1991 Alpinestars Al-Mega DX

[regan_ev]

As a former avid Alpinestars collecteur this one isn’t quite my cup of tea but props to you for the effort.

I’m curious about the gusset under the DT/HT junction; you said in your opening post it’s crack free but that is not a standard piece of welding. Or is it? I’m genuinely curious.

The turquoise Ringlé stem is the weakest link (in terms of colour) so if you want to sell it hit me up.

Overall: bravo! Nice to see another 91 AM DX saved.



EDIT: totally OT but your username takes me back to being 16 (yeah sixteen) and driving my mate’s R5 GT Turbo. What a blast that thing was!

 

[gtturbo]

Hi Regan,
With regards the gusset there appears to be 3 iterations of the 91 Al-Mega. Below is purely my guess.

1st version - No gusset. Guess they realised this was an issue so...
2nd version - What I have which I assume was a 'quick fix'
3rd version- the same gusset as on the 92 model so I can only assume that was later into the production run.

Check out the picture of the al-mega near the bottom of this page. Has the same gusset as mine if you zoom in a bit. https://www.mtbr.com/threads/old-neon-bike-photos-please.373173/page-9

Agree with the stem. I was going to get it anodised in purple, as Acorn plating is only local, but trying to get together a bunch of parts for my next project and get them done in one hit. Of course if you have a 1 1/4" in purple I'm happy to trade.

Appreciate it's not everyones cup of tea this one but as my next few builds are rather conservative I wanted to have a bit of fun on this one and go OTT. Plus most of the purple parts, not all, are from my stash of parts I bought, and used, in the 90's so it's nice to have a home for them where they can be looked at rather than sitting a box.

and yeah I'm biased but the 5 GT Turbo is one of the best factory cars ever made for pure fun.

 

[1552]

What brake leavers are they?

 

[gtturbo]

Those are Crystal Design 'Bad Finger' levers.

 

[chris13]

Thought id jump onto this as im about to buy same frame for a retro build. What do i need to look out for? Frame im lookingat has been sprayed but i may get it done again. Ive not seen it yet so any advice much appreciated.

This bike is awesome btw. Love it!

 

[gtturbo]

Cheers Chris. Cracks in the frame are the main thing to look out for. Headtube and seat tube seem to be the common areas but look everywhere. Also the original bars are an odd size so if you are planning on going back to OE if it comes with the Alpinestars bars and stem that's a definite plus. Also check it has the nut, in want of a better description, to mount the front derailleur. Although if it's not there it should not be too hard to make something. Oh and the cable ferules that fit into the frame are larger than normal from memory so again another plus if it comes with those.

 

[racecarjohnny]

Wow, great bike and Love the neon. Nice work.

 

[chris13]

Cheers Chris. Cracks in the frame are the main thing to look out for. Headtube and seat tube seem to be the common areas but look everywhere. Also the original bars are an odd size so if you are planning on going back to OE if it comes with the Alpinestars bars and stem that's a definite plus. Also check it has the nut, in want of a better description, to mount the front derailleur. Although if it's not there it should not be too hard to make something. Oh and the cable ferules that fit into the frame are larger than normal from memory so again another plus if it comes with those.

Thanks. Thats very helpful. It has had hanger mount removed so i will run a 1x on it. Not ideal but so hard to find these frames. Can they be ridden with any gusto or is it not advisable. I am planning to use the bike, not for full on MTB but more like the terrain id do on gravel bike. Thanks