Classic MTB and BMX pre-1996

[steve garro]

Pics, stories, links, what have you got?

I love this shit.

Here is me on my '89-90 Ala Carte

- Garro.
(How do I rotate photos?)

IMG_7571.JPG

[claritycycler]

Get pic into your computer photo album, rotate in edit there, drag and drop to imgur, copy and paste to wherever, that's what I do.


img]

[colker]

I have just put a new headset and purple fork. I bought a shimano 105 and it was too cheap... Seller didn´t know but it´s 27.0 not 26.4 race. BOth races up and down were off so i put a cane creek lower and a tange levin race w/ the shimano parts up.
Anyways.. i saw a Fat Chance hanging from the celiling on a shop in NYC in late 1990. I had a mountain bike but didn´t even know what trail riding actually was. That Fat, either a wicked or Kicker, painted light yellow, had me in love. I could not buy it and never forgot that sight. A year later i was riding on trails in Brasil which have a similar character of the so called east coast mtb; slow, steep, slippery, tight, rocky, rutted. I was replacing bikes trying to find the one which would make me clear all sections. I was reading about the Yo Eddy as the ultimate bike on that environment and wanted on badly. Went back to the US and ended buying a Mikkelsen i found in a NYC shop because.. i don´t know.. but it worked. It had a tall bb, 17.25 cstays and oversized tubing. It was stiff and well balanced.
Many years and a few bikes later i got an email on a vintage mtb forum asking if i wanted to buy a wicked lite.. Got the frame w/ a vicious fork and went searching for 1990 vintage parts. Built it w/ m737 but mixing w/ everything else because i like mongrels. TRied 3 other forks till i bought an old wicked fork.
I moved to Mexico and took it w/ me. I was riding on the semi desert which is the opposite of east coast mtb. Bike felt great.
NOw it´s back in Brasil and i got back to riding it. I wish i had this bike when the woods trail was still opened to riding. I have the bike. Now i need to find a trail.

[colker]

Pics, stories, links, what have you got?

I love this shit.

Here is me on my '89-90 Ala Carte

- Garro.
(How do I rotate photos?)

IMG_7571.JPG

Great picture. Dark and deep.

[Bewheels]

A few bikes from years past. There was a 1984 Fuji Mt Fuji and an original Litespeed back when they only had one model in there somewhere but don't know where the photos are.

1985 Fisher Mt. Tam
Still have it.

Untitled by Brian McLaughlin, on Flickr

1989 or 1990 Fat Chance Wicked with custom paint.
Long gone.

Untitled by Brian McLaughlin, on Flickr

1994 Moots YBB
Won it. Rode it very briefly. Long gone.

Untitled by Brian McLaughlin, on Flickr

~1996 (I think) Spot
This is one the first batches that Mike G (founder of Spot) had made. One of my all time favorite bikes.

Untitled by Brian McLaughlin, on Flickr

[VertigoCycles]

Sean Canaan 94.jpg

24hrs of Canaan in '94 in the early morning.

[Honus]

Oh geez I have lots of stories from this era...

Onza Ti crankset. This project was already underway when I began working at Onza. The 1st gen crankset is the one with the round holes- these cranks had several problems: the pedal hole was too shallow (it was a blind hole) and the taper would bottom out on the BB spindle. These tended to fracture near the pedal spindle. The 2nd gen cranks had triangular windows- and these also fractured near the pedal spindle. This is where I came in. The first step was to verify the design using non destructive testing- this was done on a laser interferometric holography table (this was done at Garrett AiResearch.) The problem turned out to be the casting process (which was my initial assessment- long story behind that.) Even with chem milling and hot isostatic pressing they simply could not survive the stress. Since forging was out of the question due to cost I had two sample sets machined from solid (I got a deal on production material from Oremet.) The plan was to test them to failure on an Instron and compare the results to the leading market Shimano XT crankset at the time. If they passed I had a plan written up to produce a limited run of 1000 units. In the end the machined samples were produced ( I heard they were gorgeous) but never tested to my knowledge- I had already left to start Real Design. A total of around fifteen prototype cranksets were produced ( I broke two sets myself on my own bike.) They were never offered for sale. There were two prototype Aluminum versions, one which was extremely overbuilt and another that I did drawings for that was to be forged and produced in Taiwan but it never came to be.

ticranks1 (1) by Jerome Kelty, on Flickr

ticranks2 (1) by Jerome Kelty, on Flickr

ticranksa (1) by Jerome Kelty, on Flickr

[colker]

1994 Moots YBB
Won it. Rode it very briefly. Long gone.

Untitled by Brian McLaughlin, on Flickr

~1996 (I think) Spot
This is one the first batches that Mike G (founder of Spot) had made. One of my all time favorite bikes.

