The Mountain Bike Thread

krusty said:
Wow! Great pics!

At 73 I now stick to trail riding and minimal air.

Have you found that very nice gravel bike as useful as anticipated?

And Semper Fly...old jarhead?
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Yes sir. Served from 96-03. Thought I'd figured out the best user name until I found out it was a company outta the UK?

I do appreciate the gravel bike. Personally having started in the MTB world, it made more sense to go this direction. It is a single ring up front which I don't mind. First time I took it out was once again over in Port Angeles on the dry hill trails. I learned the fast way how to handle that bike. The disc brakes came in handy that weekend!
 
Semper_Fly said:
Yes sir. Served from 96-03. Thought I'd figured out the best user name until I found out it was a company outta the UK?

I do appreciate the gravel bike. Personally having started in the MTB world, it made more sense to go this direction. It is a single ring up front which I don't mind. First time I took it out was once again over in Port Angeles on the dry hill trails. I learned the fast way how to handle that bike. The disc brakes came in handy that weekend!
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71-75 for me. Back in the SD Gomer Pyle quonset hut days!
 
My son and his girlfriend now have gravel bikes. We've started talking about some routes we could do together. So, I thought I'd dust off my old 90's vintage aluminum mountain bike and convert to a gravel bike of sorts:

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I removed the front shock I added years ago and put the original rigid fork back on. What a difference since the suspension fork really slowed down the handling and also weighed a ton. It changes direction quickly and accurately again.

So why stop there. I replaced the flat bars and stem, and the MTB brakes and shifters with new 3X7 road shifter/levers -- all on new drop bars and stem. It still rolls on 26" wheels, but I mounted new Schwalbe gravel-specific tires. This picture was taken after the second shake down ride.

It's really a pleasure to ride. It's quick enough on the road, very comfortable on gravel paths and has no problem on doubletrack and easy singletrack. It does need new brake pads as I found out after little puckering on a hard stop. All in, it probably cost me about $200 in new parts. I still have a hardtail MTB for the rougher stuff, a go-fast Italian steel road bike, and a go-even-faster carbon road bike for when I want to specialize (like having 3, 5, 7 and 9 weight rods). This bike will be great for errands and exploring. If you have an old 90's mountain or hybrid bike sitting around, convert it and give a new life as a gravel bike. Adventures await!

I'm looking forward to exploring some trails with my son and his girlfriend. It's also a fun project to work on.
 
Yup...plenty of good 90's mt bikes out there that will function as excellent gravel bikes with a few (or even no) modifications. The right tires for a specific environment make all the difference.

Got a Diamondback Axis TR that I swapped in a new rigid Surly fork. Has all Shimano Deore XT components of that era, and raised Monkey bars with bar-ends.

As for the drops, few riders other than racers spent much time in the drops but most usually were on the brake lever hoods most of the time anyway.

While riding in the drops provides better aerodynamics it inherently reduces positional lung capacity. There's always trade-offs.

Ran across an experienced rider on single track with a very nice new Cannodale gravel bike...and he said he was sort of disappointed in the experience.

Yeah...better brakes (being hydraulic) but said it didn't feel good on simple singletrack....and try repairing a hydraulic brake system with a leak in the sticks.
 
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Nice work @BriGuy I sold my old 88 Bianchi Grizzly in the 2000s to a tall guy (I had the Large 22" frame) in Seattle that was going to make it a street bike. For pretty much all the same reasons it would be an awesome gravel bike.
I just found one exactly like mine on ebay for $699.
Bianchi Grizzly 22.png

It was a great bike. Shoulda kept it!
 
skyriver said:
Nice work @BriGuy I sold my old 88 Bianchi Grizzly in the 2000s to a tall guy (I had the Large 22" frame) in Seattle that was going to make it a street bike. For pretty much all the same reasons it would be an awesome gravel bike.
I just found one exactly like mine on ebay for $699.
View attachment 138365

It was a great bike. Shoulda kept it!
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And in Bay Watch color scheme too!
 
krusty said:
And in Bay Watch color scheme too!
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Celeste Green is what Bianchi calls that color. It pre-dates the 80's by quite a bit. It's probably why the asking price is high.

I don't think I tuned in to Bay Watch for the colors. 😉
 
BriGuy said:
Celeste Green is what Bianchi calls that color. It pre-dates the 80's by quite a bit. It's probably why the asking price is high.

I don't think I tuned in to Bay Watch for the colors. 😉
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I heard David hasselhoff had that effect on a lot of people.
 
skyriver said:
Nice work @BriGuy I sold my old 88 Bianchi Grizzly in the 2000s to a tall guy (I had the Large 22" frame) in Seattle that was going to make it a street bike. For pretty much all the same reasons it would be an awesome gravel bike.
I just found one exactly like mine on ebay for $699.
View attachment 138365

It was a great bike. Shoulda kept it!
Click to expand...

I'd actually fit that frame!
 
