yakboy
Manitou Fan
There are quite a few advantages to having a best mate who lives in the Austrian Alps and works in both the ski and biking sector. Free accommodation is one of them but another is that whilst in his bike shop manager capacity interesting things sometimes come through the door.
So a few weeks ago I get a message for me to take a look at a bike that a local has just bought in to the shop, that has been sat in a barn for years and they want it fixing up as a run around..
My friend who has been biking as long as I have has always been a future looking chap and Retro bikes to him are pieces of junk (I have tried to put him right on many occasions!! Usually after a few of Austria's finest beers), so when I told him of the work involved in getting the elastomer goo out of the MK1 Manitou's he was sure that the owners would not want to shell out the necessary labour costs and would probably want to sell. Well they left the bike in the shop for 2 months before they called back in and indeed weren't interested in shelling out to restore the forks, they accepted my offer (well wanted 10 euro's more), so I am now the owner of what I believe is a 1992 17.5" Litespeed Mountain. It's running a full Suntour XC pro Groupset and other than that I'll have to wait a while until my friend comes to these shores to give it the once over. A bit of a punt on my part but the price was definitely right. Now do I keep the groupset on the bike or do I do something more interesting, Campag or Mavic springs to mind.
So a few weeks ago I get a message for me to take a look at a bike that a local has just bought in to the shop, that has been sat in a barn for years and they want it fixing up as a run around..
My friend who has been biking as long as I have has always been a future looking chap and Retro bikes to him are pieces of junk (I have tried to put him right on many occasions!! Usually after a few of Austria's finest beers), so when I told him of the work involved in getting the elastomer goo out of the MK1 Manitou's he was sure that the owners would not want to shell out the necessary labour costs and would probably want to sell. Well they left the bike in the shop for 2 months before they called back in and indeed weren't interested in shelling out to restore the forks, they accepted my offer (well wanted 10 euro's more), so I am now the owner of what I believe is a 1992 17.5" Litespeed Mountain. It's running a full Suntour XC pro Groupset and other than that I'll have to wait a while until my friend comes to these shores to give it the once over. A bit of a punt on my part but the price was definitely right. Now do I keep the groupset on the bike or do I do something more interesting, Campag or Mavic springs to mind.
