Time for a slight update...
I decided to make a few tweaks before taking it to the 2021 GT Bicycles Malverns Classic last month and braved the competition to enter it into the Muc-Off 'Retro Show & SHine', judged by a prestigious and noteworthy panel of judges including Retorbike's own Chris 'Longun' Longbone. I am delighted and proud to have come home with a 'Top 10' rosette: that was my goal. It really isn;t win-worthy becasue of what it is and becasue there are so many bikes that are simply better looking. The bike came a close fourth, with a crowd 'cheer-off' to decide the third place between this and Giles's gorgeous Fuquay, which was a very deserving top three finisher (I also cheered emphatically when the call came for his bike!).
For the display on the Retroike stand as well as the show'n'shine I felt it had to be completely period correct, so off went the A•TAC stem without the noodle (thanks, again, to Mike Wike aka 'ridevintagemtb' for informing me that non-noodle A•TAC stems only came out in 1992 with the advent of suspension forks and the redundancy of those noodles); prior to the retail introduction of non-nooodle A•TACs people either cut them off or left them on when running suspension forks. With that in mind and the crucial date of non-noodle manufacture, this stem HAD to go!
I replaced it with the original (to this original bike) A•TAC stem that I had powder coated at Dark Matter in the US courtesy of Jason Smith who coordinated a bunch of parts for dayglo yellow powder coating (I also had an Accu•Trax done same time). Now, me being me and by that I mean "fussy" I wasn't too happy about the dull finish of this stem BUT it works perfectly on this bike when you consider the 'race replica look' and it really looks like an original faded 30+ year old A•TAC stem! So that's just perfect!
I tried a fit with the previously NOS neon/dayglo yellow Answer TaperLITE bars but it just looked like yellow overload on the cockpit area, so I swapped that out for a silver HyperLITE I had on hand and allocated for this build before deciding on color options. Again, perfect.
In between fitting the yellow A•TAC I tried an original FTW stem which I got from Nick (retrospud) a while ago. That was wet painted neon yellow by Argos and color-wise was perfect, but the thing looked weird when I fitted it (I didn't take phots - doh) becasue it's quite short and has a high rise, which aren't obvious when looking at it not fitted to a bike. Still, the A•TAC just suits perfectly with this being a '1990/91 "team" spec' build, so had the FTW stem been the 'right' fit, I might've gone with the A•TAC in any case.
Other changes for absolute period correctness were the blackwall tires for tan wall original onZa Porcs 1.9. These surprised me greatly once fitted as they seem to 'lift; the bike and make it look much lighter and racier. They're on the verge of death with a lot of rubber-aged cracking. Shame, but adds to the look of it being ">30 years old"!
Last changes for Malverns were removal of some decals and a swap of the neon pink EASTON for a neon yellow, OE spec.
Altogether these changes have transformed the appearance and made it look even lighter and faster - which I love! Into the van it went for a truly memorable and fantastic weekend camping at Britian's best MTB festival!
I thrashed the shiz out of it around the campsite and even inside the arena at Malverns before being told of the "no riding in the arena rule" (ironic but justified for H&S reasons) and I'm pleased to report it's still in one piece. It felt great to finally ride the thing! Whilst on display at the Retrobike stand it fell over and the saddle landed against a beartrap-type pedal of the bike parked alongside. Gutted that the previously NOS white Turbo now has a deep scratch but it really adds to its overall character! "I got that at Malverns 2021!"
The bike got a lot of attention which amazed me - it evokes so much nostalgia for both myself (which is why I built it) and seemingly everyone who sees it that I feel completely vindicated in spending so much effort and time in sourcing the build kit and putting it all together. There's a pic of a guy named Sam who approached me with ear-to-ear smiles and congratulatory cheers before asking if I'd take a photo of him with it (he knew the story of it) - which I gratefully obliged - then let him ride the thing. He was over the moon, and so was I.
It's been photographed and featured on Pinkbike and Andrew 'Doddy' Dodd's GMBN YouTube show and will soon be featured in a new book publication by MTB photographer extraordinaire, Geoff Waugh, who took the most beautiful photos of the bike I've got to date. I'm flattered and overjoyed at the love it's received!
A replica/fake/homage/whatever you want to call it, when you see it you see a YETI C-26 which are rarer than rocking horse shlt and it is undeniably cool! Thanks for looking.