BriGuy said:
Celeste Green is what Bianchi calls that color. It pre-dates the 80's by quite a bit. It's probably why the asking price is high.

I don't think I tuned in to Bay Watch for the colors. 😉
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I love those old butted frames...as well as the fillet brazed. Got a couple of Schwinn Cimmaron mtbs with fillet brazed frames...and a Lambert road bike (later became Yamaha) with all fillet brazing.

We still have my wife's touring Panasonic with butted frame...in mint condition.

Bridgestone, the tire mfg, made some cool old mtb's as well.
 
krusty said:
I love those old butted frames...as well as the filled brazed. Got a couple of Schwinn Cimmaron mtb with fillet brazed frames...and a Lambert road bike (later became Yamaha) with all fillet brazing.

We still have my wife's touring Panasonic with butted frame...in mint condition.
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I do too. That's why I can't get rid of my Moser road bike. Lugged steel with chrome fork and rear stays. Dura Ace 9 speed is pretty and almost flawless. I still love to ride it even though I have a faster (slightly) carbon bike.
 
BriGuy said:
I do too. That's why I can't get rid of my Moser road bike. Lugged steel with chrome fork and rear stays. Dura Ace 9 speed is pretty and almost flawless. I still love to ride it even though I have a faster (slightly) carbon bike.
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Works of art!

I had that Lambert repainted with a beautiful blue Imron, the rear triangle chromed, and braze-ons for everything.

Could kick myself for not having the rear spread for bigger cogsets...would now ruin the chrome job. I had wheels built with campy hubs and Wolber Super Champion rims...that are still perfectly true despite years of loaded touring.
 
krusty said:
Works of art!

I had that Lambert repainted with a beautiful blue Imron, the rear triangle chromed, and braze-ons for everything.

Could kick myself for not having the rear spread for bigger cogsets...would now ruin the chrome job. I had wheels built with campy hubs and Wolber Super Champion rims...that are still perfectly true despite years of loaded touring.
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Sounds like a really nice bike! Customized to make it yours, to boot.

I was lucky. My Moser was built around '96, so I did not have any trouble fitting a 9 speed cassette.
 
skyriver said:
Nice work @BriGuy I sold my old 88 Bianchi Grizzly in the 2000s to a tall guy (I had the Large 22" frame) in Seattle that was going to make it a street bike. For pretty much all the same reasons it would be an awesome gravel bike.
I just found one exactly like mine on ebay for $699.
View attachment 138365

It was a great bike. Shoulda kept it!
Click to expand...
I had a ‘95 grizzly in the Martini racing paint job. After working in bike shops for nearly 3 decades I owned a lot of bicycles but that bike is my all time favorite. Sold it for super cheap to pay rent.

Also our deck railing has a mix of cool old hard tails from the good old days hanging on them. Bontragers, Waterfords, Waterford paramounts, etc. it is missing that old bianchi!
 
There are several legends as to where Celeste came from. The romanticized version is that it is the colors of some queen at the time’s eyes. I also heard Eduardo bianchi bought all the ww1 navy surplus interior ship paint. I have bianchi from the 80’s, have seen some fro. The 60’s and of course modern ones. They are all Celeste, but when next to each other, the Celeste is quite different!
 
krusty said:
I love those old butted frames...as well as the fillet brazed. Got a couple of Schwinn Cimmaron mtbs with fillet brazed frames...and a Lambert road bike (later became Yamaha) with all fillet brazing.

We still have my wife's touring Panasonic with butted frame...in mint condition.

Bridgestone, the tire mfg, made some cool old mtb's as well.
Click to expand...
I almost bought the comparable Bridgestone, but I think Celeste won me over. 😁 The Bridgestone had pretty darn good components on it and, if I remember right, had better tires than the Bianchi.
Only reason I bought a bike then is because I thought my buddy and I were going to be touring in New Zealand.
The plan was get over there and then work (legally or not) on ranches...most likely sheep ranches. And FISH!
I was a dairy kid and he grew up on a working sheep ranch so we both knew how to work on farms/ranches. This was going to be instead of my junior year of college.
Well, I bought the bike with my 2nd or 3rd paycheck of my summer job and then a few weeks later he tells me he can't go. He has a girl friend. :confused:
Of all my buddies he was the last guy I expected that from. Hell, I had a girl friend too! She's my wife now! I think she still would be my wife even if I had gone. But oh well, no New Zealand. At least I had a bike to ride! Shoulda kept it!
 
If you ever get a chance to read or acquire this book...do so!

Apparently there's an updated and vastly expanded edition of this book. I've had the first version for almost 40 years.
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Should be getting my first fatbike this week...have been intrigued by the idea for several years....and ordered a Salsa Heyday Cues (used to be called a Salsa Mukluk for years until the Inuit got pissy about 'cultural appropriation' of the term 'Mukluk').

Entry level fatbike with an aluminum frame. We'll see how it works out...already got a big wall hook installed so it can reside next to its fellow members of our bike herd.
 
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