Cool finds for the week

Pretty cool haul this week:

Kiss Off SDG seats:


Hairnet helmet:


Topline SL compact crank:


Hayes lever blades (replaced by Razor Rock Racing levers):


Kiss Off SWOB jersey:


Kona Project 2 fork:


Only Phil Wood "Kiss Off" geared frame ever produced:




Kiss Off single speed, Sycip made with AirArt paint:




Both frames have Phil Wood wheels and Hayes brakes.

Mantis Screaming V prototype frames

These came to the shop this week. They are 2 non-rideable prototype Screaming V frames. I am still waiting to get the complete story on the frames but the one was used to test cable routing schemes. The resin is pretty heavy in a couple of spots as well. Check out some of the hacksaw work on the dropout where it was cut from the mold?










The second frame is just a main frame.

Frame pictures

Here are a couple of pictures of the recent frame acquisitions:






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Frames

It has been super busy at the shop so posts have been few and far between. We did get three frames in this week which is pretty cool. The first one was a 1986 Fat Chance in an original Fat Chance frame box. From the receipt that was included, it looks like it was repaired in 1994 and repainted. After the repair, it was never built. The other two frames came to us via Paul Price @ Paul Components. If you have perused the Paul Comp web site, you may have run across this photo http://paulcomp.com/paulsbikes/frames.html which shows some cracked Goat frames. We have talked to Paul over the years about the frames and Wes talked to him at the handmade show last year......which resulted in a couple of frames coming our way. So far, it looks like we have the bottom frame which is a 21" Sierra Nevada team bike from 1991 and the second frame from the top which is a 1991 Whiskeytown Racer Lite in a green color with chevrons. There was also a very cool Paul Comp "mother of all bottle openers" in the package. This is a serious bottle opener! I'll try to get some pictures up tomorrow.

Smithsonian.com interview

Got an email a couple of days ago from Kristin Ohlson (http://www.kristinohlson.com/) who is working on an article for Smithsonian.com. She is working on an article about small specialty museums and someone had given her our contact info. On Monday, we talked for about 45 minutes about MOMBAT.org and the bike collection. Not sure if we'll make the cut for the article but it would be a pretty cool if we get included.

Panaracer Timbuk II tires are back (again)

We couldn't find appropriate skin wall tires for the bikes in the MOMBAT collection and black wall tires just look "wrong" on older bikes. We made dozens of phone calls and found that Panaracer was about the only manufacturer willing to work with us. The checked the warehouse and found the mold for the Timbuk II tire so we had 300 of them made for us. The Timbuk II tire appeared in 1988 and was likely available into the mid 1990's so it is "correct" for a lot of our favorite old bikes. We sold out of the original 300 and ordered another batch several months ago and they finally arrived. They are now $34.99 each which compares very favorably with many of the $50 Kevlar beaded tires that are currently available. More details and ordering instructions can be found @ http://www.firstflightbikes.com/TimbukTire.htm

Here is what $10,000 worth of tires looks like!

Ritchey trade-in

This bike had been advertised on the local Craigslist and we contacted the owner to get some more details. On Saturday, they brought it up to the shop looking for a new mountain bike so we took 'er in as a trade-in. The parts are kinda sad and mixed up and the repaint isn't all that great. I do believe it is a Ritchey but maybe not a P series bike? We're doing a little research on it now to try and figure out what it is.