# MRC McMahon titanium hardtail



## farley325 (Apr 2, 2004)

I just picked up titanium hardtail at a swap without knowing much about it. The frame doesn't have any decals but the seller told me it was manufactured by McMahon circa 1990. I'll try and thorw up some pics soon but I was wondering if anyone has info on McMahon bikes or specifically on a McMahon titanium hardtail. Thanks.


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## laffeaux (Jan 4, 2004)

farley325 said:


> I just picked up titanium hardtail at a swap without knowing much about it. The frame doesn't have any decals but the seller told me it was manufactured by McMahon circa 1990. I'll try and thorw up some pics soon but I was wondering if anyone has info on McMahon bikes or specifically on a McMahon titanium hardtail. Thanks.


Was it at the Cupertino Swap? I saw a guy pushing around a McMahon without stickers at that swap. Any chance that was you?


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## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

laffeaux said:


> Was it at the Cupertino Swap? I saw a guy pushing around a McMahon without stickers at that swap. Any chance that was you?


That's gotta be the one!
It was up at the Velo Swap in SF last year...and I saw it at the cupertino swap before purchase.

Chris-
McMahon is really high end titanium stuff (from what I remember). I have the review of the McMahon titanium in an old MBAction or Mountain Biking magazine that I just picked up.
I'll have to find that mag and let you know more of the details of your new Ti.
I know that they made mostly Titanium aftermarket goodies (forks, stems, ect).

The only downside to your frame would be the missing water bottle bolts on the down tube...Spinergy wheels right?

Is is a scary thing that you can make a post like that and have more than one person here know the bike?  
But on the plus side, we've got one more to join us on vintage rides (whenever those are...)


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## farley325 (Apr 2, 2004)

laffeaux said:


> Was it at the Cupertino Swap? I saw a guy pushing around a McMahon without stickers at that swap. Any chance that was you?


Yeah, that was me. Did you recognize the frame as a McMahon or were you the guy I talked to about it at your booth?


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## Boy named SSue (Jan 7, 2004)

Wasn't there a McMahon ti at the San Rafael swap last summer with toggle cams? Maybe the same?


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## farley325 (Apr 2, 2004)

Rumpfy said:


> That's gotta be the one!
> It was up at the Velo Swap in SF last year...and I saw it at the cupertino swap before purchase.
> 
> Chris-
> ...


 I had a McMahon ti seatpost on an old Santa Cruz Tazmon (still looking to replace since it has since been stolen) and a Steely Danz crankset. Thats the extent of my knowledge with regards to McMahon's products. I debated buying a moonshot but I am really looking to get another Tazmon.
If you do find that article I'd love to pay you to run as scan of it I've got a pretty high quality scanner at work and Adobe Acrobat so I can upload it as a PDF for future reference. 
I took the frame to Shaw's in Santa Clara and they told me they only weld bottle mounts now and the don't weld ti. So I went to Slough's in San Jose and he thinks he can press in a new set so I'm crossing my fingers.
Besides two people siting this bike it also appears that this exact frame is reviewed on this site! Here's the link http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/Bike/product_18312.shtml The description says that one of the bottle cage mounts was drilled too big and thats exactly the case with this frame. I'd be extremely coincidental if another ti hardtail had the same problem. 
Thanks for the input.


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## laffeaux (Jan 4, 2004)

farley325 said:


> I took the frame to Shaw's in Santa Clara and they told me they only weld bottle mounts now and the don't weld ti. So I went to Slough's in San Jose and he thinks he can press in a new set so I'm crossing my fingers.


Call me cheap, but what's wrong with using a camelback, and covering the holes with electrical tape? Unless you ride at night and use a lighting system, what's the point of water bottle cages on a MTB?

For an everyday rider it seems like a lot of work.


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## farley325 (Apr 2, 2004)

laffeaux said:


> Call me cheap, but what's wrong with using a camelback, and covering the holes with electrical tape? Unless you ride at night and use a lighting system, what's the point of water bottle cages on a MTB?
> 
> For an everyday rider it seems like a lot of work.


I do ride at night at least in the winter when the sun goes down earlier. My main concern is for resale. I bought the frame not knowing if I would keep it or not since it is a little big for my taste. Slough's is on my commute home and work right near Shaw's so it really isn't much work finding out what can be done. If it requires welding I'll pass but if the compression fit mounts will work they are affordable enough to make it worthwhile.


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## GrumpyOne (Jan 7, 2004)

They do make oversized Rivet Nuts for just such an occasion. Here's a link some at Bicycle Tools Etc.:
http://www.bicycletoolsetc.com/index.cgi?id=604690419865&c=Tools&sc=Frame Building&tc=Riv-Nuts

Good Luck,
jw



farley325 said:


> I do ride at night at least in the winter when the sun goes down earlier. My main concern is for resale. I bought the frame not knowing if I would keep it or not since it is a little big for my taste. Slough's is on my commute home and work right near Shaw's so it really isn't much work finding out what can be done. If it requires welding I'll pass but if the compression fit mounts will work they are affordable enough to make it worthwhile.


