stevew8975
Retro Newbie
So I had been getting serious about bikes for a few years, and had put many miles on a fully rigid KHS Montana comp that was then sold to make way for a Klein pulse with Mag 21's (no pictures of either I'm afraid - too busy riding, and pre-digital camera age!) when I decided to go down the full suspension path.
This was back in 1995 when FS was still in its infancy, but one design was standing out amongst the others. The Horst linkage on the Amp Research.
I'd ridden some of the early Proflex, and didn't like the elastomer feel. I loved the look of the Trek OCLV Y bikes but their suspension design was, in my opinion at the time, fundamentally flawed, in that it wasn't fully active whether climbing, braking, standing or seated.
Living at home and working long hours I had a lot of expendable cash, and decided to go for the dream wishlist, and ordered the B3 frame and F3 fork combo, to be built to my spec when it arrived.
Groupset was mainly XT '95 except for the front mech, which was 94 due to available sizes. I started of with a USE seatpost and shims, but this never held secure so was swapped to a Control Tech I-Beam
The wheels were initially Sunn's of some sort, and I also had the AMP hubs and disc brakes - again, pioneering the hydraulic system that was later rebranded as Rockshox. About 8 months after I got it, I had a major off-bike accident that kept me off the saddle for about a year - during this time I sold the wheelset and brakes and replaced them with Specialized GXL21 rims on XT hubs, and XT V-brakes.
The XT V's were later swapped to LX models, as I found the linkage design unreliable, noisy and in need of constant attention.
The stem is an Azonic CNC'd billet, and World Force riser bars. Nice and wide and still feel comfortable and natural to this day.
A few Middleburn rings were added to the chainset as the original rings wore out, and a generous application of anodised blue bolts and jockey wheels adorn the bike, with the timeless Selle Italia Flite saddle cosseting my rump for many miles.
As mentioned above, I was unable to ride for about a year, and lost a lot of fitness, enthusiasm, and a new company car meant that I didn't use the bike anywhere near as much as I should have been, and by 2001 it had been thoroughly cleaned and carefully wrapped in a blanket and locked away in the garage for 2 house moves and the best part of 11 years.
Towards the end of last year I stumbled across this site and have been lurking and digesting information since. It was through this site I made contact with Brion at Amp and sourced a seal and bushing kit, and then whilst buying the Trek from Leisure Lakes in Preston, I dropped the Amp off for a full service and rebuild.
It is now back, and riding as smooth as the day I first got it, but I feel it is now too valuable and fragile for any serious off-road use. Given that it has taken me up and down the Lake district many times, Coed-Y-Brenin in it's first couple of years as a trail centre, down Llanberis at an illegal speed, Jacobs ladder, Edale, done the Coast to Coast on it, set off untold speed cameras, and even a 10 mile time trial (on a 52/11 and semi-slicks at 75psi) in 26 minutes, I feel too attached to ever part with it, and as a veritable pensioner of a bike, it has served it's time well and deserves an easy life now!
Over the winter I will get it fully polished up again - the joys of splitting with the missus is that I can do such tasks in the comfort of the lounge
This was back in 1995 when FS was still in its infancy, but one design was standing out amongst the others. The Horst linkage on the Amp Research.
I'd ridden some of the early Proflex, and didn't like the elastomer feel. I loved the look of the Trek OCLV Y bikes but their suspension design was, in my opinion at the time, fundamentally flawed, in that it wasn't fully active whether climbing, braking, standing or seated.
Living at home and working long hours I had a lot of expendable cash, and decided to go for the dream wishlist, and ordered the B3 frame and F3 fork combo, to be built to my spec when it arrived.
Groupset was mainly XT '95 except for the front mech, which was 94 due to available sizes. I started of with a USE seatpost and shims, but this never held secure so was swapped to a Control Tech I-Beam
The wheels were initially Sunn's of some sort, and I also had the AMP hubs and disc brakes - again, pioneering the hydraulic system that was later rebranded as Rockshox. About 8 months after I got it, I had a major off-bike accident that kept me off the saddle for about a year - during this time I sold the wheelset and brakes and replaced them with Specialized GXL21 rims on XT hubs, and XT V-brakes.
The XT V's were later swapped to LX models, as I found the linkage design unreliable, noisy and in need of constant attention.
The stem is an Azonic CNC'd billet, and World Force riser bars. Nice and wide and still feel comfortable and natural to this day.
A few Middleburn rings were added to the chainset as the original rings wore out, and a generous application of anodised blue bolts and jockey wheels adorn the bike, with the timeless Selle Italia Flite saddle cosseting my rump for many miles.
As mentioned above, I was unable to ride for about a year, and lost a lot of fitness, enthusiasm, and a new company car meant that I didn't use the bike anywhere near as much as I should have been, and by 2001 it had been thoroughly cleaned and carefully wrapped in a blanket and locked away in the garage for 2 house moves and the best part of 11 years.
Towards the end of last year I stumbled across this site and have been lurking and digesting information since. It was through this site I made contact with Brion at Amp and sourced a seal and bushing kit, and then whilst buying the Trek from Leisure Lakes in Preston, I dropped the Amp off for a full service and rebuild.
It is now back, and riding as smooth as the day I first got it, but I feel it is now too valuable and fragile for any serious off-road use. Given that it has taken me up and down the Lake district many times, Coed-Y-Brenin in it's first couple of years as a trail centre, down Llanberis at an illegal speed, Jacobs ladder, Edale, done the Coast to Coast on it, set off untold speed cameras, and even a 10 mile time trial (on a 52/11 and semi-slicks at 75psi) in 26 minutes, I feel too attached to ever part with it, and as a veritable pensioner of a bike, it has served it's time well and deserves an easy life now!
Over the winter I will get it fully polished up again - the joys of splitting with the missus is that I can do such tasks in the comfort of the lounge
