Not for the faint-hearted: Retromodded Bridgestone MB-1

[fearfactoryüberalles]

Hello peeps,

so this neglected frameset surfaced, splashed with black wall paint on, dented and unloved-so naturally I instantly knew it must be rescued.

I don't have pics of the previous state but rest assured it was looking as though it is heading to the heavenly steelyard....

Fast forward 2018 January when I decided to give it a fresh life with a funny/cool/outrageus colour scheme and a bit of retromodding-OK, not a bit :facepalm:
Local powdercoater did a well enough job, apart from the dent in the top tube-it is in as new condition, all threads and tapers are fine and sound.

It's an early 90's frame with Suntour rear dropouts/no rear cable hanger and this tiny lovely detail makes it unique in my little collection of MTBs.

With new paint the frame weighs 2200 gr, the forks' weight is 830 gr- from this data I decided to hunt "modern" parts for it and high end spec too, to give it an edge over todays' made cheap & nasty so called "retro stuff".

Parts list as it follows:

Frame: Bridgestone MB-1, Ritchey Logic Prestige steel tubeset, Suntour dropouts, Made in Japan, circa 18.5" size

Fork: Bridgestone, cro-mo steel

Headset: Shimano 1" with alu Ritchey Logic locknut
Stem: Alcoa, steel, used
Handlebar: ZOOM Professional, 25.4 x600 mm, new
Grips: Syncros/CONCEPT, new


Brakes: Shimano Deore V-brakes, new
Brake Pads: same
Brake Cables: none yet

Brake Levers/Shifters: Modded ST-M750 with new SL-M748 internals: 3x8 speed!

Front Derailleur: Shimano Deore XT, M751 28.6 mm, used
Rear Derailleur: Shimano Deore XT, M760, new
Cassette: CS-M737, 11-28, with new 4 lower sprockets
Chain: KMC X8, new
Cranks: White Industries, 175 mm, new alu rings & bolts
Bottom Bracket: Modedd alu NECO, 68X107,5, 220 gr., new
Pedals: XLC alu, new

Hub Skewers: XLC alu, new
Rims: SUNRIMS EQ21, 36H, new
Hubs: Shimano M750, new
Spokes & Nipples: Sapim SS, new
Tyres: IRC Mythos, steel bead, F&R thread patterns, 26x1.95, NOS
Tubes: Generic, new

Saddle: Rolls, used
Seatpost: Funn, new
Seatpost Binder: XLC alu, new

Weight: 10.8 kg without cables

Pics to be uploaded, so bear with me

Cheers,
Endre

 

[The History Man]

Checking in. I like oddball.

 

[Retro Spud]

Checking in. I like oddball.

Mein Gott, perhaps a kindred spirit has been born.... (we could have two)

I doubt it will reach your standards of bizarre-ness but checking in never the less

 

[fearfactoryüberalles]

here it is:

 

[KermitGKona88]

Re:

Looks excellent

 

[The History Man]

Re:

Very restrained.

 

[Retro Spud]

Re: Re:

Very restrained.

As the undisputed champ of “Un restrained” what were you expecting

Even for you THM with your Zen master qualities on chaos theory builds
It still takes a lot of hard work, careful planning and tenacity to fully execute a convincing “Dogs Dinner” build that looks to all the world like it’s been simply thrown together.


What were you expecting “serious competition”

 

[The History Man]

Re: Re:

Very restrained.

As the undisputed champ of “Un restrained” what were you expecting

Even for you THM with your Zen master qualities on chaos theory builds
It still takes a lot of hard work, careful planning and tenacity to fully execute a convincing “Dogs Dinner” build that looks to all the world like it’s been simply thrown together.


What were you expecting “serious competition”

What exactly are you trying to say? I think I'm going to take the whole thing as a compliment.

As for the OP, very er, nice. I was expecting a little more colour variation along the lines of...........

 

[fearfactoryüberalles]

Thanks everyone,

I was planning using a NOS ZOKES sus. fork, lovely orange too, and with a replaceable steerer I could manage to build it in. Hence the orange coloured theme. And a bit like a Gulf-Edition bike, too :facepalm:

Orange 31.8 Funn handlebars were also on the menu, but in the end I thought putting 90 mm suspension forks (A-C being 460 mm or so) into it and adding circa 1.5 kg more to the weight is too much a hassle and would stress the frame too harshly. Modern fat bars would look too chunky to my eyes, so they were destined to another build in the future.

Anyway I'm glad how it turned out and the final addition will be some custom-made decals I guess, when I can contact the local decal guy, hopefully soon.

Cheers,
Endre