The Late, Great Bontrager Race Lite

[br0qn]

Nice find....

Thanks, was a bit of luck to find both of them. You have that amazing blue race lite and you're local to me, ya? I hope you find a good home for it, how I (and you yourself) wish it were a medium. Are you still hunting a size medium yourself? Are you open to colors other than blue?

 

[Oldskool26er]

Yeah the blue race light is mine. Think I'll just keep it for the time being unless I found a trade for a medium in the same condition. I am open to other colors....where are you located?

 

[Tedgey]

Will be following this thread as I have a bonti race I picked up a few months ago which will be my winter project, agree I found it very interesting reading up on the history of KB and the race/racelites although I didn't go nearly as in depth as you by the sounds of it

 

[Oldskool26er]

Will be following this thread as I have a bonti race I picked up a few months ago which will be my winter project, agree I found it very interesting reading up on the history of KB and the race/racelites although I didn't go nearly as in depth as you by the sounds of it

Are you into GT's as well?

 

[Tedgey]

Are you into GT's as well?

Yes I love an old GT

 

[Oldskool26er]

What GT models do you have

 

[Tedgey]

What GT models do you have

 

[br0qn]

When I started learning how to date these frames and how the details changed over the years a question arose around one detail that seemed out of place for what looks to be, and I was sure was, a late vintage - the front mech pulley.

Earlier I said the 1 piece seat stays would mean there was no question this was a '96+ and the 0600 in particular on the non drive side drop out is supposed to be one of if not the final production batch that ended up getting sold as complete bikes through Trek dealers. And that holds true, but that pulley...they were done away with in '94/95 as Keith started finding the newer top pull mechs to be good enough. Earlier top pull mechs didn't shift as well apparently.

In learning this I began to wonder about the apparent conflicting details but I chalked it up to either a custom request to add the pulley or one of the guys in the SC factory working this frame on a late Friday afternoon a few beers deep having a laugh thinking about the head scratching he'd cause 25 years down the road to the new owner.

Turns out it was neither. I've been in close touch with the PO as we chat mtb and we both thought we'd discussed this anomaly before but we hadn't. He got this frame from the original owner so he was able to ease my agonizing over this. The original owner received the frame as a gift from his wife in 94 which explains the pulley. So either there were some prototype 1 piece stays a couple years prior to their implementation or the frame was time traveling into the future mid genesis....no, again it was neither. A crack developed somewhere on the seat stay (PO recalls maybe above the wishbone) and so the bike went back to SC for a warrantied repair and he got a new rear triangle with upgraded, single-piece stays and fresh powder/decals.

Now this poses a new question - being a '94 there's probably equally as much chance (I'm guessing here) of the frame being suspension corrected as there is of it not. Back to the PO - the bike came wearing a Judy but also with a rigid race fork which. Judy being '95+ and race fork included has me thinking it's a rigid...guess I must measure.

 

[slackboy]

My purple one has two piece stays and no pulley, I'd alwaysv thought there was a bit of mix and matching going on, do interesting to hear about the warranty repair on yours.

 

[pw_pw_la]

Yeah, very interesting that it's a repair.

I've heard multiple stories of Franken Bonty's from right before the Trek takeover, or maybe it was right before they shut the Cannery down? Anyway, apparently there are multiple bikes out there made of whatever bits they had left floating around the place, that don't adhere to all the usual rules of what details are where from which year.

Nice to know yours is an earlier one tho!

Do you think you'd be fine to put a composite fork on it, if you wanted, and just run the legs on the longer side to account for any potential sus. correctedness?