german KETTLER mtb's
- Thread starter brancaleone
- Start date
brancaleone
Retro Newbie
Re:
...now this is my daily 1984 Kettler Edition Alu-Rad, there were only 3.000 made like this, all same colour, all same size -
mine is 90% original besides the saddle (this terrible adjustable saddle-stand is original !) and the quick release for the hubs
(I changed axles, now there's no shifter-protector...), otherwise full Deore and those lovely Wellgo pedals (!).
For me it's serious understatement - well - even with aluminium-frame it's quite heavy, but after all a serious early mtb,
what do you folks think ?
...gotta ride now,
c
...now this is my daily 1984 Kettler Edition Alu-Rad, there were only 3.000 made like this, all same colour, all same size -
mine is 90% original besides the saddle (this terrible adjustable saddle-stand is original !) and the quick release for the hubs
(I changed axles, now there's no shifter-protector...), otherwise full Deore and those lovely Wellgo pedals (!).
For me it's serious understatement - well - even with aluminium-frame it's quite heavy, but after all a serious early mtb,
what do you folks think ?
...gotta ride now,
c
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brancaleone
Retro Newbie
Re:
mod, can't upload pics
...got it
mod, can't upload pics
...got it
xxnick1975
Old School Grand Master
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What's post man in German?
agentorange
rBotM Winner
Re:
We see a lot of old Alu-Rads around Vienna many clearly abandoned which is either a testament to their quality or their current undesirability (there's no retro scene here).
I too have a red Alu Rad Edition, in fact, I got it from my good friend Brancaleone (above). Yes, it's very heavy but it's an amazing bike and to think it was from a period when the only mountain bikes you could buy in Europe were from Muddy Fox or Dawes and possibly Peugeot but this bike is aluminium. The Alu-Rads I've seen are very similar with full mudguards, racks and dynamo/light combo's so they weren't designed to be light off-road bikes. I'd say they were more aimed at rugged out-doorsy leisure use and being German you kind of get the feeling that the thought process was along the lines of other great German kult items such as VW Beetle, Unimog, Haflinger, etc. So, not really designed for a specific use but more of a utilitarian lifestyle/statement. Kettler didn't follow a trend because there was no trend.
The other thing with these bikes is Kettler didn't give much choice, they were all green except the red Edition model and the odd rare girls models. they were all the same size which explains the sliding seatpost that you see. They all came with the same stem, mudguards, lights, chainguards etc.
They were high quality with alloy lugged frames and as Brancaleone points out Kettler fitted a lot of their own branded parts like headsets, seat, racks etc plus some Kettler touches eg the red large cog at the rear, the rear derailleur guard and the colour-matched bars, rack and stem. They were fitted with a range of Shimano parts but no two bikes had the same parts, it was almost as if there was a huge box of miscellaneous parts to work through. The ones I've seen come fitted with EZ shifters, Sport cantilevers and 9-finger levers and early 84/85 Biopace cranks but I've also seen Deere head parts, Deore II parts plus Exage on some of the later bikes. Interestingly, the design of the bikes didn't change for ten years even the very basic graphics. It was like the Henry Ford mantra that you could buy our cars in any colour you want just so long as it was battleship green.
Here are some Alu-Rads I've seen around Vienna in various states of abandonment starting with my own red Edition which I'm toying with fitting with cream tyres.
We see a lot of old Alu-Rads around Vienna many clearly abandoned which is either a testament to their quality or their current undesirability (there's no retro scene here).
I too have a red Alu Rad Edition, in fact, I got it from my good friend Brancaleone (above). Yes, it's very heavy but it's an amazing bike and to think it was from a period when the only mountain bikes you could buy in Europe were from Muddy Fox or Dawes and possibly Peugeot but this bike is aluminium. The Alu-Rads I've seen are very similar with full mudguards, racks and dynamo/light combo's so they weren't designed to be light off-road bikes. I'd say they were more aimed at rugged out-doorsy leisure use and being German you kind of get the feeling that the thought process was along the lines of other great German kult items such as VW Beetle, Unimog, Haflinger, etc. So, not really designed for a specific use but more of a utilitarian lifestyle/statement. Kettler didn't follow a trend because there was no trend.
The other thing with these bikes is Kettler didn't give much choice, they were all green except the red Edition model and the odd rare girls models. they were all the same size which explains the sliding seatpost that you see. They all came with the same stem, mudguards, lights, chainguards etc.
They were high quality with alloy lugged frames and as Brancaleone points out Kettler fitted a lot of their own branded parts like headsets, seat, racks etc plus some Kettler touches eg the red large cog at the rear, the rear derailleur guard and the colour-matched bars, rack and stem. They were fitted with a range of Shimano parts but no two bikes had the same parts, it was almost as if there was a huge box of miscellaneous parts to work through. The ones I've seen come fitted with EZ shifters, Sport cantilevers and 9-finger levers and early 84/85 Biopace cranks but I've also seen Deere head parts, Deore II parts plus Exage on some of the later bikes. Interestingly, the design of the bikes didn't change for ten years even the very basic graphics. It was like the Henry Ford mantra that you could buy our cars in any colour you want just so long as it was battleship green.
Here are some Alu-Rads I've seen around Vienna in various states of abandonment starting with my own red Edition which I'm toying with fitting with cream tyres.
agentorange
rBotM Winner
Re:
I met this old guy in a park recently who was still riding his Edition model from when he bought it in 1984. Mine is in front...
I met this old guy in a park recently who was still riding his Edition model from when he bought it in 1984. Mine is in front...
brancaleone
Retro Newbie
...and here the circle closes ;-)
thanks for your pics - hey, you didn't need to drop down your beer when you made the pic of the Safari-one...
...and b.t.w. - your "Edition" is still the nicest, when I got that one it was the onliest with original Deore-hubs...
thanks for your pics - hey, you didn't need to drop down your beer when you made the pic of the Safari-one...
...and b.t.w. - your "Edition" is still the nicest, when I got that one it was the onliest with original Deore-hubs...
agentorange
rBotM Winner
brancaleone":2ygvhc8i said:
Mine is due to receive some cream tyres, It has my beloved brown Brooks B17 saddle too.
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