Newbie with a Vintage mtb

[fordy0508]

Hi all,

First Post so please be brutal
I'm doing a basic resto on my mtb, it's been in the daily for 20 years and it was 2nd hand then.
I'd like to find out some info and history about it and I'm hoping you can help with that.
It's a Titanium Frame, don't know brand or. Model, it's got wishbone style seat stay with no brake bosses so uses an odyesee pitbull brake.
Various Deore / XT / XTR bits
Mavic Rims
Stupid large crankset
USE forks - again don't know much about them, I know they're rare and they're good too, I love the way they look and handle
Hyperlite bars
And that's about it for the goodies

Plan is to put a smaller chainset on, respray and ride

Enough words, here are the pics

I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my H8216 using hovercraft full of eels.

[ElCani]

If you haven't posted it there already, the Retro Bike MTB forum will be able to help.

[fordy0508]

If you haven't posted it there already, the Retro Bike MTB forum will be able to help.

I've got a post in there, lots of suggestions but we're not quite there yet

I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my H8216 using hovercraft full of eels.

[Brucey]

interesting bike, that. Rear brake looks like an Odyssey Pitbull MkI rollercam brake. IIRC such brakes were flavour of the month in ~1987 to ~1989. I don't recognise the fork but it looks like one from about that time too.

Frame looks more like TIG welded steel to me; I can't be sure from the pics but the weld beads look too narrow for Ti and is that rust on the gear hanger? If a magnet sticks to it, the frame is steel. The paint colour looks about the same as was used on some raleigh M-trax frames in the mid 1990s, but it doesn't especially look like a raleigh to me.

No mudguard eyes suggests a frame made for racing only, maybe custom made, rather than a big-brand frame. If the frame is period correct to the rear brake (rather than modified by chopping the bosses off a later frame) then the fact that it has wishbone stays may be revealing; IIRC there were only a few builders using that style in the late 1980s.

Maybe someone will recognise it out of the box, but it might be a mystery one....

cheers

[fordy0508]

interesting bike, that. Rear brake looks like an Odyssey Pitbull MkI rollercam brake. IIRC such brakes were flavour of the month in ~1987 to ~1989. I don't recognise the fork but it looks like one from about that time too.

Frame looks more like TIG welded steel to me; I can't be sure from the pics but the weld beads look too narrow for Ti and is that rust on the gear hanger? If a magnet sticks to it, the frame is steel. The paint colour looks about the same as was used on some raleigh M-trax frames in the mid 1990s, but it doesn't especially look like a raleigh to me.

No mudguard eyes suggests a frame made for racing only, maybe custom made, rather than a big-brand frame. If the frame is period correct to the rear brake (rather than modified by chopping the bosses off a later frame) then the fact that it has wishbone stays may be revealing; IIRC there were only a few builders using that style in the late 1980s.

Maybe someone will recognise it out of the box, but it might be a mystery one....

cheers

The colour is custom, we sprayed it, it's defo titanium, no rust to the frame, not magnetic, ultra light and defo Ti lol

Thanks

I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my H8216 using hovercraft full of eels.

[Brucey]

it still doesn't look very much like a Ti frame to me; several of the tubes are very heavily manipulated (eg the chainstays), the way the seatstays are made is unlike ti frames that I have seen, the way the cable stops are done is again unlike other Ti frames, the way the seatstays join onto the rear dropouts is odd too. The seat tube looks like it is very thick walled or has a shim in it. All very odd.

What is the wall thickness of the head tube?

cheers

[fordy0508]

Not a clue, I'll measure up when I strip for respay

I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my H8216 using hovercraft full of eels.

[pwa]

It wouldn't be one of those bonded Raleigh jobs would it, possibly with more than one material?

[fordy0508]

It's all one material, we've stripped to bare metal, it was bare when we had it too, not magnetic and weighs FA

I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my H8216 using hovercraft full of eels.

[pwa]

It is a curious thing. I'm sure you have established that it isn't steel, and it doesn't look like ally, so titanium is what you end up with. The way the chainstays taper into the rear droputs is very steel-like, which is not that common with titanium MTBs, so that might narrow it down. Whatever it is, it looks like it was made with an eye for detail.

[zenitb]

Has some similarities ... U-brake and monostay

https://merlintitanium.com/images/merli ... 09_000.jpg

The rear cable routing is not the same though ...

[peetee]

One of my kids has a frame just like that. It was yellow originally and branded BOSS. I think it was made by British Eagle. It is incredibly light for a oversize ally frame.

[Gattonero]

One of my kids has a frame just like that. It was yellow originally and branded BOSS. I think it was made by British Eagle. It is incredibly light for a oversize ally frame.

On a quick glance at the welds, it's not made out of aluminium

[peetee]

One of my kids has a frame just like that. It was yellow originally and branded BOSS. I think it was made by British Eagle. It is incredibly light for a oversize ally frame.

On a quick glance at the welds, it's not made out of aluminium

Fair enough. I was judging it based on the dropouts and tube diameter. My screen resolution isn't good enough to see the welds.

[fordy0508]

One of my kids has a frame just like that. It was yellow originally and branded BOSS. I think it was made by British Eagle. It is incredibly light for a oversize ally frame.

On a quick glance at the welds, it's not made out of aluminium

Fair enough. I was judging it based on the dropouts and tube diameter. My screen resolution isn't good enough to see the welds.

Tube dia is standard not oversized pal

I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my H8216 using hovercraft full of eels.