Late Summer Ride Off the Beaten Path

Had a beautiful ride yesterday on my 95% completed ATB dream build. The first bike I’ve ever built up from a bare frame.

I had intended to do do this with my dad’s old ‘93 MB-2, but after sitting under my brother’s house in Maui for 10 yrs, rust had eaten a nickel sized hole in the chain-stay. The frame was a smidge too small for me, anyway. This ‘89 MB-1 frame was a surprise CL find last year. A fellow was parting out his winter commuter. He knew what he had, so I won’t say it was cheap, but it was exactly what I wanted.

I salvaged the old XT groupset, Ritchey levers, Specialized cranks and the Ritchey designed biplane fork from my dad’s bike. Unfortunately, the steerer tube is too short for this larger frame. My plan is to hire a local frame builder to lengthen it. Once that’s on, this baby will be 100% (until I start tinkering with the drive train). The Tange fork on it now is not original to the MB-1, but I couldn’t wait to get out and ride.

I love this bike! I can go anywhere, do anything! It’s so dialed in now, it feels like an extension of my own body. It might sound silly, but the experience over the past year of planning the build, sourcing the parts, overhauling the 30 year old parts from my father’s bike, researching and learning how to work on every aspect of the bike, working through mistakes and frustrations to build, and then finally ride it, has been life affirming.

Enjoy your bikes, everyone! And thanks for all the inspiration!