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Project No. 5 - Alpinestars cro-mega DX 1991
Time to get back to the bikes that are my passion, alpinestars from the early nineties.
In this case a 1991 cro-mega DX. No world beater I’ll give you that but a truly beautiful bike that stood out in the paddock as a bike that pushed the boundaries of off-road bike design. The cro-mega was the heavier, cheaper and slightly less oversize sister of the al-mega. Sadly, many of the al-mega haven’t survived the test of time, with cracking common around the bottom bracket, seat post clamp and most commonly at the head tube (hence, the headtube gusset was introduced on later 91’ models and all 92’ and 93‘ al-mega). There was also the range topping ti-mega, these were Litespeed made and are ultra rare. Thus if your going for a 1991 alpinestars your only realistic option is the cro-mega.
Full 91’ alpinestars catalogue here:
http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=53745
This one has proved a strange purchase for me, I first saw it a week ago on ebay with a £100 buy-it-now price. I thought better of it as I’m on a two bike rule at home and this would mean me having to get rid of one of my bikes. A real shame as I’m really enjoying both at the moment. However, as the week wore on the more I thought about it, eventually with me getting involved in a bidding war and paying more than the original buy-it-now price!
Link to auction:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0310474530
I picked it up straight away as it was local to me in the pie eating town of Wigan, Lancashire. The bike has been neglected for some time, this is evident by the rust on the running gear and general scruffy nature of the bike. However, what really appealed to me other than it being an alpinestars was it’s originality. With exception of a replaced front mech it’s to the same spec that Sharrocks Cycles in Chorley, Lancashire would have sold it in 1991, even the Ritchey Force Quad tyres are original.
Here’s some pic’s of the bike after I’d thrown a bucket of water over it at home:
I’m still thinking over what to do with it, but have already had a quick tinker with a few parts that I’ve been hiding away. For me an alpinestars needs Answer accessories so I’ve added an A-Tac, Hyper-Lites and Hyper-Ends so far. I’ve also added a temporary 29.4mm silver Kalloy post and Flite saddle in order to get a decent impression of it’s proportions. I’d like to experiment a bit with anodised colours on this one to compliment the fantastic graphics, so please give me your ideas and thoughts please.
Here's some pics after my quick tinker:
Time to get back to the bikes that are my passion, alpinestars from the early nineties.
In this case a 1991 cro-mega DX. No world beater I’ll give you that but a truly beautiful bike that stood out in the paddock as a bike that pushed the boundaries of off-road bike design. The cro-mega was the heavier, cheaper and slightly less oversize sister of the al-mega. Sadly, many of the al-mega haven’t survived the test of time, with cracking common around the bottom bracket, seat post clamp and most commonly at the head tube (hence, the headtube gusset was introduced on later 91’ models and all 92’ and 93‘ al-mega). There was also the range topping ti-mega, these were Litespeed made and are ultra rare. Thus if your going for a 1991 alpinestars your only realistic option is the cro-mega.
Full 91’ alpinestars catalogue here:
http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=53745
This one has proved a strange purchase for me, I first saw it a week ago on ebay with a £100 buy-it-now price. I thought better of it as I’m on a two bike rule at home and this would mean me having to get rid of one of my bikes. A real shame as I’m really enjoying both at the moment. However, as the week wore on the more I thought about it, eventually with me getting involved in a bidding war and paying more than the original buy-it-now price!
Link to auction:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0310474530
I picked it up straight away as it was local to me in the pie eating town of Wigan, Lancashire. The bike has been neglected for some time, this is evident by the rust on the running gear and general scruffy nature of the bike. However, what really appealed to me other than it being an alpinestars was it’s originality. With exception of a replaced front mech it’s to the same spec that Sharrocks Cycles in Chorley, Lancashire would have sold it in 1991, even the Ritchey Force Quad tyres are original.
Here’s some pic’s of the bike after I’d thrown a bucket of water over it at home:
I’m still thinking over what to do with it, but have already had a quick tinker with a few parts that I’ve been hiding away. For me an alpinestars needs Answer accessories so I’ve added an A-Tac, Hyper-Lites and Hyper-Ends so far. I’ve also added a temporary 29.4mm silver Kalloy post and Flite saddle in order to get a decent impression of it’s proportions. I’d like to experiment a bit with anodised colours on this one to compliment the fantastic graphics, so please give me your ideas and thoughts please.
Here's some pics after my quick tinker:
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