1986 Steve Potts

[Brownie]

Hello everyone.

I would like to introduce you to my 1986 Steve Potts. I picked it up in July 1986, and am the first and only owner of this machine. I call this my "wife bike" because it is the one that I want to have for the rest of my life. It is my only mountain bike and I still ride it on a regular basis. As a result, it has a mix of original and updated equipment. I raced it throughout the 80s and early 90s and now use it for everything that I want to ride a bike for.

I told Steve and Mark Slate that I wanted a blue, black, and white bike, but that they could figure out the design. The frame, fork, and stem went out to becompletely painted blue, returned to Steve so that he could mask the white areas, then then was finished with the black pin striping. Mark told me that they would never paint another one like it (to keep it one of a kind), but that they liked the design so much that they were going to paint their WTB/Trek team bikes similar to it with reverse colors.

I few from Los Angeles to San Francisco and then took the bus to Mark's house where he finished outfitting it for me. Steve stopped by for a while and then it was back to the bus and airplane for the ride home.

Here are the specifications:

Frame: 20-inch "Steve Potts" two-tone with striping
Fork: WTB Type II
Headset: Shimano Deore XT upper and WTB/King Grease Guard lower
Stem: "Steve Potts" custom sized for me
Handlebar: WTB Chromoly Flat Bar (16-degree bend) with WTB Shims
Grips: WTB Dual Compound
Brakes: WTB Speedmaster Roller-Cam
Front Cable Hanger: WTB Aluminum Cable Hanger
Brake Levers: Suntour XC Pro
Shifters: Shimano Deore XT 7-Speed SIS
Front Derailleur: Shimano Sora
Rear Derailleur: Shimano Deore XT
Cassette: Shimano Dura Ace 7-Speed Freewheel - custom 12-34
Chain: Shimano Deore XT
Cranks: Specialized Cold Forged
Chainrings: Specialized 46 and 24, Vuelta USA 34
Bottom Bracket: WTB straight spindle with Grease Guard cartridge bearings
Pedals: Shimano Deore XT
Quick Releases: Campagnolo
Rims: Saturae (Specialized) X22
Hubs: WTB-modified Hi-E
Saddle: Specialized Body Geometry
Seatpost: WTB Fixed Angle
Weight: 27 pounds

Thank you for looking.

Brownie in southern California

 

[Ziggy]

Stunning That's just lovely! I can see why you'd never sell it.

 

[Wold Ranger]

Lovliness

Looks very clean and minimalistic, how do you keep it so unmarked, the paint job looks like it was laid on yesterday!

 

[scant]

awesome looking bike

 

[retrobikeguy]

in a word...........................COOL

 

[Brownie]

Re: Lovliness

Looks very clean and minimalistic, how do you keep it so unmarked, the paint job looks like it was laid on yesterday!

If you look closely at the pictures, you will see quite a few nicks and scratches, and the photos do not show the small "sandblasting" nicks around the wheel areas. That said, there are a few reasons that it looks the way it does even though it was raced for a few years and is still ridden as my primary bike: 1) I live in southern California and don't ride in the rockiest or muddiest of terrain; 2) I am a wussy descender and have rarely crashed hard; 3) some components are somewhat new; 4) I used to wash it after nearly every ride; 5) I recently took components off the frame, washed it, polished it, and waxed it; and most important 6) Steve provided a GREAT coat of paint.

Brownie

 

[Cypher]

That is one BeautifuL Bike! And the condition Flawless! Its lugged at the seat tube but welded in front?

 

[al]

Wow! Brownie that is lovely.

Thats given me the push i need to finish my Ritchey project.

All the best. Al

 

[mamadirt]

Fantastic looking bike. Always fancied a Phoenix BITD but had to make do with a no-name alu frame with WTB stickers .

Dontcha just hate progress

 

[Russell]

Phwoar! Thats lovely.