USAZorro

Ukiah = town in California
Ukai = nice rim

cupsal

I used to use it off road all the time, but with a freewheel. I fixed it last weekend, and road it around some dirt trails around my house -- not technical. It is not a good bike for technical ridding due to the obsolete geometry so i probably will not take it on the trail much. I set it back up for two reasons: Because i hated seeing the frame hanging in the garage; And i wanted a good winter commuting cycle.

Chip

oglala_1927

Just picked up a specialized mtn bike.
shimano deore f & r der's, shimano brakes and levers
sakae crank, alloy rims. 21 speed.
everything is clean and well taken care of except the paint, lots of nicks in the areas where it was lashed to a motorhome or trailer.
don't know what I've got. any ideas? thanks. (normally a "roadie")

oglala_1927

oh, forgot, it's a rock hopper! oglala

cyclodan

Thankyou, may I have another!? Sure looks purty. Got A full drive side shot?

531phile 

Damn! look at that wheelbase. I think I can fit my leg between the rear wheel and seat tube. What other old school MtB had super long wheelbases like that?

cyclodan

Pretty much all of them. The Early builders (take a look at the old Ritcheys over here...)
https://oldmountainbikes.com/bikes/
were copying the old ballooner bikes like the Schwinn Excelsior which were in turn copied by Specialized...

https://www.firstflightbikes.com/rigid.htm
A few enlightened builders and east coasters who were more into technical/woods riding were evolving toward the modern hardtail geometry and by the mid eighties they were all getting away from the looong laid back style of the early days.
The Takara is a small frame and that makes the chainstays look disproportionately long, but that said , they may be some of the longest out there. Now I'm curious I'll have to go measure them.

retrobikeguy

Hi Guys,
New to this forum, so heres my baby, a kestrel MXZ , not sure exactly how old but I have always badged her as a 1990 but I have heard they started building them in 1987, any info/scans/articles on the matter would be appreciated.
Anyway bought her a few years back , looked pretty grim

but after a few years, new paint & decals , some new XT inc black chainset & hubs she looks more like this.........................


enjoy............

snib & snab

Awesome!

Articles? You know this one?

cyclodan

So you piqued my curiosity. The stays measure a whopping 19"! No wonder it's difficult to wheelie that thing! The old Schwinn cruiser sitting nearby has 18 1/2" stays. I can't find specs on the real early Ritchey's but '84 models had 18" stays.

jeff williams

From center axle to back of the seattube I'm getting maybe 17.
Somebody on this board thought the rear might have been off a different frame and Tom was making heavy race frames and playing with the triangles.
Mines short.

cyclodan

What year is your bike? I am measuring from center of BB to center of axle. I think that is how most manufacturers do it. Right? That would put yours closer to what Ritchey's '84 catalog lists as spec (18").

jeff williams

That way mines 17 inches, it is a '90.
Was not a 'common' bike, probably intended for NORBA races.
I've seen others here (Can) and though they had the same decals -different frame style.
Some wierd batch of Tom's odds and ends dumped in Canada through Rocky Mountain likely.

I've a prototype P-23 as far as I can tell, mines just made of a heavier steel grade.
My frame is Tange Logic, the steel used for the unicrown forks.

I really doubt the Kestral pic'ed above was made in '90.
Pretty advanced if it was, neat looking frame!

jhota

i don't know - it looks like i remember them looking back then. particularly that grey colour. plus the steel unicrown fork and thumb shifters are the right period as well. i remember that elevated chainstays were in vogue for a while in the late '80s and early '90s as a cure for chainsuck. on an early monocoque like that Kestrel, chainsuck would have been a very bad thing. so the elevated stays would make sense.

oglala_1927

Not 1 comment on the specialized rock hopper comp! More info: rear brakes are under the chain stays and the large chain ring is elliptical. It is not an alum. frame. Anyone know what year this bike might be? Can't find any old history on specialized bikes. Thanks

jeff williams

The Kestral, no idea of how it rides\handles.....
Looks wicked, really interesting geom and casting?=Monocoque (spelling)?

Anybody know much about them?

BobHufford

You should be able to date the bike from it's components (if they are original):

https://www.vintage-trek.com/component_dates.htm

Specialized just came out with a history book, it might have a blurb about the bike:

https://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCWh...rticle=5306&a=b

Bob Hufford
Springfield, MO

luker

http
://store.specialized.com:20001/bc/SBCWhatsNewDetail.jsp?article=5306&a=b

I couldn't get that link to work so I fished around and found this link worked.
I gotta find my christmas list around here...

retrobikeguy

When I got it it had a biopace M730 chainset making it early 90's at least and although
I cannot find an article on this MXZ I have found one from 1988 with a suspension prototype
in MBA mag (off net) showing how far ahead kestrel were >





enjoy

Retrobike UK

BluesDawg

I just bought a 1989 Trek 970 frame that I'll be building up soon. I can't wait to get this lugged baby put together. I'm not going for a restoration, but I think the parts I choose will do it justice.
Thanks for all the inspiration in this thread!

USAZorro

I've blundered into a '94 Trek 830 frame and a '96 Trek 850 (almost complete) recently. I think calling them vintage might be a bit of a stretch, but I've learned a lot and also gotten inspiration from this thread. That, and knowing I'll soon be able to send that Magna to a better place soon, have kept me going.

jet sanchEz

Here are some pics of my old (and beloved) GT Karakoram. I am pretty sure it is a 1989 or 1990 GT, I bought it used in 1993 and have ridden the heck out of it up until the last 3 years or so when I got ahold of an old Ciocc road bike and gave the GT to my brother in law. The bike had that lousy old U-Brake system on the rear and it kept breaking (not braking!) so I knocked off the old bosses and put on some new, lower ones that would accompany a set of V-brakes, that is what the second pic shows. I will have to strip the frame though as I think the black touch up paint doesn't look so hot and you can also see that the frame is a bit rusty in spots. I had a great clear-coated aluminium Synchros stem on there but traded it for a black one, which I will put on this spring when I get the bike powder-coated. It should look good. It has been a great bike for me and, although it might look kinda beaten up, it has been a workhorse through many, many tough Toronto winters and I have had very few problems with it. It is a great looking bike and will look even better soon

cyclodan

I'd be a little concerned about running that stem so high. Are you sure it's not past the minimum insertion mark? BTW, I love the look of that stem, the way it mimics the top tube/seat tube juncture.
If you plan to swap it out looks like you need a stem with a bit more rise.

jet sanchEz

Yeah, my brother in law set it up that way, I think it is a bit high too but he likes to ride sitting very upright. I too like the stem but this Syncros one I have is just beautiful I cannot wait until spring to get the powdercoating underway; it will be like having a new bike.

luker

that is too cool! now you need to find one of those leading-link forks to go with it. And suntour greaseguard is the coolest grouppo from that year, imnsho