December projects

As we wind down the year, it is a good time to start stockpiling projects for the upcoming January/February down time. Kinda like a squirrel burying nuts! Here is what we have been working on lately.

-Descender: very cool early rear suspension bike by Brian Skinner. About 16.5 pounds of frame/swing arm/fork! The previous owner had it powder coated black so it is looking good. We have managed to dig up a fair amount of black parts including XT hubs, shifters, 6206 crank, 7X rims.......so we are going for the stealth look. Still need to pick out a few parts but this one is coming together.

-Tinker Cannondale: We've had a Tinker Juarez Cannondale frame, circa 1997, hanging around for awhile now and have been slowly accumulating parts. Still need to figure out pedals, get a correct bar and dig up some yellow Gore cable covers for it yet.

-Crestone Peak: This is pictured in the previous post. Interesting concept but kinda crappy bike. Still need to find some type of substitute for the rubber band suspension.

-Haro Dart F1: Not sure why but I always liked the F1 bikes and finally got one. These were 20" wheel bikes with gears that were supposed to raced in a parking lot course. The idea was to set up a paved course in a parking lot with hay bales and race slick tired jacked-up BMX bikes with gears. Obviously never took off. Maybe kids saw it as the contrived marketing scheme that it was?

Pictures coming when we get 'em together.

Crestone SAS

I've seen pictures of these before but never actually got to inspect one personally. The front and rear suspension used big ole rubber bands for the suspension, one on back and two on the front. There are a few really interesting design features including a roller on the back of the seat tube for the swing arm, crazy. The pivot is also concentric with the rear axle: Trek ABP anyone?? Right now we are searching for some type or replacement rubber bands. I have a hard time believing these bands were made just for this bike so I am guessing they were adapted from another application. Anyway, not a real expensive bike but it would be neat to make it somewhat "functional". Let us know if you have any ideas on a source for the rubber bands. They measure right at 7" long, 1" wide and 1/4" thick. It also looks like the rubber was treated somehow on the ends to harden it where it would have worn on the bolts that held them in place.

1992 Mantis Valkyrie

I always thought these were one of the neatest looking bikes out there. The multiple small tubes crossing each other makes for some interesting pictures. This was a NOS frame and is likely a little older frame than the parts. We used the new for 1992 Shimano XTR parts that are very lightly used. The WTB roller cam brake on the rear was modified by putting the cam rollers under the brake arms for better alignment.












More pictures and details @ http://mombat.org/1992_Mantis_Valkyrie_Purple.htm

With the mountain bike market expanding into lower price ranges, the custom manufacturers were losing market share to the imported bikes. Many of the custom makers were looking for ways to offer less expensive bikes to these price conscious consumers. The Mountain Goat frame was very labor intensive with the shaped tubing and a high degree of finish work. The Escape Goat substituted regular round 4130 cro-moly tubing and unfinished fillet brazed joints to get the cost down to about half the price of a regular Mountain Goat frame. They were then usually finished off with a little less expensive parts package. This resulted in a bike that sold in the $800 range as opposed to the top Deluxe model at about $1,500.

1990 Fisher Bob Weir/Grateful Dead bike

This is our latest project, the Bob Weir owned Fisher bike. When Fisher was riding road bikes in the 1970's he was also hanging out with the Grateful Dead and formed some friendships with the band members and crew. Bob Weir wanted a mountain bike so Gary hooked him up with a Tom Teesdale-built Fisher. The frame was sent to Prairie Prince (http://www.prairieprince.com/) for paint. At some point in time, the frame lost most of its parts, including the custom painted stem. One of the Grateful Dead roadies ended up with it and it was put into a storage locker in NYC. When the storage fees weren't paid, the contents were sold at auction. The bike then went through a couple of NYC collectors prior to ending up at the MOMBAT.

MOMBAT in the news

Joe, form the Charlotte Observer, spent a couple of hours at the shop a week ago talking about MOMBAT. While we talked, Jeff toured the shop taking pictures. Check out the article @ http://www.charlotteobserver.com/local/story/1011369.html Make sure to look at the extra pictures as well.

MOMBAT in the Charlotte Observer

Jeff (photog) and Joe (writer) stopped by the shop for a hung out for a couple of hours asking questions and taking pictures. It is always interesting to see what folks pick up on, especially when they are from outside the bike "industry". They pick their favorite bikes by what they like, not by a brand, price, rarity.... It was nice that they took a little more time than many before them have. A lot of the time, it is just what your " ? " (favorite, rarest, oldest, most valuable). It is always a little bit nerve wracking not knowing what direction a story will take. Joe followed up with a couple more questions and said the pictures came out great. The story is tentatively scheduled for tomorrow. When it gets published, we'll post up a link.