Hi from Hamburg, northern Germany. My name is Jörg.This is my first post on this valued forum. I have had my hands first on racing machines 20 years ago, then folding bikes and highrisers. Recently I dug into vintage MTB. Fascinating field! It´s the mainstream rigid fork Treks, Specializeds, Meridas and rather unknown marques I am after.
One of my first bikes in the stable is this Hercules MTB special from the mid80s. It comes as close to a Klunker as a german made bike possibly can: bullmoose stem, riser bar, drum brakes rear and front, 5speed sprocket, friction shifters – this is more old- than youngtimer.
I found this steel buddy at a second hand warehouse, took away the fenders and carrier. Replaced the bottom bearing (which was a real tough job), chain, grips, pedals and cables with new parts. The saddle is a period Rolls, it was mounted on a 70s tenspeed. Finally put on Smoke and Dart from Panaracer and here we go: a real German Klunker with thin steel tubes and a somewhat rough look. For weight reasons I opted for Tubolito tubes; but orange valves stems wan't really suit the classic look.
Tange? Reynolds? CroMo? Yes, everybody knows those main ingredients to historic frames. But have you heard of Mannesmann? Founded in 1890 this firm was a big supplier for steel pipes once upon a time. This Hercules is made with Mannesmann steel. Like that: German bike, german frame material and german parts such as shifters (Sachs), brakes (Sachs), sprockets (Sachs) – welded and put together in Nürnberg, Bavaria. Only the rims were made by the swiss firm Weinmann in Belgium.
And the performance?
Well, on- and offroad the Hercules behaves rather brave than aggressive. The ride is somewhat clunkerish with the upward seating position of a beach cruiser and excellent overview. I like that. But the bike is heavy and slow. So what? For me it doesen’t have to be express all the time, scince I am 20 years older than the bike. And yes, it has modern lights. The original parts were cheap crap. Now the trail is illuminated by an 80 Lux Busch und Müller IQ XS, pletcher plate carriers a tiny Buum Mü. Both are driven by a Nordlicht generator, which is one of the best bottleshape dynos ever made.
Shifting works slow motion, braking mean. Especially in the wet the drums operate digital in on-off-style, meaning: nothing or everything. If you pull the front lever too hard, you go over the bar. If you send braking power to the rear, on loose ground you will end up in a spectacular slide that has full Mount Tam potential. Charlie Kelly, here I come…
Research shows, that Hercules made different types of his early off roader. Besides this streetworthy “MTB special” there was a somewhat more racy and expensive MTB competition with frame mounted rear derailleur. My shifting gear is attached to the drop out and fixed by the axel nut. And the more civilian version of the Hercules is called city sport, equipped with only guard covered single chainring and internal gears, frame identical.
Well, I hope you like my Klunker. A second example arrived lately. Totally to original specs and fully loaded. Not sure yet to strip it of it’s fenders and carrier.
What y’all think?
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