Untitled by Brian McLaughlin, on Flickr

On a side note... i had an Avocet 02 saddle like that one in an exquiste light blue, like an italian Capri blue. I let a bike w/ my brother in one of the chapters of my nomadic life. My niece hated the saddle and it was swapped for something horrible. I still look on ebay if i can find the 02 in that color.

[colker]

Oh geez I have lots of stories from this era...

Onza Ti crankset. This project was already underway when I began working at Onza. The 1st gen crankset is the one with the round holes- these cranks had several problems: the pedal hole was too shallow (it was a blind hole) and the taper would bottom out on the BB spindle. These tended to fracture near the pedal spindle. The 2nd gen cranks had triangular windows- and these also fractured near the pedal spindle. This is where I came in. The first step was to verify the design using non destructive testing- this was done on a laser interferometric holography table (this was done at Garrett AiResearch.) The problem turned out to be the casting process (which was my initial assessment- long story behind that.) Even with chem milling and hot isostatic pressing they simply could not survive the stress. Since forging was out of the question due to cost I had two sample sets machined from solid (I got a deal on production material from Oremet.) The plan was to test them to failure on an Instron and compare the results to the leading market Shimano XT crankset at the time. If they passed I had a plan written up to produce a limited run of 1000 units. In the end the machined samples were produced ( I heard they were gorgeous) but never tested to my knowledge- I had already left to start Real Design. A total of around fifteen prototype cranksets were produced ( I broke two sets myself on my own bike.) They were never offered for sale. There were two prototype Aluminum versions, one which was extremely overbuilt and another that I did drawings for that was to be forged and produced in Taiwan but it never came to be.

ticranks1 (1) by Jerome Kelty, on Flickr

ticranks2 (1) by Jerome Kelty, on Flickr

ticranksa (1) by Jerome Kelty, on Flickr

Ooh.. those cranks. So.. they did exist.

[steve garro]

I have the bike.

Too Tall has the original fork, you know.......

- Garro.

[steve garro]

Great picture. Dark and deep.

I had just lost 15 pounds in 4 days, I was 22 !!!!

- Garro.

[steve garro]

A few bikes from years past.

I sold quite a few of those original Spots from Mike & Jessica

The were really, really nice bikes.

I wish we could make light MTB's like that now but the ATCs are too long and the wheels too big.

Good thing they are making Grovel bikes now so there is a use for all the 650 x 7/4/7 tubes

- Garro.

[steve garro]

IMG_9863 (480x640).jpg

If anyone especially around OR / WA ever sees a black Ala Carte with a repair in the rear triangle like a disk brake re-inforcement tell them to sell it back to me, please.

I'm totally serious.

You can barely make it out in this pic

Dumb thing, selling this bike.

- Garro.

[colker]

IMG_9863 (480x640).jpg

If anyone especially around OR / WA ever sees a black Ala Carte with a repair in the rear triangle like a disk brake re-inforcement tell them to sell it back to me, please.

I'm totally serious.

You can barely make it out in this pic

Dumb thing, selling this bike.

- Garro.

Nice muscles on those arms there.

[colker]

Too Tall has the original fork, you know.......

- Garro.

i have 2 wicked forks. One was made by Fat and the other is Tange, the purple one. Color is typical Fat City purple so it belonged on a Wicked some time in the past. The Fat City fork came to me painted in that dripping style of the late 80s and i stupidly repainted it in an ugly white.
What is interesting though is i am almost sure the tange has smaller diameter legs. I don´t have a caliper but it seems to give more clearance for wide tires. ... I also like the clash of cherry and purple so it stays on the bike.

[steve garro]

IMG_4028.jpge-mark's rig 001.0-2.jpg

Nice muscles on those arms there.

Thanks, yo !!!
Been a rollercoaster, that last 30 years since then.

- Garro.

[mainlyfats]

I had both a Salsa Ala Carte and several Fats. The last one - a 1990 Team Comp - I restored, then sold to a collector in the UK.

The Salsa was great. Paint by Tony Beek in Toronto and featuring dozens of tiny chili peppers. It was full XC Pro and this is 1990, I believe.
Salsa.jpg

The Fat Team Comp I built with NOS XT and Ritchey bits. Paint by Noah Rosen at Velocolour.
Fat.jpg

[steve garro]

12376609_10153817308808216_6842599558058887128_n.jpg


I loved my Ala Carte

This was a BIKE centerfold getting my trials on

- Garro.

[rmplum]

I still ride this a couple times a month - pretty much whenever I'm out with the kids.

Either like this:


Or like this (takes about 5 minutes to swap back and forth):



Others that have passed through in recent years:

89 Rock Combo:


91 Stumpy (purchased for dirt cheap on Craigslist and fixed up - this is the "after"):


1990 Wicked with a custom Igleheart fork (I purchased this NOS in 1992 - it was Grello):


Fat Ti that I never should have sold:

[mainlyfats]

12376609_10153817308808216_6842599558058887128_n.jpg

What an incredible photo... Just wow...