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## uphiller (Jan 13, 2004)

MRC did make a few other parts. In the early 90's, they made their own elastomer suspension fork, the Shaka-Zulu, which used a Manitou-compatible crown and stanchions. They later made another fork around 1997 with real damping. Nobody bought it.
They also made several types of brakes, a cantilever, a weird linkage brake for canti studs, and another linkage brake meant for u-brake studs. The last two can be seen at www.blackbirdsf.org/brake_obscura.
They made those cranks that someone mentioned, the Steely Danz with steel arms and aluminum spider and taper. They had another version, the Steely Danz BD with their own OS aluminum axle and outboard bearings. A few made it to market from what I recall.
McMahon went under around 1999, from what I heard because of poor business practices and quality control.


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## Guest (Apr 30, 2004)

here are some pictures of a really nice 
McMahon Ti MTB

Carsten


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## Djuc Wun (Jan 10, 2004)

I have a stem, its lovely.... their stuff doesnt come up for sale very often


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## Crell (Apr 7, 2004)

Carsten said:


>


they are stunning -and I never saw one in the UK. I'd forgotten about the forks - nice to see them again.

The link also has a pic from a trade show - and it's nice to see the bonty exactly as mine looked when I first got it.


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## bulC (Mar 12, 2004)

*McMahon: The good, the bad & the ugly*

McMahon went under around 1999, from what I heard because of poor business practices and quality control.[/QUOTE]

I spent a lot of saddle time on a McMahon ti hardtail in Crested Butte. Great frame, the one I had had a larger than usual downtube so it was just plenty rigid at the pedals.
Mine had those scissor brakes on rollercam mounts, and they were major mud collectors. I had to dunk the whole bike into streams numerous times to keep the wheels turning.

My experience with McMahon stuff other than the aformerntioned great-riding hardtails is 100 percent negative.

Tested his suspension fork, it just barely moved up and down, way less than an inch. not impressed.
Have his road fork on my fixed gear, ti legs bonded into long-socket al crown. it's on the fixer because I don't trust it on a go-fast road bike because one leg pulled completely out one day on a ride. I PC-7ed it together and added pop rivets for insurance.
Had two of his ti seatposts. The one on my road bike put me on my ass at 25 mph when one of the welded on ears broke clean off. Got home, looked at the other one, which was in front on my mtb tandem. Ear cracked clean thru probably would have broken off next ride. Gave them back to him at interbike, he wasn't in the least apologetic and was only concerned about getting them hidden from view asap.
As far as quality, well, McMahon still blows away Clark-Kent. At least I haven't heard anything awful about his frames breaking right and left.


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## uphiller (Jan 13, 2004)

As far as quality, well, McMahon still blows away Clark-Kent. At least I haven't heard anything awful about his frames breaking right and left.[/QUOTE]

Clark-Kent had a reputation for poor quality control, too? My brother rides an F14 that he bought in 1994, and it has seen its share of hard use and a couple crashes, too. No problems yet.
Whatever happened to them, anyways? I heard some weird story that they got bought by Trek and that one of the guys didn't want in on the deal and skipped town. Anybody know what really happened?
Back to MRC... I had their cantilevers and they worked really well for a while. Then the metal bushings they rotated on got all distorted and the brakes wouldn't rotate anymore. The linear titanium return springs also were too soft and got so bowed out that they couldn't reach the pins up top on the calipers that they were supposed to butt up against. I got those brakes for Christmas was I was 15- I weighed 85lbs at the time. Fancy-looking junk. 
Some of this old stuff was really cool and well thought out, but a lot of the time it's obvious why almost all these companies went under.
Afterthought: MRC also made a road brake, essentially a CNC knock-off of the Campy Delta brakes. A friend of minde had them and they did look sweet- but the cable fixing bolt was on the back of the brake, i.e., you had te remove the brake from the frame or fork, reset the cable tension and remount the brake until trial and error got you at the right cable tension. All apparently in the name of a clean-looking brake with no protruding bolts.


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## farley325 (Apr 2, 2004)

*McMahon Update*

Thanks for all of the helpful advice/wisdom on this thread. I found a local shop who installed new bottle cage rivnuts for dirt cheap. I've attached some new photos of the frame as it is now as well as the McMahon scissor brakes. I'm thinking of selling this thing since it is a bit too big for me. Any thoughts?


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## uphiller (Jan 13, 2004)

If you want to get rid of the brakes, send me a PM. I'm definitely up for buying those.
Tim


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## idapimpofidaho (Aug 18, 2008)

how much did you buy it for i might want to sell mine


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## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

idapimpofidaho said:


> how much did you buy it for i might want to sell mine


eBay and let it ride. (also mind the 'for sale' policy in these forums)


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## gm1230126 (Nov 4, 2005)

farley325 said:


> The description says that one of the bottle cage mounts was drilled too big and thats exactly the case with this frame.


Can't you just use a 5mm rivnut to fix it. I've done this before and the work great. Any LBS can order them from QBP and if you don't have the rivnut tool and correct mandrel most LBS's that have been selling aluminum frame bikes for a while will have one because they tend to wallow out after time on an aluminum frame.


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