Here it is folks, a chance to gather the community together to rip some of the best trails in the world in one of the most special and beautiful places I've ever been. I invite y'all to come join us in Copper Harbor, Michigan for an old school mountain bike experience, a 43 or 22 mile big loop of singletrack at the edge of the world.  I've been missing the adventure style mountain bike events that I grew up with, a feeling of being way out there in the woods. While I race modern cross country, the multi lap short course format just doesn't quite hit the same way. So we're bringing back the big day, big loop style. And...

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I had been trying to buy this frameset for years from my pal, Hurl Everstone of Cars R Coffins fame. I almost nabbed it before he moved to Portland but he wasn't quite ready to let it go, and I wasn't quite ready to buy it with the parts and price he wished to sell it at. Fast forward a year and he had come into an XO-3 in a larger size and realized that he greatly preferred that fit to his smaller XO-1 and was willing to sell the frame and fork to me for the sum of $666 (natch). I knew that I had no interest in a catalog build or one with moustache bars, I was going...

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This is my 1989 Yeti F.R.O. (For Racing Only) it's a special one as it's an early FRO made in California and later updated by Yeti in Durango to Pro Fro specs. It also features a rare steel Frank The Welder made Yeti stem.  The most astounding thing to me is how forward thinking this bike is compared to other late '80's mtbs. Gone are the slack angles and present is the geometry which would carry mountain bikes all the way through the next 15 years until 29ers became prevalent.  The red powdercoat is not the original color, judging by the overspray on the fork purple was, and the decals (which state "Made in Colorado" and Tange double butted tubing)...

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Here's a real gem, a 1991 MB-0 in almost full catalog spec. The one local legend Gene Oberpriller rode in the catalog.  I bought this at an estate auction along with an equally pristine and original MB-1. When I got it a white Turbo was mounted, which was incorrect. Luckily I was able to source an off-white suede Turbo from New Zealand. This saddle has a 1986 date code, but it appears to be exactly the same saddle as the "Bridgestone exclusive off-white Turbo." I haven't been able to fully confirm that this is indeed the same spec, but it sure looks the part.  The other pieces on my bike that are not correct spec are the pedals and grips....

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Just finished this one up this week. American Breezer handmade right here in Minnesota. This was a joint venture between Joe Breeze of Breezer bikes and American Bicycle Manufacturing in St. Cloud, Minnesota.  It was quite filthy and the finish needed a lot of help. As I have a bunch of other projects going right now I elected to leave it exactly as I found it with the exception of hours and hours of cleaning and polishing. It looks to me like it hasn't been touched since the 80's. All parts are period correct with the exception of the tires, which I did replace. The cranks and some other parts still need some cleaning, but after about 6 hours spent...

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We're stoked to share these amazing photos from the 1980 Pearl Pass Tour featuring so many of the famous early mountain bike pioneers. These are far and away the best relatively unknown vintage mountain bike photos we've ever seen. Last week we brought you photos from the 1981 edition and a bus tour organized by Gary Fisher and Charlie Kelly of MountainBikes* fame, and this week we bring you some absolutely stunning images from the 1980 edition shot by Kevin Montgomery.  We couldn’t be happier to help shine a light on these images of an era past. An era whose spirit is seeing a modern resurgence as more folks than ever are realizing it’s not the results, but the people...

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In 1981 Gary Fisher and Charlie Kelly chartered a bus to take them and their friends to Crested Butte for the Pearl Pass. According to Charlie "The driver was insane, the bus barely ran, and the trip was...a trip." These photos are from one of the participants, Mike Jarschke, who was kind enough to give me permission to share them.  This is a peek at an incredible moment and time in mountain bike history, as the culture was really starting to take off. The bikes, the smiles, the fashion. It's all so wonderful and inspiring. 

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Recently on one of the vintage MTB Facebook groups I frequent I came across a stunning bicycle and claim.... That a bike was a 1976 Andy Gilmour made mountain bike. We've all heard the story about how Joe Breeze created the first purpose built mtb's in the late 70's with his Breezer Series I's. From the Marin Mountain Bike Museum website: "His Breezers were the first all-new bikes built with rugged frames specifically for mountain biking (1977 and 1978)." And here was a road racing frame maker in Tucson, Arizona beating the Marin boys to the punch by over a year. What's the deal? Well first, let's decide what makes something a purpose built mountain bike. The best delineator I've heard yet...

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And here is the truly stunning 1995 Croll as I passed it on to it's next caretaker.  For those not familiar, Croll was founded by Walter Croll and was a manufacturer of high end steel frames in Minneapolis throughout the 90's. I am unclear as to when Croll formally shuttered their business. Early Croll's were often lugged, but mid and later Croll's were Tig Welded by Erik Noren of Peacock Groove fame.  I estimate this to be a 1995 based on the parts present, but am unsure of the accuracy of the date. The build features a full XT parts kit, however the owner opted to upgrade to M950 shifters in order to obtain the remote bar end shifter.  This...

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My partner loves it when we match, so in that spirit we built her up this sweet 16" Surly 1x1 which is a perfect compliment to my black 1x1 Thunderbolt (names derived from our cross bar pads which were taken from some kids bikes).  Being that she's the Otso Sales Manager which is the sister company to Wolftooth of course she elected to bling it out with some sweet gold accents.  After searching for years for a lockup / winter bike that she's comfortable on and trying a couple different vintage mtb setups, it looks like this one is going to stick.  I think it's a real gem...  

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