.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...097423376.jpeg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...a726091e6.jpeg

Bullmoose bars! ...What happened to them?

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c5b217e48.jpeg
My 91 Axis ready to shred👊🏼

Nice bike :thumb:

They are in fair enough condition but wanted something taller and narrower which fits me better. Planning to use it as an xc tourer so some style sacrificed for comfort there. Also the alloy stem/bars are much lighter. Didn’t weigh the alloy stuff but just tipped the scale at 857g with the original bullmoose. I’m sure I will find a suitable project for them eventually!

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4175a78e19.jpg

I've really been enjoying 650b on my 84 Trek 850.

Nice rack!

Thanks! It's a Blackburn. Came with the bike when I bought it, and it's one of the few things I haven't swapped out! Carries a trunk bag 90% of the time. Love having it.

Trek 6500
 

I recently posted about finding this bike in the “Your Catch of the Day / Saved from the Dump” thread here.

Although maybe borderline vintage as a 2001 model, I think it still has the classic aspects of a vintage hard tail mountain bike. There are some gouges in the paint on the non-drive side, but the rest of it is in such good shape that I’m going leave it stock. If I repaint it at some point, it will probably be a restoration rather than a customization. The only things I’ve changed are to add a stem and handlebar with a little more rise than the originals, and the DoubleFighter tires I had on hand. A previous owner had put on some of those generic “mountain” tires that come on department-store bikes. I’ll keep the original stem and handlebar so I can pass them along to the next owner. Or, more likely, my kids can.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...23bbd7553.jpeg

Here's my 1989 Supergo Access Comp II yesterday at Cardiff beach in San Diego. Obscure brand, but it's a great bike with Columbus tubing... IDK how that came about but it's true!

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...8f565ca367.jpg

I remember back in the day receiving the Supergo catalogs.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...306c0d22a.jpeg
Better pic😎

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c162be574.jpeg

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...02520d63e.jpeg

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...8f50fb4cf.jpeg

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e0c5afb6a.jpeg

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...15522310b.jpeg

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...64876800d.jpeg


made some progress with the PDG70

21.8 lbs as shown above

1994 Kona Hei Hei
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c58461dcc3.jpg