Tandem Klunker project??

I had originally checked this bike out at a local swap meet last year and thought it was pretty cool. The seller had this and a neat old Peugeot tandem with MAFAC brakes and some Shimano Deore XT (deer head) stuff on it. I made an offer on both bikes but didn't end up taking them home. At the time, I thought the wheels, fork, drum brake and tires would be pretty cool on an old style Klunker frame. I had originally thought the bike had been repainted but believe it to be original after a little research. There aren't any decals on the bike but it appears to be built by Rixe in Germany. The rear hub has a "56" stamped on it which might be a date code. Anyway, still haven't decided what to do with it yet but it is pretty cool.

Fisher MountainBikes scans

Kinda interesting to see all the different names in the early catalogs: Mountain Bikes, MountainBikes, Kelly-Fisher MountainBikes, Ritchey MountainBikes, Fisher, Gary Fisher and today the Fisher Collection by Trek. We've scanned in some of the older catalogs starting as far back as 1979. check 'em out on the Fisher page.

Here are a couple of sample pages:

Vintage Funk Scans

Next up in the snowed-in-scanathon is Funk. Full set of scans HERE but here are a couple of samples.

It appears as if Funk may be back making bikes again so maybe we can get a little more info for the web site. Don't have one of the bikes in the collection but we do have a couple of the suspension forks.

Retro Bontrager scans

As the year starts off, we often find that we have a little extra time on our hands. The rush of Christmas is past and inventory is finally behind us. This is a great time to do a little work on the MOMBAT web site so I am getting back in the swing of scanning some literature. Started out with 50+ pages of Bontrager literature dating back to the late 1980's and going through 1999. The composite fork manual is an interesting read. You just don't find info like that any more. Here are a couple of pages but for the complete scans, go to the MOMBAT Bontrager page.

Trimble 140 Unlimited w/ Campy Record OR

The original Trimble Carbon Cross frames were not very durable since the bottom bracket wasn't reinforced. Brent added an additional brace which made the frame stronger and was called the Inverse 4 frame since the new frame shape looked like a "4". In the early 1990's, suspension was becoming more common and required a revised geometry to maintain the handling while coping with the additional length of the fork legs. Trimble used the same main frame but revised the dropouts to accommodate the new suspension forks. Weights were also becoming more important so lightened frames were offered. The model names reflected the maximum recommended rider weight: 140, 160 and 180. There was Unlimited versions of each model which lightened up the aluminum frame bits and added $400 to the cost. This frame is a 140 Unlimited which should have been the lightest version. the serial number is 0001 so this may be the first production 140 Unlimited model. We received this bike with a more modern parts kit so we replaced it with a period Campagnolo Record OR parts kit. More pictures and details on the MOMBAT web page.

1990 Pinarello resto-mod

The resto-mod has taken root in vintage car circles. They take an older car, gut it and install modern running gear and interior. You end up with the best of both worlds. Vintage style with all of the modern conveniences. We recently acquired a 1992 era Trimble mountain bike that was done this way. It had a Shimano Deore XT 9 speed drivetrain with Rapid Fire shifters, Hollowtech cranks and V brakes. Pretty current technology on a vintage platform. We really wanted to put the Trimble back to being era-correct since it is an early 140 Unlimited model (serial in actually 0001)and fairly rare. This left us with an entire drivetrain.

Looking around the shop, we didn't have any frame of the appropriate era for the parts. What we did find, was a couple of NOS Pinarello frames from around 1990. These are cool frames that we picked up several years ago. This seemed like a good match and the parts fit nicely on the frame. We capped off the build with our own Goat Horn handlebars, Grab-On MTN-1 grips and Ritchey Z Max tires. Ended up as a pretty nice riding bike. Since it doesn't really "fit" in the museum, we are offering it for $999 (frame alone sells for $650).









More here

Purchase info here

Trimble

I always thought the Trimble frames were pretty interesting looking and a neat idea. When Brent Trimble was working on his "new" frames, he decided to clean out some of the older frames that he had laying about. He sent us pictures of 5 or 6 of the frames but we never ended up with any of them. I am pretty sure this frame was one of those. The original owner purchased it from Brent and they build it up with the (then) current Shimano Deore XT stuff. Not sure whether to leave it as it is or try to put more period correct parts on it. Anyway, neat looking bike with a "giraffe" motif paint. The dark spots are just the natural frame fiber with a red metallic clear coat over it.