# 17 years ago last week... Bontrager content



## Kirk Pacenti (Sep 26, 2006)

I had just turned 24 years old a few weeks before this pic was taken. Time flies when you're having fun! :thumbsup:

Bontrager

Cheers, 
KP


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## G-reg (Jan 12, 2004)

Very cool. Do you old timers ever wonder what happened to those frames? I'd like to think they didn't collect dust...... Before they became collectable...... to collect dust.


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## Kirk Pacenti (Sep 26, 2006)

G-reg said:


> Very cool. Do you old timers ever wonder what happened to those frames? I'd like to think they didn't collect dust...... Before they became collectable...... to collect dust.


The only one I am interested in is my personal bike... a single speed I built there in 1996. There's a forum member who owns it now, but he won't sell it back to me! :madman:

Cheers, 
KP


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## Fix the Spade (Aug 4, 2008)

Kirk Pacenti said:


> The only one I am interested in is my personal bike... a single speed I built there in 1996. There's a forum member who owns it now, but he won't sell it back to me!


Begs the question, why not just build yourself a replica?

It wouldn't be lacking in authenticity after all, even if it wouldn't have quite the same attachment as the original.


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## GrumpyOne (Jan 7, 2004)

Kirk Pacenti said:


> The only one I am interested in is my personal bike... a single speed I built there in 1996. There's a forum member who owns it now, but he won't sell it back to me! :madman:
> 
> Cheers,
> KP


I'm just keeping it safe for you... 

jw


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## Kirk Pacenti (Sep 26, 2006)

GrumpyOne said:


> I'm just keeping it safe for you...
> 
> jw


aaarrrrggggghhhhhh! :madman::madman::madman:


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## jtmartino (Jul 31, 2008)

GrumpyOne said:


> I'm just keeping it safe for you...
> 
> jw


Why not sell it back?

I love reuniting previous owners of stuff with gear I'm selling/giving away. Especially if there's a sentimental attachment (as is in this case.)

Who knows - maybe you can work out some kind of deal


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## Francis Buxton (Apr 2, 2004)

It looks like he may actually still ride it....


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## G-reg (Jan 12, 2004)

Ok, time for some Antique Roadshow/Pawnstars history from you two. 

Grumpy, how'd you come about owning it... And how did Kirk know you have it? 

Kirk, so are there any special details that made this different from all the others that weren't your personal frame?


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## Kirk Pacenti (Sep 26, 2006)

G-reg said:


> Ok, time for some Antique Roadshow/Pawnstars history from you two.
> 
> Grumpy, how'd you come about owning it... And how did Kirk know you have it?
> 
> Kirk, so are there any special details that made this different from all the others that weren't your personal frame?


I am not sure how JW ended up with it, but I had traded it to a fiend in Santa Cruz for another bike a few weeks before I moved to Seattle.

Bontrager frames were very good / fast handling bikes, but a bit too short and steep for my tastes. I always felt like I was going to go over the bars on my stock Race and Race Lite bikes. In fact, I think I did go over the bars more on those bikes than any other bike I had previously owned.

I custom built this one around a size "large" seat tube, but with a 72* seat tube angle instead of the stock 74* seat tube angle. I also stretched the top tube out to 24" from 23", lengthened the head tube to 5.2" (I think) and steepened the head tube angle from 71.5* to 72*

It was a very balanced and sharp handling bike. In fact, I liked it so much that all my bikes (hardtails) since then have shared this geo. I don't ride hardtails anymore, but I am tempted to build another one with a slightly longer TT and slacken the HTA to a more fashion forward 68-69*.

Cheers, 
KP


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## A. Spence (Sep 25, 2009)

Kirk Pacenti said:


> aaarrrrggggghhhhhh! :madman::madman::madman:


Kirk,

I can understand why you'd want that bike back. Some bikes just look right. That Bontrager is one of them.

Alistair.


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## Sven Trials (Sep 15, 2005)

Hey Kirk, my wife and I used to make frames and with the passage of time it's fun to flashback to each frame like an old friend. 

By the way she says she can still weld you under the table on aluminum. Hahaha!!! A flashback of the Control Tech days...


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## dr.welby (Jan 6, 2004)

GrumpyOne said:


> I'm just keeping it safe for you...
> 
> jw


And the period-correct Titec/Bontrager post and saddle? Ouch.


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## Kirk Pacenti (Sep 26, 2006)

Sven Trials said:


> Hey Kirk, my wife and I used to make frames and with the passage of time it's fun to flashback to each frame like an old friend.
> 
> By the way she says she can still weld you under the table on aluminum. Hahaha!!! A flashback of the Control Tech days...


Do I know your wife? Did she work at Sport Works NW for a while?


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## Sven Trials (Sep 15, 2005)

Ya she worked at Sportworks for a while, had her own shop until manufacturing crashed around here then retrained to be a scrub tech. Now doing hip and knee replacement surgeries.


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## Flat Ark (Oct 14, 2006)

Instead of Kirk building Himself a replica, why not build a replica and make a swap with GrumpyOne for the original? That'd be a win/win situation for both parties I would think.(?)


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## GrumpyOne (Jan 7, 2004)

G-reg said:


> Ok, time for some Antique Roadshow/Pawnstars history from you two.
> 
> Grumpy, how'd you come about owning it... And how did Kirk know you have it?
> 
> Kirk, so are there any special details that made this different from all the others that weren't your personal frame?





