For the past few years, myself and a group of friends have been getting interested in fooling around with nice production mountain bikes. For me it started when I was taking a leak in the woods at the Henry miller library and found a 1984 Stumpjumper under a pile of brush and bought it off it's owner for 50 bucks. It was pretty crusty and proved impossible for me to save with a really frozen seat post but the interest was reignited recently when a buddy built up an 85 Stumpmuper.
Since I guess the idea of this blog is eye candy and info, and since I'm the proud dad of this '84 Diamondback Ridgerunner, I figured I'd start with this. The idea here is mixing a bit of the new with the old a la Rivendell, so we get well made, good working, good looking bikes. Specs: polished(kinda) LX 9 speed rear der, vintage Ideale saddle, some random rear brakes, Dia Compe front brakes, Kool Stop salmon pads, nitto front rack, original rear wheel w/ Suzue cartridge hub relaced with stainless spokes and wide Araya rim, original suntour thumb shifters, shimano LX brake levers, original diamondback shape bull moose bars (a little rusty), Sugino AT crank, Suntour Superbe Pro road pedals, Suntour Superbe Tech front der, original cartridge bb, Origin8 alloy headset, and Panaracer Uff Da 2.3" tires. Just took it on an incredible ride this weekend, and it handled great both on and off the road. It was fun to build and even more run to ride!
Very, very slick, Mark. Nice bike, nice build. Is that the stock paint?
ReplyDeleteOh, that's very nice! My one and only bike is a Ridge Runner from somewhere between 1982 and 1984. here's a link to some photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/beltless/Townie
ReplyDeleteTwo notes-
1.Your bike doesn't seem to have the mid-fork braze-ons mine has. Is that why you used P-clamps for the front rack?
2. That paint is beautiful, but if ever there was a case for violating the Celest(e)ial scheme, this is it- I don't say you should outline the lugs, which are more than capable of speaking for themselves, but I do sincerely believe you should consider painting the headtube white or cream. It wouldn't be correct of course, but it would be so right.