cybertrophic
Dirt Disciple
Ok, I am slowly starting to get back into mountain biking - injuries, work, family and location had all conspired against me until now - so I have dusted off my trusty Giant XTC NRS from around 2001 and am hitting the local trails, which is fun - along with snowboarding at the local snowdome, I am actually getting fit after a few years of being stuck in IT jobs.
However, it's rekindled my interest in older machines that I yearned for as a youngster (not to mention the fact that I am eagerly awating the promised Mint Sauce anthology book), but whilst there are plentiful Kona Cinder Cones out there, a few that really rocked my boat seem to have been almost mythical in their scarcity, namely:
The Pace RC200 - not as rare as some and a bike I'd love to own and build up with RC35s and period parts (but no purple anodised skewers) for regular nostalgia trips - I'm hoping that a sale on ebay, etc, ties up with me having some spare cash as the two are out of sync at the moment...
Kona Hei Hei - again, not so rare, but I do like a nice bit of titanium...
There are two that I really, reeeeally wanted as a teenager though, that I have never seen again, though:
1) Manitou built an aluminium frame with square tube rear triangle and offset stays that had their first suspension fork (1" of elastomer-damped goodness!) and it was available as a frame+fork combo. I have *never* seen one of these in the flesh, or even for sale. It looked awesome and evidently rode brilliantly, too - I'd kill for one of these in the garage!
2) MBUK did a review of the Campagnolo Centaur MTB groupset (Campangolo's last non-road groupset, I believe) and it was fitted to a white and purple custom frame by, I believe, Swallow cycles. The review was shot on volcanic areas of fuertaventura and that bike was just beautiful - Reynolds 753 or 853, and just right from every angle - I'd love a replica of that frame, but I can't even find the framemaker...
If anyone knows where to find these, please let me know! I am thinking I might have to break the bank, but it'd be worth it!
However, it's rekindled my interest in older machines that I yearned for as a youngster (not to mention the fact that I am eagerly awating the promised Mint Sauce anthology book), but whilst there are plentiful Kona Cinder Cones out there, a few that really rocked my boat seem to have been almost mythical in their scarcity, namely:
The Pace RC200 - not as rare as some and a bike I'd love to own and build up with RC35s and period parts (but no purple anodised skewers) for regular nostalgia trips - I'm hoping that a sale on ebay, etc, ties up with me having some spare cash as the two are out of sync at the moment...
Kona Hei Hei - again, not so rare, but I do like a nice bit of titanium...
There are two that I really, reeeeally wanted as a teenager though, that I have never seen again, though:
1) Manitou built an aluminium frame with square tube rear triangle and offset stays that had their first suspension fork (1" of elastomer-damped goodness!) and it was available as a frame+fork combo. I have *never* seen one of these in the flesh, or even for sale. It looked awesome and evidently rode brilliantly, too - I'd kill for one of these in the garage!
2) MBUK did a review of the Campagnolo Centaur MTB groupset (Campangolo's last non-road groupset, I believe) and it was fitted to a white and purple custom frame by, I believe, Swallow cycles. The review was shot on volcanic areas of fuertaventura and that bike was just beautiful - Reynolds 753 or 853, and just right from every angle - I'd love a replica of that frame, but I can't even find the framemaker...
If anyone knows where to find these, please let me know! I am thinking I might have to break the bank, but it'd be worth it!
