Anyone know the details of this POS? Like year and model?
https://www.bworks.org/bikeworks/stor...mountain-bike/

Cool bike, shoota.
It looks like an '85 Mt. Hood (components) and and '85 Mt. St. Helens (frame, wheels). That's a quick and dirty guess.

I'm not sure we still have that on hand...but...I can check for you tomorrow evening.

Huh? Wait wait lol. I need to clarify. I found a Ross at the dump that looks a lot like this bike and I'm just trying to figure out what I found. Sorry for the confusion. The one I found is pretty rough

Claro.

Put up some pics, with detail of any components on it. That'll help dial it in.
As long as the frame does not have any physical damage or significant rust, it should clean up nice.

Well it's a little dark for picture taking but I made a list of parts and numbers. Maybe they'll help.
sakae cr crank
front hub says sr Japan f 84
wheels are Ukai 26x2.125he
dia-compe brakes
green Ross head badge sticker
024 sticker (ishiwata steel?)
fd is suntour alpine gear ch
rd is shimano sis
sr laprade seatpost
suntour shifters
serial 984898632

I'll try to get pics up tomorrow. Any of those components make any sense?

Hmmm.... The interwebs searches are not showing any hits for a Serial Number chart for Ross. I'll wait till I see pics. Still guessing mid 80's. I'm going to guess that the rear derailleur was installed later (SIS is more likely 86 or later).

Some sort of eighties Ross MTB with some non original parts I think (Rear mech for one). Hope you got the super-cool bullhorns. They're quite nice bikes in general. Nowhere near as valuable as Budget Bicycle Center would have you believe, however. Let's see pics; probably worth fixing up.

Here we go, certainly not the best pics. The frame looks large right? I did find a "Hi-tech" sticker on the TT this morning.


















After seeing the rims in the light the concrete chewed them up pretty good. Is that something that a light sanding could take care of?

That's a nice early Ross mountain bike. I own a Ross Force 1 ... which I was their first MTB offering. Here's what I found on MOMBAT:
"This is the first mountain bike model offered by Ross. The Ross Indians were the first organized mountain bike racing team with full factory support. Dropouts are stamped Chain Bike Corp. Ross introduced their first production MTB, the Force 1, during the first Interbike Show in October 1982 – the bike’s name was later changed to the Mt. Hood due to a trademark conflict. In early 1982 Ross Signature (hand made bike department) was making custom Mountain bikes. Jim Redcay was the builder (Tom Kellogg was working on Road Bikes). Jim was also involved in the Force 1 frame development. This was the first bike Ross had built in Allentown with cantilever brakes."
Mine has been converted to single speed (done before I purcased it and I love it that way)

1983 ROSS Force 1 by (cobrabyte), on Flickr

You look to have a 1984 Ross Hi Tech Mt. Washington, which was a similar offering to the Force 1. Not sure where it falls in the line up though...

Cool bike! I was thinking of making this one a single speed too but if the wheels are messed up too badly i don't know what i'll do with it.

That is a score for sure! This is definitely worthy of posting in the "saved from the dump" thread once you get it built.
The frame looks like it is in fine shape, and I'm going to agree with others that '83-84 looks closer than my original '85 guess.

That is not POS. You done good.

The rear derailleur is a low end Shimano that was probably added at a later date. IMO it is gone. SS would be a fun direction to take the bike.

Wow that's pretty cool, I can't believe I found a neat bike for once. Now, how do I go about getting her road worthy?

Cobra, you have some cool vintage MTBs, dude! Tell me they are tanks and are not fun to ride so I will stop wanting one.

Sorry, I can't get overly excited about this. While it may have an Ishiwata main frame, it's apparently mated to hi-tensile stays by virtue of the stamped rear droputs.

The serial number may indicate September 1984. Normally that would be just about the time they would start 1985 manufacture, but it doesn't match anything in the 1985 catalog. It also doesn't match anything in a September 1983 advertisement, so I'm assuming it is a 1984 model.

We know it's not any of the three top Hi-Tech models (Mt. McKinley, Mt. Whitney, Mt. Rainer) as they were TIG welded with forged droputs, right from the beginning. It's also shouldn't be the bottom end Mt. Washington, as it had had steel rims, Unicrown forks and side-pull brakes in both in 1983 and 1985. That leaves the Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens. The former seems the better candidate as we know it used the distinctive Sakae CRC crankset in 1985, even though it was upgraded to TIG welding and forged droputs.

Bottom line is that, pending further evidence, the best candidate appears to be a 1984 Mt. Hood.

Thanks T-Mar that's great info. It's ok if you're not excited about it but I am because 1) it was free and 2) free bikes are the best to learn on. If I was to make this thing ridable what sort of things should I do? (I'm thinking about making this a cheap commuter) Thoughts?

1. Overhaul all the bearings. If the bearings aren't good, you may want to stop here, before it becomes a money pit. Replacing, wheels, pedals, headsets and bottom brackets, adds up real quick.

2. New cables and housing.

3. Install tires and tubes. Since it's going to be a commuter go with a relatively narrow, high pressure, road tire to decrease the rolling resistance.

4. Clean, lube and reroute the chain inside the front derailleur cage, not outside of it. Never seen that before! The cage looks bent, but should be straightenable.

At this point ride it to find out what else you really need.

5.Grips and saddle of your choice. While you're at it, I'd consider instaling l bar ends too, as it's nice to have an alternate hand position and provides extra leverage for climbing hills.

6. Probably new brake pads.

7. Fenders, if you commute in the wet.

8. Rack

9. Given their condition I'd probably replace the chain and freewheel with HyperGlide compatible ones. It makes a signifigant difference in shifting perforamnce. If you've got the clearance, go 6 or 7 speed.

Thanks Colonel! I have to say, these early MTBs are a blast to ride, and cheap enough that if you have the space for it, it makes it hard to find an excuse not to have one

Damnit. I will have one.

It looks like the front chain guide of the derailleur has been snapped off, pretty much making it toast.

Right you are. Can't make it out for positive in the main pic but it's visible in the overhead shot from the rear quarter.

What size do you need? I have a Mt. Washington frameset hanging up in the barn. It's yours for shipping.

Top

I agree with the forming consensus that '84 seems to be the right year, and that it is a good (but not great) frame.
If it were mine, I'd be building a new wheel set (or attempting to clean up the existing rims and re-lace the wheels with new spokes/nipples) and doing a single speed conversion. It would be a really cool SS cruiser.

This is probably what's going to happen. I cleaned it up today and the gold wheels are just too cool. I don't see a lot in this color scheme and being a Missouri Tiger fan I am fond of black and gold.

So how do I know which tires to get for these wheels?

If the rims aren't too far gone (i.e. deburring/smoothing out the damage woun't take too much metal off) then they're keepers.

You'll be looking at 26" tires. If you want to ride trails/single track, any mountain bike tire will work. If it is for the road, 26" slicks would do nicely. I'd personally go with fat slicks.

How is the spoke tension? Are the wheels pretty true/round? Are the spokes corroded?
Inspect the rims where the nipples are to see if there are any signs of cracking at the spoke holes.