1991 Alpinestars Ti-Mega build - my unicorn!

Re: Re:

Retro Spud":vp62uqc5 said:
Jesus ....

we're three pages in and the frames not even arrived on these shores yet :LOL:

Oh it's on your shores at least as of 12:40PM EST yesterday ... :D

And I never knew Alpinstars carbon bars existed!
My newest "Want" list now includes those bars as well as Alpinestars Ti fork and Alpinestars Ti seatpost :facepalm:
 
Re: Re:

CCMDoc":11ctncyb said:
Retro Spud":11ctncyb said:
Jesus ....
we're three pages in and the frames not even arrived on these shores yet :LOL:
Oh it's on your shores at least as of 12:40PM EST yesterday ... :D
And I never knew Alpinstars carbon bars existed!
My newest "Want" list now includes those bars as well as Alpinestars Ti fork and Alpinestars Ti seatpost :facepalm:
Ah that's fab Paul, I've refrained from tracking it thus far! Let's hope it flies through customs!

Neither did I realise or more like remember about them until someone sent me a pic via Facebook and put me in touch with their owner. A hard deal was struck lol.

They were offered in the 1992 catalogue as part of the Ti-Mega Ti/Ti frameset or as an accessory see pics below).
I'm not too( bothered about the Ti fork, nor am I really too bothered by the stem any more as I have a perfect stem for it now and Alpinestars Easton aluminium ODS forks, they just need repainting so may do a 'Ti-Al' build at first then fit the Manitou 2s at a later date. Its spec is still undecided but I can see me building it in some fashion before Iconoclassic if it arrives in the next week or so as I will be too excited!

I think because the Ti-Mega was such an expensive and exclusive frame back in the day, plus the fact that '91 & '92 frame specs were identical bar for the decals, it makes building these up relatively easy with no set rule in place. Even the team riders Mike Kloser, Tim Davies and Tom Rogers has various different setups between '91 and '92, Mike even running the '91 decals and an early RockShox Mag20 with one of the prototype/early sponsored-riders' XTR M900 gruppos at the '91 Words in Il Ciocco, which also featured in the '92 brochure in that guise.

I may do two or three evolutions of this build over the next 12 months, all M900, first using the rigid fork (brochure Ti-Al frameset spec) then maybe switching to RS Mag20 then Manitou2 and lastly on the 92 decals like a Tim Davies MBUK replica. After all it is an ex-Mike Kloser frame so why not mix it up a bit, team member style, eh? ;) :p
I'm really like a big kid for this one!!
The 1992 Alpinestars brochure featuring the different Ti-Mega frameset options and accessories:


 
Re: Another one coming. Unicorn level Alpinestars...

Crap!!!
I should have sent you some DVDs.
My wife taped (VHS) whatever Grundig and NORBA races were broadcast on ESPN in '91 and '92.
A few years ago I copied them from tape to DVD (my own crappy laptop and VHS player). Though NTSC format instead of PAL I believe most players in Eurpoe play both. I could have made a copy for you and thrown them in the box.
 
Re: Another one coming. Unicorn level Alpinestars...

I like that plan - evolve the build over time to reflect the greats of the day.

And I'm on the lookout for the Ti stuff mentioned above and the carbon bars if you happen upon some and say "Nah, I don't need or want them".
 
Re: Another one coming. Unicorn level Alpinestars...

CCMDoc":3h6io38o said:
I like that plan - evolve the build over time to reflect the greats of the day.
And I'm on the lookout for the Ti stuff mentioned above and the carbon bars if you happen upon some and say "Nah, I don't need or want them".
If shipping is very cheap to another US address I'll forward you a mailing address for me to collect the DVDs later in the year when I spend a little vacation time on the west coast ;)
I will keep an eye out for you, but I'm intrigued as to why! I also posted up a wanted ad on FB for the Ti stem and seatpost, so if I get any hits I'll give you a shout.
I'm also offering a kidney for sale if anyone is interested to pay for this and some other expenses.
I think the only think I need to put the Ti-Mega together, after robbing mostly everything from the A-M XTR, is a seatpost, which is on my radar.
And I might go for something completely ostentatious in the seating department! :p
 
Re: Another one coming. Unicorn level Alpinestars...

Leans on hand and taps fingers.............
 
