1987 Steve Potts / Signature / NOS
This fine bicycle is one of three unfinished Signature frames from 1987 that were dusted off and completed in 2012/13. Steve completed the frame adding braze ons and a Type II fork. He then readied it for paint by Rick Stefani of D and D Cycles who painted the bike using Imron paint just as it would have been in 1987. The paint scheme on this bike is unparalleled by any other Potts that I have seen to this day. He also built an LD stem for the bike setting it up for 'dirt drops' - which is the brainchild of Charlie Cunningham. In fact many of the parts on this bike are credited to Cunningham who would invent and perfect them while Mark Slate would test them and Steve would be responsible for making them look like bike parts.
Have a look at a Cunningham bike - if you haven't already - some of the finishing will shock you. This is also the beauty of them in my mind as they are almost 100% purpose driven. Many of Cunningham's inventions - and I mean inventions not incremental improvements - are standard equipment on bikes today. Charlie Cunningham, Steve Potts and Mark Slate comprised WTB or Wilderness Trail Bikes which filled a void in the market with high quality products designed to outlast their owners. Licensing of WTB Grease Guard technology to Suntour afforded more people the opportunity to try some of WTB's products which as a rule have a pretty hefty price tag and are now extremely difficult to find. This Steve Potts Signature is loaded with WTB parts - WTB Cartridge Bearing Grease Guard, WTB Speedmaster Rollercams, WTB Fixed angle Seat Post, WTB/Chris King Headset, WTB Grease Guard Hubs, WTB Multi-Mounts, and WTB / Specialized RM-2 Bars. Oh and don't forget the WTB Toe Flips - like I have - I forgot to put them on. Tasshi Dennis - the mastermind behind Vintage Mountain Bike Workshop utilized all these parts along with a Shimano M730 group - all of which were NOS or unused to complete what more than a few people have referred to as the 'highest level Potts out there'. This is certainly not an effort to diminish any of the other rare and beautiful Steve Potts bicycles - it is only to say that this particular bike represents the efforts of some of the finest minds in the mountain bike industry. It is a monument to their dedication and passion to the sport and leisure of riding a bike. I hope you enjoy looking at it as much as I do - I will be taking some better photographs when the weather eases up and I can get it out for a proper ride.
I should add that this bike is actually NOS - it has only been driven around Tasshi's driveway to test the brakes.
Please note there are two posts - as per the 10 image limit per post. The second post has some pics of Steve putting the finishing touches on the frame - and a pic of the bike in his booth at NAHBS in 2013. Soon after that picture was taken it went into storage - until now.
This fine bicycle is one of three unfinished Signature frames from 1987 that were dusted off and completed in 2012/13. Steve completed the frame adding braze ons and a Type II fork. He then readied it for paint by Rick Stefani of D and D Cycles who painted the bike using Imron paint just as it would have been in 1987. The paint scheme on this bike is unparalleled by any other Potts that I have seen to this day. He also built an LD stem for the bike setting it up for 'dirt drops' - which is the brainchild of Charlie Cunningham. In fact many of the parts on this bike are credited to Cunningham who would invent and perfect them while Mark Slate would test them and Steve would be responsible for making them look like bike parts.
Have a look at a Cunningham bike - if you haven't already - some of the finishing will shock you. This is also the beauty of them in my mind as they are almost 100% purpose driven. Many of Cunningham's inventions - and I mean inventions not incremental improvements - are standard equipment on bikes today. Charlie Cunningham, Steve Potts and Mark Slate comprised WTB or Wilderness Trail Bikes which filled a void in the market with high quality products designed to outlast their owners. Licensing of WTB Grease Guard technology to Suntour afforded more people the opportunity to try some of WTB's products which as a rule have a pretty hefty price tag and are now extremely difficult to find. This Steve Potts Signature is loaded with WTB parts - WTB Cartridge Bearing Grease Guard, WTB Speedmaster Rollercams, WTB Fixed angle Seat Post, WTB/Chris King Headset, WTB Grease Guard Hubs, WTB Multi-Mounts, and WTB / Specialized RM-2 Bars. Oh and don't forget the WTB Toe Flips - like I have - I forgot to put them on. Tasshi Dennis - the mastermind behind Vintage Mountain Bike Workshop utilized all these parts along with a Shimano M730 group - all of which were NOS or unused to complete what more than a few people have referred to as the 'highest level Potts out there'. This is certainly not an effort to diminish any of the other rare and beautiful Steve Potts bicycles - it is only to say that this particular bike represents the efforts of some of the finest minds in the mountain bike industry. It is a monument to their dedication and passion to the sport and leisure of riding a bike. I hope you enjoy looking at it as much as I do - I will be taking some better photographs when the weather eases up and I can get it out for a proper ride.
I should add that this bike is actually NOS - it has only been driven around Tasshi's driveway to test the brakes.
Please note there are two posts - as per the 10 image limit per post. The second post has some pics of Steve putting the finishing touches on the frame - and a pic of the bike in his booth at NAHBS in 2013. Soon after that picture was taken it went into storage - until now.
