# 1986 Ross Mt. Whitney: MOMBAT bike #1



## First Flight (Jan 25, 2004)

This was the first mountain bike that we saved back to put in the museum. A local customer brought this in to us in the early 1990's and traded it in on a (then) new carbon Trek. The bike was old enough that it had minimal resale value so we just hung onto it. We had been collecting older balloon tire and Stingray bikes for awhile and always admired the collections of the folks who started collecting those bikes when they were just "obsolete" bikes. In the early 1980's, you could buy all the Stingray bikes you wanted for $50 and the forward thinking collectors scooped 'em up. By the time they became popular, collectors had hoarded all the super cool bikes which also increased the prices of the more common bikes. It is hard to build a large collection when you have to pay the premium prices. Using this logic, we figured it might be time to start putting back a few mountain bikes. Some of the bikes that retailed for thousands of dollars when new were selling for a couple hundred dollars which made them affordable enough to collect them. This bike was very clean and pretty neat looking so it became MOMBAT.org bike #1.

Ross was one of the biggest names in the early days of mountain bikes and had a nice line of reasonably priced rides. I have been told that the fillet brazing on these frames was more cosmetic and was applied over top of a TIG welded frame. Maybe somebody can confirm that story? The Ross "eyeball" stems were pretty neat and look similar tot he much pricier Cooks stems. Other than that, this bike uses almost the entire Suntour XC group including front and rear roller cam brakes.


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## djmuff (Sep 8, 2004)

I thought that was a carbon frame when I first looked at it. Kind of has a Kestrel look to it at first glance. So yeah, those are some really big fillets. And cool story! Wish I could have started collecting in the mid-90s, but I was a broke college student.


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## bushpig (Nov 26, 2005)

Gateway drug.


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## sandmangts (Feb 16, 2004)

Nice, reminds me on my Dakar. Some suspected the brazing on mine to be bondo as well but they are brass for sure. I am almost finished rebuilding I just need a chain and a miracle to get the rollercams right. Gotta get a third hand tool.


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## Schmitty (Sep 7, 2008)

That Ross is great... nice lines. Too bad they didn't hold on in the market longer... seems like they had a leg up..

-Schmitty-


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## MendonCycleSmith (Feb 10, 2005)

That's a cool one Jeff. Nice story too. Too bad it's so clean, I'd say sand a section down and check for bondo otherwise. Can't say as I ever saw one of those, plenty of TIG'd ones though.

So, if I may extrapolate a bit on your Stingray point, are you saying Rumpfy et al, are forward thinkers?


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## richieb (Oct 21, 2004)

Bondo?!?!

We just had one of Dakars in here at work, and the joints were bondo'd...sadly.


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## J_Westy (Jan 7, 2009)

First Flight said:


> It is hard to build a large collection when you have to pay the premium prices. Using this logic, we figured it might be time to start putting back a few mountain bikes.


Great story! What's the newest bike that you've put back and why?


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## First Flight (Jan 25, 2004)

J_Westy said:


> Great story! What's the newest bike that you've put back and why?


Assuming that newest means model year and not newest to the collection? The most current bikes are a couple of mid 1990's full suspension bikes (Outland VPP, 3D Zerox, Wojcik Soft Trac, Trek Y-22, Rock Lobster ADG/Hurricane, Ritchey Soft tail, Crosstrac Sonoma......) Most of these are from relatively small high quality manufacturers and are usually relatively "cutting edge" bikes that were made in small number and were expensive when new. I think some of the early DH bikes might be the next stuff to put back since it follows the same path (expensive, forward thinking, small production numbers, heavy media exposure) that the currently collectible bikes took. The obvious exception in the list would be the Y-22 which we have since they were pretty popular and were a bike that a good number of people drolled over (right or wrong). Sorta like the Nishiki Alien?


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## MendonCycleSmith (Feb 10, 2005)

First Flight said:


> I think some of the early DH bikes might be the next stuff to put back since it follows the same path (expensive, forward thinking, small production numbers, heavy media exposure)


Spooky and Balfa come to my mind, Spooky in particular. Way ahead of the curve, and any builder with a T shirt that said "Faster than your Mom" wins in my book


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## classicmtb (Jan 26, 2008)

sandmangts said:


> Nice, reminds me on my Dakar. Some suspected the brazing on mine to be bondo as well but they are brass for sure. I am almost finished rebuilding I just need a chain and a miracle to get the rollercams right. Gotta get a third hand tool.


he ya those rollercams are a pain, but i think ive mastered them...just set em up and use the adjustable spring tension to center them...


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## lazyracer (Apr 11, 2004)

I Believe your Mt Whitney mt bike is correctly ID'd as a 1986 model. The Taiwanese subcontracting manufacturer that produced these frames was not skilled at fillet brazing, so they TIG welded the frames and sent them to another subcontractor to do the fillet cosmetic brasswork. As you can see on your bike, these brass globs were massively overdone and heavy, but had the 'fillet look'. I think if you have the occasion to strip the frame you will find a mix of brass and body filler to bring about the 'smooth' fillet look. Fillet brazing was the 1980's marque of a high-Q desirable mt bike frame, but the assembly process was not able to be easily & cheaply replicated by Taiwanese labor. They were attempting to emulate the earlier Ross "Team Signature" fillet brazed mt bike frames being ridden by the mt bike racing team members, these frames were fillet brazed by framebuilder Jim Redcay in the Allentown PA plant.

