MuchAlohaNui
Senior Retro Guru
Sleep well little buddy...
Coming projects and limited space with 20 bikes or so is forcing a shake up here at the house. Time for a 'de'build thread. All these build threads...how about a deconstruction thread with a bit of story?
The story goes: Back in the mid-to-late 80's, two brothers, who lived in Southern Germany, were heavily absorbed into the mountain bike scene. They ate, slept and drank mountain biking together. Around late 1990 to early 1991 the younger brother was diagnosed with a somewhat regressive muscular dystrophy and his riding time dropped off as he struggled with his disease. In mid-to-late 1991 there were rumors of the formation of the new S Works division coming out of Specialized and this excited the younger brother greatly.
As a moral booster and a bit of planning with his favorite bike shop, the boys mother ordered the then new Specialized Stumpjump S Works Team bike (#497) in an attempt to get the boy on the bike again and outside with his older brother. This heartfelt gesture from his mother and family and his new lease on riding was short lived. He was only able to ride a few times and spent most of the time in and out of the hospital. About six months after receiving the bike, the boy passed from his disease at the age of 18 or 19.
After his death, the mother insisted that the bike be hung on display in their family house as a reminder to their loss... to her loss. Fast-forward nearly 30 years later, the surviving older brother, clearly now a grown man with a family of his own suggested to his mother that they sell the bike and focus on the grand kids- who are full of life. She reluctantly accepted to sell the bike after much persuasion.
In comes me. A complete stranger. My only claim is that I happened to search online at the right time just a few hours after the bike was listed by the surviving brother. When I picked up the bike, I was unaware of any of this, but the brother was quite somber when I showed up. I asked about the history of the bike and that is when he opened up about his little brother. I quietly listened while he talked story about his brother and enthusiasm as well as his final days. His ultimate goal was for the bike to go to a good home and that I share the story about his brother and the bike. I promised, so I share the story with you now.
As of now, I do not want to give up the bike due to its history and the sincere talk I had with the brother was touching. Not only is it a cool bike, but it is a special bike. There is history and it has a story. I think deconstructed in a dark box where it is not exposed to UV and moisture at is the next logical step at this point in time. I also limited the disassembly such that I can assemble with minimal effort and derailleur adjustment and I left nothing under tension. So! In that, sleep well #497, we'll see you in a while.
Coming projects and limited space with 20 bikes or so is forcing a shake up here at the house. Time for a 'de'build thread. All these build threads...how about a deconstruction thread with a bit of story?
The story goes: Back in the mid-to-late 80's, two brothers, who lived in Southern Germany, were heavily absorbed into the mountain bike scene. They ate, slept and drank mountain biking together. Around late 1990 to early 1991 the younger brother was diagnosed with a somewhat regressive muscular dystrophy and his riding time dropped off as he struggled with his disease. In mid-to-late 1991 there were rumors of the formation of the new S Works division coming out of Specialized and this excited the younger brother greatly.
As a moral booster and a bit of planning with his favorite bike shop, the boys mother ordered the then new Specialized Stumpjump S Works Team bike (#497) in an attempt to get the boy on the bike again and outside with his older brother. This heartfelt gesture from his mother and family and his new lease on riding was short lived. He was only able to ride a few times and spent most of the time in and out of the hospital. About six months after receiving the bike, the boy passed from his disease at the age of 18 or 19.
After his death, the mother insisted that the bike be hung on display in their family house as a reminder to their loss... to her loss. Fast-forward nearly 30 years later, the surviving older brother, clearly now a grown man with a family of his own suggested to his mother that they sell the bike and focus on the grand kids- who are full of life. She reluctantly accepted to sell the bike after much persuasion.
In comes me. A complete stranger. My only claim is that I happened to search online at the right time just a few hours after the bike was listed by the surviving brother. When I picked up the bike, I was unaware of any of this, but the brother was quite somber when I showed up. I asked about the history of the bike and that is when he opened up about his little brother. I quietly listened while he talked story about his brother and enthusiasm as well as his final days. His ultimate goal was for the bike to go to a good home and that I share the story about his brother and the bike. I promised, so I share the story with you now.
As of now, I do not want to give up the bike due to its history and the sincere talk I had with the brother was touching. Not only is it a cool bike, but it is a special bike. There is history and it has a story. I think deconstructed in a dark box where it is not exposed to UV and moisture at is the next logical step at this point in time. I also limited the disassembly such that I can assemble with minimal effort and derailleur adjustment and I left nothing under tension. So! In that, sleep well #497, we'll see you in a while.
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