Re: Another one coming. Unicorn level Alpinestars...

mojo ti":10wjeoyl said:
Wow !!!! So nice bike and project. Have you other pics ?
Not yet :oops:
The History Man":10wjeoyl said:
Leans on hand and taps fingers.............
Raises eyebrows, shrugs and offers palms up to the skies. :roll:
 
Re: Another one coming. Unicorn level Alpinestars...

regan_ev":33hh3fgb said:
mojo ti":33hh3fgb said:
Wow !!!! So nice bike and project. Have you other pics ?
Not yet :oops:
The History Man":33hh3fgb said:
Leans on hand and taps fingers.............
Raises eyebrows, shrugs and offers palms up to the skies. :roll:


Not sure who's clowning with who here ^

What I do know is you never Josh with THM as he's hardcore and will keep coming back for more... :D
 
Re: My Unicorn - 1991 Alpinestars Ti-Mega build

Little update...
Frame arrived at chez Reg on Tuesday morning after getting the nasty customs charge request last Saturday! :evil:

So, getting to some nitty gritty...

Fair play to Paul (CCMDoc), it was packed perfectly - thank you sir. Gil's decals are as-new and also perfect, however I need a pair of 'AL-uminum Blades' decals made because they've arrived with 'T-itanium Blades' decals for the option Ti/Ti build fork which I don't have :oops:

Here it is just out of the box, pictured on my patio just before the heavens opened. I had intended giving it a polish after taking these photos, to reduce some of the fine scratches and produce a before'n'after style series of photos, but sadly that was not possible due to the downpour which followed shortly afterwards.




Now this is where it gets slightly interesting! The frame number is 4027, and whilst there's no index of Ti-Mega frame numbers as far as I'm aware (if there is and you know for one, post it up please), I am aware that TPC's build is frame number 4038.

From the difference in numbers and presuming they were chronologically sequential, this is earlier than TPC's which is known to be a 1991 build. It also has the letters 'Z D' stamped alongside. No idea if they're part of the serial identification or relate to a personal mark, maybe the welder's initials (ZD at Litespeed in '91?). Again, any info from Ti-Mega aficionados is welcomed.

So, with that info present, I did a Google search. The only hit I got was to an undated, cached, eBay listing from The Pro's Closet! I'd previously asked Paul if he had any info from the person who sold it to him, but sadly there was none, so I messaged TPC.

I wasn't in contact with Nick Martin (TPC founder) but a helpful member of his staff instead, who confirmed that my frame was purchased by Nick as a parts donor for the MBA-mag rebuild. From that build thread I recall that there were two additional Ti-Megas purchased, one for the Alpinestars titanium stem and another for the titanium fork; I believe that mine was the bike bought for the stem. I decided not to buy the aluminium fork with it, to chip off some cost and for the fact it had been partially paint-stripped and I have an identical one anyway. It's there that TPC's story begins and ends regarding my frame's history. I wonder if Nick knows any more, which I'm sure he'll provide if he does. I'm disappointed that there's no history with it, but hey, until I do find out more (or assuming I never do) I'll make up whatever I want, like my previous tongue-in-cheek comment a few posts back that it's an ex-Mike Kloser bike. After all it's got the same seat collar and it has been totally de-stickered (who does that?!) so in my mind it's the bike Mike rode at the 91 Worlds :LOL: (even though it had an XT front mech fitted when sold and not an XTR which Mike's had, help me prove or disprove it either way by finding info on its past, please!).

As always with TPC and their eBay auctions, a shed load of hi-res pics were taken and posted, the cached eBay page still displaying them. Very interesting to see that it came with an aluminium fork that is engraved with the Astars logos, exactly like the clamp-on stem I'm fitting to it which I bought on a whim last year and has been fitted to the 92 AM DX since. I've never seen a fork like this so it must be straight out of the Alpinestars accessories brochure, and/or a very early 1991 model. I don't regret not buying it because the left leg had its paint stripped and it'd be nigh-on impossible to restore the engraving. I wonder if the previous owner was stripping it to polish up and make it look like the 1991-brochure fork, which was polished aluminium with 'Al-uminum blades' decals:

Here are just five of the thirty-one (!) detailed TPC eBay pics I took screenshots of. I've given it one quick polish with Autosol and just a microfibre and it's already looking a million times better but I haven't got any current-state photos of it yet. I think the power of the TPC camera and lens, highlighting the imperfections, make them look a hell of a lot worse than they are visible to the naked eye:






Not much/if any more developments or updates to come for a good few weeks. Still undecided what headset to fit, still haven't even begun looking for a seatpost but I'd like it to be black to match the stem, bars and forks.

Clamp-on stem (which obviously can and will be removed from the quill it's attached to) to clamp directly onto the 1992 Alpinestars ODS forks with the extended steerer :cool: (Note the engraving/laser etching(?) identical to the fork above.)


Mega-rare Alpinestars Mega-Lite Carbon handlebars :cool:




The 1992 ODS forks, exactly the same as the 1991 version but with the clamp-on section at the top, previously fitted to my 92 XT, now hanging up in garage. Need stripping and re-painting :cool:
 
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