NOS Zunow frame build- Finished

[racecarjohnny]

In the late 80s early 90s I raced a couple of different Zunow road bikes. Beautiful handmade Bikes with great attention to detail. After years of trying to track down one of their mountain bikes I found one for sale in the city I live and 20 miles from my house. One of those things you never think will happen to you. I’d guess it’s from the early 90s and it is clear it’s never been built up. It came with some unique parts a couple of headsets, one bottom bracket that fits, one that looks like it’s for a road bike, a carbon fiber Zunow seat post and some salsa skewers. I I would really like some expert advice on the correct size for the front fork as well as some advice on should I go with a rigid fork or a shock, leaning NOS shock. There’s no name on the bike and I can’t find any additional information. I want to do this right and will take my time . So really looking forward to hearing from you experts on the forum.

 

[ishaw]

That is lovely. If I could have a bike in any colour I wanted, that nails it. Nice fillet brazing too, what's the frame made of?

If I were building that myself, I'd try and find a nice rigid fork in either black or colour match paint one, though no idea what fork to recommend. I've always liked the look of segmented forks, bit think a normal crown would suit your frame.

Component wise, I think it would look great with black parts as I think they would suit the frame colours and look really classy.

There is a canti hanger on the back, usually I'd ignore it and go v brakes but in this case I'd stick with csnti brakes and period parts like xt thumb shifters (7 speed) or perhaps xv pro.

I'm sure it will look very tasty when built up whatever you decide to go with.

 

[sunympholepsy]

What an absolute beauty! Zunow are one of my favourite frame builders ever. Always avant garde.
I have never seen their MTB before. Lucky man! An amazing find

 

[sunympholepsy]

As far as I know, their frames were often custom build/unique, and therefore I am not sure a spec sheet for these exists ( I might be wrong). I personally think that the frame deserves some exotica. It would also look great with some good old M900 and grey Mavic ceramic rims....
Oh man, I can’t stop looking at it!

 

[racecarjohnny]

That is lovely. If I could have a bike in any colour I wanted, that nails it. Nice fillet brazing too, what's the frame made of?

If I were building that myself, I'd try and find a nice rigid fork in either black or colour match paint one, though no idea what fork to recommend. I've always liked the look of segmented forks, bit think a normal crown would suit your frame.

Component wise, I think it would look great with black parts as I think they would suit the frame colours and look really classy.

There is a canti hanger on the back, usually I'd ignore it and go v brakes but in this case I'd stick with csnti brakes and period parts like xt thumb shifters (7 speed) or perhaps xv pro.

I'm sure it will look very tasty when built up whatever you decide to go with.

thank for your comments ishaw, question, can you coach me on how to determine what fork/show will work? The headset is threaded and the head tub is 5 inches/12.7cm's tall.

 

[foz]

that is nice! for the fork, you need to measure the steerer tueb and headset to determine what diameter. The photos make it loo larger than 1", but it could be 1 1/8" or 1 1/4". I don't think it will be a propietary size... If 1 1/8", then you will find a lot of options, not so many if it's another size. Without knowing the frame geometry or anything about the model, it's difficult to know if it was designed for a standard early 90's rigid fork, or was built for a sus fork. Canti bridge on the rear probably makes it early to mid 90's, possibly late 90's, so if using a sus fork then 50/60mm, maybe a little more, should be about right. I suggest putting together with whatever fork you have and seeing how it looks - it usually isn't too hard to tell if a frame has the wrong length fork fitted.

 

[racecarjohnny]

“forkin bastages!” Might have to go threadless

 

[BoyBurning]

The frame is stunning, but I'm not feeling it with either of those forks. The rigid look wrong as it seems to have quite a steep head angle? The suspension looks too clumpy. Think it needs suspension, but something more delicate, and neutral in colour... Maybe Some FSX Carbon forks...?

 

[racecarjohnny]

The frame is stunning, but I'm not feeling it with either of those forks. The rigid look wrong as it seems to have quite a steep head angle? The suspension looks too clumpy. Think it needs suspension, but something more delicate, and neutral in colour... Maybe Some FSX Carbon forks...?View attachment 604110

Agree with everything you said. Any idea where I can purchase a fsx?

 

[racecarjohnny]

Update on the Zunow frame build. I struggled for over a month trying to get a threaded fork/shock to work, finally had to get some expert help and they recommended threadless. It’s getting close, seat post should be here next week