The Full Suntour "XC" component group is witness to the Suntour's brand as being the best parts you could get at the time, this was the heyday period for Suntour parts.. I believe this was also the 1st year that the XC 'Powercam' brakes were introduced to a mass bike market.

*Trivia*: Lazyracer = Original Ross "Indians" Mt Bike Racing Team member during 1983-1985 period, western U.S. distribution warehouse mgr 1986-1987


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## First Flight (Jan 25, 2004)

lazyracer said:


> *Trivia*: Lazyracer = Original Ross "Indians" Mt Bike Racing Team member during 1983-1985 period, western U.S. distribution warehouse mgr 1986-1987


Goat any good stories to add to http://mombat.org/Ross.htm ??


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## lazyracer (Apr 11, 2004)

I'd have to say that the driving force for Ross mt bikes being a chapter in mt biking history was due mostly to a guy named John Kirkpatrick, a pleasantly odd quirky if not occasionally annoying New York fashion & advertising photographer which had hooked up to do promos & advertising deals for Ross Bicycles, and who also had an intense passion for cycling in all disciplines. He is the one who got the Swatch Watch sponsorships for the early mt bike races, and had a passion and vision for the sport that was infectious to those around him. He also got involved in bicycle trials events and would organize impromptu trials exhibitions in various urban locales in the U.S.. He also had a knack for pissing off the upper status quo of the on & off road cycling empires, and had editorial connections to the early "WINNING" cycling magazine, and was able to get mt bike topics into many of the "mainstream" road cycling magazines, back when mt bikes were still an odd novelty BMX sort of niche.

I first met him right after blowing a sure win at a Central California mt bike event (the Central Coast Cycling Classic) due to lack of adequate cycling conditioning and was really looking to get a chance to even the score for the So Cal riders. 

The final roster for the original 1983 Ross mt bike team was a group of 3 strong road & track riders from the Southern California USCF arena, a former junior road race champion from Northern California Lake Tahoe area ... and the "lazyracer" Wiley Coyote, who had absolutely no road cycling resume, only motorycle racing experience in TT's, short track, desert & MX ... I think I was the only guy in the bunch to not have toe clips or special cycling "magic shoes". My shoes preference at the time was high top basketball shoes, replaced often. My only real skills were hanging on to handlebars, going fast and not crashing. 

We were each "rationed" a production Ross mt bike to ride, mine happened to be a 1983 Ross Mt Whitney, the chrome framed bike that was adequate if not somewhat heavy as compared to the state of the art racing mt bikes for this era. Every one of the team riders had a superior personal bike as compared to the one they were issued so the griping started instantly. My biggest problem with these bikes were the rear hubs from the original Shimano "Deore" component group. The axles would barely last a whole race without snapping right under the freewheel area. I ended up bringing spare sets of wheels to races with Phil Wood tandem hubs installed and then changing out the wheels right after race finishes so the japanese guys would not get suspicious or upset. Most of the rest of the Shimano parts were O.K., although no index shifting at the time, The 5, 6 & 7 speed freehubs were introduced to mt bikes a couple of years later. I personally thought that the Suntour parts qualtiy for offroad riding were better at the time, but you have to respect $ponsor$ when you have them.

It was a really cool start for the team, we went to a training session at Santa Catalina Island for a week and rode from on end of the island to the other every day, getting up ridiculously early every day for photo shoots when the sun was "just right" for taking promotional pictures for advertising posters. I remember being in total awe of the company of the cyclists I was hanging with, guys I had read about in the local cycling rags, and being even more surprised that I could actually ride and keep up with them. We'd ride to total exhaustion and then be treated at breakfast lunch and dinner to some of the best food on the Island. I remember being yelled at by John K every night for not riding "fast" enough to keep him satisfied with our progress. I remember almost passing out several times from the intense off shore sun, heat and fatigue from riding all day. 

The 1st "official" race for the Ross mt bike team was the 1983 Whiskeytown Downhill in Redding California, the DH moniker being sort of a cruel joke for the unprepared, as the first 3-4 miles went straight uphill! I was a relative unknown at the time, and was totally amp'd up when I found myself competing in the top 10 at the top of the 1st climb, & then later moving up into the top 5 by the bottom of the downhill section, and as the race progressed, I got up to 2nd place and could see the leader of the, a local rider name Mike Jordan, who had won the race the previous year. I was very motivated to win,& somehow rode by him on the last uphill climb and opened a small gap, sprinting with several miles to go, I was so into cranking it up and getting a win that I got out of control going too fast ithrough a corner, slid out and went into a roadside ditch! I was still able to jump up & finish, won with a bleeding arm, hand and leg, heh!

I think I surprised myself more than anybody else that I won, and was amazed at some of the guys that I beat in the race. Adrenalin is sometimes more important than cycling shoes ...

This is still one of my best memories of the early Ross Mt Bike team, and as time went on, I came to realize just how deep you have to dig, how hard it is to win a major mountain bike event .... I also got to see a lot of different parts of the U.S. off road cycling communities, and meet some of the greatest personalities in the eaqrly days of the sport.


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## manida (Feb 5, 2008)

el douche


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## pinguwin (Aug 20, 2004)

Lazyracer, great story. Funny to read of your fall and still winning. I had a similar thing happen to me but I will leave that for another day. Also interesting about changing the wheels to keep your $pon$or$ happy.


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## MABman (Oct 5, 2008)

That was the best read that has been on this forum in a long time. Thanks Jim. I thought Ross did outsourcing for the pro bikes but the fact that you were racing stock sleds is pretty cool. It is all about the man, not the machine and still is to this day.


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