1987 Otis Guy

[Warhorse]

I felt very lucky to acquire this bike as an 80’s fillet brazed Otis Guy sat on a short list of bikes that really appealed to me.
It came up at a time that I was really making great strides in purging and downsizing the amount of hold that bikes, parts, and accessories had on my life…
So, I did the obvious and treated myself to a new project!

Unfortunately I based the size off of top tube / seat tube measurements from my Ritchey which lined up pretty closely and I pulled the trigger. Having a steeper geo, shorter chainstays and a higher bottom bracket it turns out the standard over height I anticipated isn’t there and I’m left with no real clearance to speak of.

But boy does it ride nicely! It climbs well, handles exactly as I hoped it would and I look forward to spending more time getting acquainted with it, though it will be mostly relegated to fairly basic smooth rides given the zero safety / forgiveness factor if I come off the saddle.

Only the stem is the original paint, the frame was repainted in 1989. Apparently at a bike trade show a fellow was walking around with a custom painted guitar trying to drum up some business outside of his usual music clientele, the original owner took the bait and the Otis Guy ended up with a pretty interesting green splatter that wouldn’t look out of place on a Kramer guitar. It shows it wear and I’ve been told also used to boast some sort of glow in the dark quality though I feel like those powers have faded along with a bit of the paints lustre…

Anyways, I think it’s a very cool bike, it rides great and was made by an absolute legend in the sport, I hope you enjoy it too! I’ll try and get some better photos once the rain stops.

Frame: 1987 Otis Guy
Fork: 1” fillet brazed
Headset: Specialized / Rino chrome mash
Stem: OG fillet brazed roller
Handlebar: unknown
Grips: Ritchey
Brakes: Shimano Deore XT m730
Brake Cables: Shimano 6mm
Cantilever cable hangers: Shimano
Brake Levers: Shimano Deore XT m730
Shifters: Shimano Deore XT m730
Front Derailleur: Shimano Deore XT m730
Rear Derailleur: Shimano Deore XT m730
Cassette: Shimano 6Spd Uniglide
Chain: Shimano Deore XT
Cranks: Shimano Deore XT m730
Chainrings: XT
Chainring bolts: XT
Bottom Bracket: Shimano Deore XT m730
Pedals: Shimano Deore XT m730
Hub Skewers: Shimano Deore XT m730
Rims: Saturae x28 36h
Hubs: Shimano Deore XT m730
Nipples: brass
Spokes: Alpina
Tyres: Ritchey Megabyte
Saddle: Avocet Touring
Seatpost: Syncros First Gen 26.8mm
Seatpost Binder: m730 w/ Hite-Rite

 

[Warhorse]

Here are a couple cool old shots of the bike prior to its 1989 repaint.

 

[Dr Dremel]

Wow what a unique bike and very cool story about the respray. Pics from back in the day are another perk getting a bike from the OG owner.

 

[JCS]

Very very cool bike!
That’s a piece of mountain biking history.

 

[grahame]

And Otis is such a cool guy. I have very happy memories of riding Slickrock and then Amasa Back with him, Joe (Breeze), Tom (Ritchey) and a few other "names" at the Canyonlands Fat Tire Festival in Moab, October 1993.

 

[ferrus]

Very cool bike. And proving that high rise stems are in fact, very cool as well..

 

[Retro_Roy]

real beauty. i really like the original paint scheme, but what you have now is awesome as well.
looking forward to seeing it in the flesh one day. good build as well.