# Ross Mt. Hood help..



## 4130chromoly (Oct 9, 2009)

Hey I'm new here and I picked this up the other day any info is appreciated. It's a Ross Mt.Hood Hi-Tech according to the decals. I don't know the year though.Thanks, Sean


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## 4130chromoly (Oct 9, 2009)

Dang, I suppose newbs get no help. Oh well at least I don't give a crap about how much it's worth.


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## tductape (Mar 31, 2008)

Don't know much about them but do a search in VRC "Ross" Should fill you in a bit. I just think of Cindy W. when I see old Ross bikes.


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## da'HOOV (Jan 3, 2009)

there are a few Ross supporters here. I've got one or two and I know several have been posted....try searching "Mt. Hood....Mt. Whitney....Ross....you'll finf some. I'm sorry, but I dont know much about them myself. Take an SOS pad to your chrome and it should shine up nicely...post pics if you do. ...

Put some air in the tires...And lose that horrendous seat


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## The Golden Boy (Oct 7, 2009)

That's a sweet bike. Chrome is cool.


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## da'HOOV (Jan 3, 2009)

here you go...

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=278385&highlight=ross

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=289430&highlight=ross


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## nuck_chorris (Jun 6, 2008)

early diacompes.... nice


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## Matt H. (Sep 14, 2004)

4130chromoly said:


> Dang, I suppose newbs get no help. Oh well at least I don't give a crap about how much it's worth.


Don't know much about it, but that's a cool bike. Lots of quality, interesting parts. It should clean up really nicely. I'm with Stan about that saddle though--that and the seatpost are the only things I'd change. I hope you stick around and show some pics when it's all spruced up.


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## deluxe (Aug 16, 2004)

My guess would be 1985 +/- a year or so. I had an '87, and that had Rollercam brakes front and rear, so pretty sure it's prior to then.


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## lazyracer (Apr 11, 2004)

Hello, I was the former ROSS Bikes west coast warehouse manager and mountain bike racing team member during the 1983-1987 era. The original ROSS Mt Hood mt bike (1983) was black and gold, I would say from the cantilever brake setup that what you have there is a 1984-1985 vintage. The next generation frame had an "under the chainstay" rear brake spec, the Suntour Roller-Cam.

If you decide to restore this bike, I'd recommend replacing the bottom bracket, hubs, wheels, drivetrain, cranks, brakes with some non-taiwanese stuff, the alloy on these parts were not very good.

Wiley Coyote 
"lazyracer"


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## cousineddie (Oct 23, 2008)

da'HOOV said:


> Take an SOS pad to your chrome and it should shine up nicely...post pics if you do. ...


Thumbs down on the SOS pad. Take a trip over to your local auto parts store and get Mother's metal polish. It will bring the chrome back to a mirror-like shine. Just be careful around the decals.


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## cousineddie (Oct 23, 2008)

lazyracer said:


> If you decide to restore this bike, I'd recommend replacing the bottom bracket, hubs, wheels, drivetrain, cranks, brakes with some non-taiwanese stuff, the alloy on these parts were not very good.QUOTE]
> 
> Are you kidding?


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## sho220 (Aug 3, 2005)

cousineddie said:


> Thumbs down on the SOS pad. Take a trip over to your local auto parts store and get Mother's metal polish. It will bring the chrome back to a mirror-like shine. Just be careful around the decals.


Polish is great...after you knock the rust off with some fine steel wool...I give Stan a thumbs up! :thumbsup:


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## surly357 (Jan 19, 2006)

cousineddie said:


> lazyracer said:
> 
> 
> > If you decide to restore this bike, I'd recommend replacing the bottom bracket, hubs, wheels, drivetrain, cranks, brakes with some non-taiwanese stuff, the alloy on these parts were not very good.QUOTE]
> ...


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## da'HOOV (Jan 3, 2009)

sho220 said:


> Polish is great...after you knock the rust off with some fine steel wool...I give Stan a thumbs up! :thumbsup:


Just go light handedly and keep it good and wet. Let the pad and soap do the work. I've had great results with SOS pads...and then polish or wax :thumbsup: .


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## cousineddie (Oct 23, 2008)

sho220 said:


> Polish is great...after you knock the rust off with some fine steel wool...I give Stan a thumbs up! :thumbsup:


Steel wool tends to get embedded in the chrome and later rusts. It also tends to scratch the chrome. If you have tough surface rust, use brass wool instead.


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## cousineddie (Oct 23, 2008)

surly357 said:


> cousineddie said:
> 
> 
> > looks like japanese stuff from the photos. if it was my 'find' i'd keep the shimano crankarms and the pedals (if those are suntour xc-2's). the rest, not so much..............
> ...


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## da'HOOV (Jan 3, 2009)

cousineddie said:


> Steel wool tends to get embedded in the chrome and later rusts. It also tends to scratch the chrome. If you have tough surface rust, use brass wool instead.


I stick by what I said, the pics only show very light surface rust. Brass wool is also good but SOS pads are way easier to find.


