MOMBAT in Bicycle Times # 7

Coming up with a vintage mountain bike to write about for Dirt Rag is pretty easy since we have several hundred to choose from but bikes for Bicycle Times can be a little trickier. I try to come up with something interesting but not necessarily a mountain bike. They concentrate on more commuter style bikes. This month I decided to do our Alien bike which uses a front mounted crank to power the front wheel. Kinda interesting bike but it sure is scary to ride!

1985 Ritchey Timbercomp

For some reason, we acquired most of our Ritchey bikes quite awhile ago and the pictures for the web site were pretty crummy back then. As time and weather permits, we are trying to update the website with more and better pictures of the bikes. All the Ritcheys were in a row so we have been updating them one at a time. This is a pretty small fillet brazed Timbercomp in great condition.

More pictures and details @ 1985 Timbercomp

1990 Pinarello Antelao w/ Campagnolo components

Built this out of a NOS frame with all NOS or very lightly used parts. Italian on Italian just seems right. Still have a couple more NOS frames but all the parts are gone.

More pictures and details (with "share" links) @ 1990 Pinarello page.

1998 Ritchey Soft Tail

We've had some of these Ritchey bikes for quite awhile and the pictures were old and embarrassing. I have been trying to grab a couple of minutes to update a few of these older bikes with better pictures but time can be tough to come by. Jonathan, AKA Gilligan, has been sneaking out and taking a few pictures for us. Sometimes the bike ends up in a goofy gear or with the seat too low but at least the pictures are bigger and better! Occasionally, he will see something on a bike that I would have missed. Anyway, here is a 1998 Ritchey Soft Tail bike. These frame relied on chain stay flex for the suspension and were usually listed at having less than an inch of travel. The titanium versions made some sense to me since ti is such a flexible material but steel would concern me a little more if I planned on riding the bike for a long time.

More pictures and details (with "share" links) @ 1998 Ritchey Soft Tail page.

Fillet Brazed 1984 Bontrager

Many recent riders will know the Bontrager name from his work designing parts for Trek and Fisher bikes. Many don't realize that Keith started out building bikes under his own name.

This one has been through a few different collections before it landed on our doorstep. EL was guessing 1984 from the seatpost that came with the bike (date coded 1984) and it seems pretty close based on the frame details. Anyway, we tried to improve a bit on the build with stuff we had here at the shop. "Upgraded" a few parts and replaced a few with better examples.









Trying out a new format for the bike pages so check it out at 1984 Bontrager and let me know whatcha think. I even added a Facebook "Share" link.

1985 Mountain Machine 20" x 24"

Very unusual design from 1985.  Made in Colorado from 4130 cro-moly.  The frame is New Old Stock with all original parts on it including the optional rear rack.  The front wheel is a 24" and the rear is a 20" but the bottom bracket is at normal height.  Notice the chain roller to keep tension on the chain and the large "bash guard" under the bottom bracket.  Bicycling magazine did a large article on the Mountain Machine when they came out.  We have a copy of the article as well as a couple of pieces of original sales literature.  We also have two NOS frames and another bike built with modern parts.













More details @ 1985 Mountain Machine

1985 Fat Chance mountain bike

This is the other Fat Chance that came with the yellow Slim Chance road bike. It had been updated over the years but we were able to put mostly original parts back on it. I would still like to find a yellow Fat Chance fork for it and XC shifters. The Ritchey Unifork and Suntour Power shifters were the closest parts we had in stock.








More details and pictures 1985 Fat Chance