Here's the latest out of the workshop, a real rarity. A 1995 Rivendell Mountain Bike from the brand's earliest days. I acquired this earlier this year and had to purchase a package of three Rivendells to get it. This, to me, was the big prize and strangely enough the previous owner felt it was the least valuable of the lot which also contained first batch examples of the Atlantis and Rambouillet made in Japan models. It is not known exactly how many of the mtb's were ever made, but according to Richard Schwinn "less than twelve" as they were not popular and nearly everyone just bought the All-Arounder. When I asked him about the serial number of mine he simply...

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Here is one of three Bridgestone Cyclocross bikes that were built to be raced in the 1990 United States Cyclocross National Championships in Bremerton, Oregon. This one was owned and raced by Gene Oberpriller. The other two were raced / owned by the legendary Laurence Malone and Pineapple Bob.  The basis for these race bikes was the RB-1 with canti studs added to the rear of the bike and a custom made cycloross fork using a Bridgestone crown made by Davidson Cycles of Seattle, WA.  Please note the Cinelli bars that are cut down to provide knee clearance when using bar end shifters and the neat cable routing detail off the seat cluster. This bike is still in Gene Oberpriller's...

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Howdy Folks, Today I took out the Breezer Ignaz X for a spin around the neighborhood and realized that it's had some upgrades since I last photographed it in 2020.  For those not familiar the Ignaz X was a throwback model produced by Breezer bikes as a tribute to the cruisers that started it all: According to Breeze "The "Iggy" is my tribute to Ignaz and Frank W. Schwinn.  They gave us the balloon tire and the legendary Excelsior X bike.  The mountain bike was built around these two elements, and it was Schwinn that developed them. In the 1970's some young cycling fanatics, looking for a new thrill, discovered the soulful but stout bikes in old bike shops and junkyards...

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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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