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
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
(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
(Note the engraving/laser etching(?) identical to the fork above.)
Mega-rare Alpinestars Mega-Lite Carbon handlebars
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