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## 4130chromoly (Oct 9, 2009)

Absolutely I will stick around, I am becoming a big fan of old mountain bikes. I mainly have old BMX bikes but the hunt for them has been scarce lately so now I am starting to collect some old mountain bikes much to the dismay of my wife.:madman: She's cool though as long as the cars still fit in the garage. So you guys don't like the seat? That's the whole reason I bought it . Just kidding, yes the seat will be the first to go. But I have a few questions. I would like to keep it as close to stock or era correct as possible The rear wheel is an alloy wienmann with a 5 speed setup is that what it came with? The front is a Raleigh black shinyside made by Sumo so I know it's not og. The hub on the front is sealed but you can't make out the logo as it has been rubbed off over the years. I am pretty sure the wheels are not stock. I picked up an 85 Diamondback fleet streak girls bike for the 26" Arayas. I was thinking of using them for this restoration. Anyway, how many speeds was this bike originally? The Araya's have SR hubs and the rear is a 6 speed so essentially when I put them on it will be an 18 speed. I would like to keep it as og as possible so any info would help. Thanks, Sean


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## 4130chromoly (Oct 9, 2009)

Yes, I have a few tricks to cleaning the chrome up. It's very light surface rust. I don't know if you guys have heard of it but if you have heavy surface rust an O/A (oxcalic acid) bath works great. You can pick it up in powder form at most ACE hardware places. I don't know why but I've never been able to find it at the bigger places like Lowe's or Home Depot. I would really like to know what speed it was originally and what rims it came with. All the Ross' I have looked at don't have the original specs so any help would be good. Thanks again guys, Sean


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## 4130chromoly (Oct 9, 2009)

da'HOOV said:


> here you go...
> 
> http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=278385&highlight=ross
> 
> http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=289430&highlight=ross


Thanks, still looking for one with og specs though.


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## 4130chromoly (Oct 9, 2009)

nuck_chorris said:


> early diacompes.... nice


Yea, I thought those were cool also. Thanks


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## 4130chromoly (Oct 9, 2009)

Cool, Thanks guys how many speeds was it originally? I want to keep it stock but can't tell if the rear weinmann alloy 5 speed wheel is og. The front is off a Raleigh made by Sumo. I have a few other old MTB's that I want to restore as well. I have a late 80's Raleigh Technium Instinct that is stock and in very good shape. I also have a mid 90's GT triple triangle an Outpost I think but, it needs wheels as the ones it came with were steel junk wheels someone just slapped on.


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## Bokchoicowboy (Aug 7, 2007)

I had one of those Mt Hoods. It was an 85 or 86, just prior to the switch to the rollercam brake. Even though it was a heavy beast it was pretty bulletproof. I just could not kill the thing.

The crankset does not look stock. Mine had a Sakae crankset. 

The rear wheel stock is indeed a five speed. On mine I had upgraded the shifters and derailleurs to the indexing XT and had to ride for a few months with the shifter set to the "friction" mode until I could afford a new six-speed rear wheel.


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## surly357 (Jan 19, 2006)

cousineddie said:


> Dia Compe 980's are perfectly good brakes. I see nothing wrong with the levers, the Suntour Power thumbies or the XC rear mech. Lazyracer told him to replace nearly everything but the frame, which is idiotic, expecially since the cost will greatly outweigh the value of the bike.


you misunderstand- i'm just saying that on what i find to be an uninteresting bike as a whole those are the the kind of parts i'd keep for my personal projects. the other stuff is perfectly good, i just wouldn't really care what became of it. heck, the time to polish it greatly outweighs the value of the bike. actually i'd keep the brake levers too...:thumbsup:


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## 4130chromoly (Oct 9, 2009)

Bokchoicowboy said:


> I had one of those Mt Hoods. It was an 85 or 86, just prior to the switch to the rollercam brake. Even though it was a heavy beast it was pretty bulletproof. I just could not kill the thing.
> 
> The crankset does not look stock. Mine had a Sakae crankset.
> 
> The rear wheel stock is indeed a five speed. On mine I had upgraded the shifters and derailleurs to the indexing XT and had to ride for a few months with the shifter set to the "friction" mode until I could afford a new six-speed rear wheel.


Thanks, that answers my question.


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## 4130chromoly (Oct 9, 2009)

*Restored finally!*

Ok, guys I finally finished cleaning her up and it's sweet. The only change I made was the seat and the wheels.I put on a set of Araya 7x's w/ SR hubs. Here it is......


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## The Golden Boy (Oct 7, 2009)

That is a crazy beautiful bike. Congratulations!


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## guitartreker (Jan 28, 2010)

GOT TO mombat.org look in history and ROSS. Great Info There catalog adds ect.
I just bought a wheeless Mt Whitney on Ebay. Will show before and after pic,s soon


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## 4130chromoly (Oct 9, 2009)

guitartreker said:


> GOT TO mombat.org look in history and ROSS. Great Info There catalog adds ect.
> I just bought a wheeless Mt Whitney on Ebay. Will show before and after pic,s soon


Cool, Thanks for the info. Good luck on the Mt. Whitney.


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## DHmom (Oct 7, 2006)

The Mt Whitney we have, and want to sell, came with Suntour everything. Sugino cranks. It's always been kept inside and my husband bought it brand new for himself. The tires did wear out, so those are not original. The seat was not real bad but not great and the grips got nasty so they are new Yeti grips.Hubs I think are also suntour, but I think the rear derailluere is a Deore.


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## 02_NRS (Jan 27, 2004)

Vintage Ross Bicycles 1985 Catalog Hi-tech Mt. Hood Ranier NOS mountain bike mtb | eBay wait for this brochure to come up a bit cheaper;I have it & will give you all the facts you need for 1985. nice find.1 level under the top cog mt. whitney which has XT bits.they were 5 speeds sealed hub logos.....dig that saddle.... 29'R what??? also the only paste to use to clean chrome is chrommax-some Trek stores sell it in a small white plastic container.


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## Rock-o-holic (Oct 5, 2011)

Good to see my Mt. Whitney is increasing in value !

Vintage Ross Mt Whitney 21" Mountain Bike Shimano Deore Fully Chromed bicycle | eBay

What ?? :eekster: _*Must be the hike and bike pad....*_


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## redwing24 (Aug 16, 2008)

Sweet find!!!


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