My 1988 ROCKY MOUNTAIN FUSION

[k-rod]

looks yummy

 

[Canadian]

Re:

Yes, this should be in a different thread.
Your thread.
I'll be watching your build....

While I wish you were using a stock colour and were going to give it an effort to do a stock restoration - hey, it's not mine. There are so few examples of the 88 Fusion anywhere. Plus, many sites list the Fusion as starting in 93 (Bikepedia is one). Wrong.

 

[dirttorpedo]

I kind of stumbled into this. My neighbour brought over two bikes. Asked if I could fix one for him and I could keep the other. 1 was a Pro Tour, the other a Rocky Mountain. I first wanted to fix him up with the Rocky, since I knew it was the better bike. But after my excitement in cleaning wore off, I realized that it had no shifters and no derailleurs, which I thought was odd because he said that he just needed the chain back on this one. Put it aside and cleaned up the Pro Tour Carrera. It was a mess. Wore out the rear axle. Swapped in another one, added some tires with tread and gave it to him. He was thrilled. Wanted to pay me but I said no. He is 82 by the way. Told him he could buy me a 6 pack of Coors Banquet and off he went right away. Riding out of site.

So I ended up with the RM Fusion. Not sure what I will do with it since up to that day I had a 2001 Devinci Guzzler (rebuilt with old and new parts), a 2014 Devinci Jack (going to be my show play bike) and a 2007 Brodie Omega (for sale when done). Just finished a 2003 Brodie Devo - sold it. And almost finished a 2000 Kona Blast Ford Focus Edition - pre sold. I'm trying to make a little money here and there, and ultimately sell off the Guzzler and replace it with a carbon GT Fury, 2012 or 13. So I wasn't really into the old stuff. That was then and this is now.

I found a bunch of info on the bike and was glad I kept it. I will play with it and see how it goes. Funny thing, I came across an ad on Kijiji for a bike for cheap. Said it had 25 inch wheels (typo). I had seen the ad a month ago and didn't even look at it. This time, I thought that maybe the bike was in better condition than the Pro Tour, so I could afford to buy it, service it and give it to him. Save me the time and energy of dealing with the Carrera. It was a Giant Rincon. I couldn't believe the shape it was in so I didn't even ride it, I just gave her the money, took the wheel off and put it inside my truck. Later I found out it was a 1995 that had barely been used (pictures in a different thread). She was the original owner. She just decided to get a new bike. Now somewhere down the road, someone else might get a 20 year old GT from her, hardly used.

Anyway, this is the bike. This is how it cleaned up a bit. Still more cleaning needing to be done but I stopped. For now. I know it is missing parts. The front fork, brake and rim is wrong. Grips? Tires are not stock but maybe period specific? Saddle and seatpost? Hopefully the pedals are right. One has a dent but I can fix that. I hope the bars are right and I'm pretty sure the stem is. Front reflector? I would like to find the front rim, fork and brake. Brake levers, shifters and derailleurs - I will probably source something old, but I won't be fussy. I like the more modern shifters. I'll try and do a period saddle and seatpost. Try. Grips - whatever I find that I like. Tires - I like what is there so I'll use them.

This was my first mountain bike. I bought it for $530 brand new from West Point Cycles in Vancouver when I was at university and beat the snot out of it until 91 when I replaced it with a Stumpjumper FS (terrible decision). The fork actually looks like the original, but the colour is wrong. Obviously the bike didn't come with v-brakes, a riser bar, two finger brake levers or a WTB saddle. Most bikes back then came with those terrible waffle pattern tires. When the Panaracer Smoke / Dart tires came out I upgraded to those which was a huge improvement in performance. Unfortunately 2.1 tires were a bit big for the clearance on that frame.

I really disliked the u-brake which is why I ended up parting with it. If it had been set up canti front and rear I probably would have upgraded it and rode it a few more years. It was stolen from the friend I sold it to shortly after he bought it. I guess that's what happens when you don't believe in bike locks.