Kirk Pacenti said:


> I am not sure how JW ended up with it, but I had traded it to a fiend in Santa Cruz for another bike a few weeks before I moved to Seattle.


To further the story...

I bought it from a gentleman in New Mexico in Early 2004. (After e-mailing back and forth for months trying to close the deal.) He said he bought it via the MTBR Marketplace sometime in 1997 and the seller was from Northern California (Santa Cruz I assume).

jw


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## Kirk Pacenti (Sep 26, 2006)

Sven Trials said:


> Ya she worked at Sportworks for a while, had her own shop until manufacturing crashed around here then retrained to be a scrub tech. Now doing hip and knee replacement surgeries.


 Michelle? She was a darn good welder! :thumbsup:


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## bsieb (Aug 23, 2003)

A. Spence said:


> Kirk,
> 
> I can understand why you'd want that bike back. Some bikes just look right. That Bontrager is one of them.
> 
> Alistair.


+1, that is one drop dead gorgeous bike! I will never forget her either...


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## customfab (Jun 8, 2008)

Best welding hood ever made!

Which reminds me I need to get a backup before the auto hood crap takes over and puts huntsman out of business.


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## permanent (Oct 18, 2012)

it is cool1


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## Kirk Pacenti (Sep 26, 2006)

customfab said:


> Best welding hood ever made!
> 
> Which reminds me I need to get a backup before the auto hood crap takes over and puts huntsman out of business.


Agreed, less is more!


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## Yogii (Jun 5, 2008)

I never understood the Mono seat stay. Agreed they were a fast handling bike...


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## Kirk Pacenti (Sep 26, 2006)

Yogii said:


> I never understood the Mono seat stay. Agreed they were a fast handling bike...


What's to understand? Just another way of doing it... Fwiw, I don't care for the aesthetic, but it makes a ton of sense for production bikes. Much more efficient to build wishbone sub-assemblies, than cutting left and right seatstays.

Cheers, 
KP


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## smithcreek (Nov 27, 2012)

GrumpyOne said:


> I'm just keeping it safe for you...
> 
> jw


Hi, can you tell me what size the HT is on this bike and what forks you are using? Thanks!


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## jtmartino (Jul 31, 2008)

Yogii said:


> I never understood the Mono seat stay. Agreed they were a fast handling bike...


Mono stays resist the twisting and flexing forces imparted by cantilever brakes better than regular seatstays.


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## GrumpyOne (Jan 7, 2004)

smithcreek said:


> Hi, can you tell me what size the HT is on this bike and what forks you are using? Thanks!


It's a 1" headtube, don't remember the length. (But I think it's shorter then what Kirk remembers and listed above.)

The fork is a 1" Pace RC31, 420mm axle to crown. Probably the last 1" Pace made as I got it just as DT Swiss was buying them out back in 2007.

jw


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## Yogii (Jun 5, 2008)

Kirk,

If it is so efficient, why don't more people use them. On-One is the only one that comes to mind.


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## jtmartino (Jul 31, 2008)

Yogii said:


> Kirk,
> 
> If it is so efficient, why don't more people use them. On-One is the only one that comes to mind.


And Dekerf, Sycip, Mountain Goat, Schwinn, Rock Lobster, Moots and many carbon manufacturers (and many others I'm forgetting.)

http://forums.mtbr.com/vintage-retro-classic/wishbone-seat-stays-466161.html


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## Yogii (Jun 5, 2008)

Your right, my bad...


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## smithcreek (Nov 27, 2012)

GrumpyOne said:


> It's a 1" headtube, don't remember the length. (But I think it's shorter then what Kirk remembers and listed above.)
> 
> The fork is a 1" Pace RC31, 420mm axle to crown. Probably the last 1" Pace made as I got it just as DT Swiss was buying them out back in 2007.
> 
> jw


Thanks jw. I'm looking for a fork for my privateer comp, quadra 21r finally toast and just not worth reviving. I'd like to go rigid anyway. I'll add this to the short list of forks to keep an eye out for.


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## davesauvageau (Jan 8, 2010)

We had a baby blue, white and orange Bontrager come through the shop this last summer. It was all original and in great shape. He rides it a lot and takes care of it. I asked the guy if he would sell it and there was no way! Those things are just too perfect to let go.


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## bsieb (Aug 23, 2003)

smithcreek said:


> Thanks jw. I'm looking for a fork for my privateer comp, quadra 21r finally toast and just not worth reviving. I'd like to go rigid anyway. I'll add this to the short list of forks to keep an eye out for.


Consider a Waltworks custom steel fork also, I've got two of them and they are hard to beat for smooth cush. Probably not much difference in price, just a longer wait, and the ride/fit will be tailored to you, your bike, and your riding style. Makes a great frame even greater IMO.


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## jcave216 (Feb 23, 2010)

This thread brings back great memories I bought a Bontrager OR in 1994 and rode that bike until 2002 when I sadly ripped the derailleur hanger off. It was purple with white and silver decals.


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## cchough (Apr 26, 2006)

I'm constantly on the lookout for a Bontrager RaceLite to replace the one I foolishly sold many moons ago. I've thought about having a replica made because like Kirk, the original geo was a little short in the top tube for me.

Ultimately I decided to go with a Sycip as I've wanted one of those for a long time. And while a Neo-trager would be cool, it still wouldn't be a Bontrager.


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