1986 MB-1 Bridgestone Competition- Project FINISHED

[bikewright]

I had posted the Bridgestone back in 2009 when I got the bike as a Father's Day gift from my wife. It has been sitting on the back burner since I was having a custom cross built.



SN#A680660 so I think it was made in January 1986

A buddy of mind was the owner of the bike and said he paid about $800 for if back in 1986. I don't know when he stop riding it but he had put some miles on it before he put it in the shed.

For the most part it is original. The Suntour Winner freewheel had been replaced with a Shimano freewheel. All the brake pads had been changed. A Vetta SL saddle replaced the Sella Italia Mondalita. No name tires replaced the Ritchey Quad[/img]

My plan to to keep it much as you see it in the 4th picture. It's going to be a rider (commuter). The Vetta rear rack will be replaced with something new since it is bent. The saddle will be replaced. The side against the wall is in bad shape. The Ze'fal HP will go. You cannot see it from the picture but is bent also. A dog must of had a hard head...

I have been researching on the web for 86 MB-1's and I don't find many. So I will be taking pictures and posting them here as I bring a little life back to the MB-1.

I will also be asking some questions as I go!

 

[Major22]

Nice!

Not many Bridgestones on here. Looks like pre Petersen geometry?

 

[bikewright]

Not sure how much if any design input was from Peterson on the 86 MB-1 since he had only been working for Bridgestone USA for about two years.

Looks like you are the owner of one of most idiosyncratic of Petersen's designs

 

[Major22]

I'm not sure either when Petersen was beginning to influence the geometry on B.stones. The '87 MB lineup was pretty different from the earlier years, so maybe around then?

I was lucky to find a MB-Zip in my size (55 cm / 21.5") last winter, and it's a great ride. I also have a '88 MB-1 frameset that I should start building up, just waiting for some parts.

 

[bikewright]

You can see how nasty this wheel was. It looks like bar oil for a chain saw was used on this drive train. One of the things that I have learn working on project bikes, is that you have to take everything apart and clean it before you know if you have crap or not. Most of the time the grease and oil cleans right-up and you still have parts that are in great shape.

One of the first issues that I had to work with was the schrader hole that had been drilled in the Araya RM-20 rim. The rim was a presta that had been drilled out for a schrader tube. My friend said he did that because it was easier to get schrader tubes back-in-the-day! I guess it is just me, but schrader tubes just yell out department store bike to me. So I fix that problem I ordered a presta valve rim grommet.



Next was replacing all the bearings that fell out of the freewheel. I think I am still picking them up off the garage floor...I think the freewheel cleaned up good.

Had to true up the wheels and replaced the rim tape. After following another build project here on the site, I could see that I could put a lot more work in on cleaning and polishing things up to get things to look their best.

So I have spent another two hours with Never Dull on the rims and I need to find something different to work on the hubs. The front hub has some gray spots that I am finding hard to clean back up. I will post the results of the wheel cleaning as soon as I can.

One day I will figure how to post the pictures between the text....

 

[bikewright]

This is a before and after picture for my Roller Cam Brakes. On the right is what I am starting with. On the left is the result of about 2 and -a -half hours of work. I used different methods of cleaning and polishing to get that result.

I used ceramic oven top cleaner to clean all the brass parts and used aluminum foil to clean-up the chrome parts and wax cleaner and wax to clean the aluminum part of the brakes.

I am please with the results. Hope to finish the right one over the weekend.

 

[bikewright]

Re:

Completed

 

[wontchuckanut]

great job, i like the tyres what are they ?

 

[bikewright]

Re:

Thanks!

The tires are WTB All Terrainasaurus from around 1998-99. WTB still makes the tire but just calls it ALL Terrain http://www.wtb.com/products/all-terrain It is a mix surface tire that does well on pavement, grass, and hard pack. The bike came standard with 26X1.95 inch tires. Not too many 1.95 tires on the market today and since I had a set figured that was that much less I did not have to spend on the bike.

After getting into the bike, it had been rode hard but was in overall good shape. The owner before me had replaced the saddle, brake pads, freewheel. After hours and hours and hours of cleaning and polishing. I replaced bearings, replaced middle chainring with a original one, replaced the original grips with Ergon BioKork grips. The handbar feels short to me and I did not like the feel of the original grips. I felt like the BioKork was a good replacement. Water bottle cages replaced with King Cages. Saddle was damaged and I replaced it with a Selle Anatomica.

This was a on and off project for me and I cannot thank this site enough for all the post that I learned how something was done. Not period correct, but no less fun to ride and that is what it is about!