# McMahon Anyone?



## dag560 (Jul 29, 2004)

I'm looking for anyone who is still riding or still has a McMahon (ridged).

Actually, I'm just looking to see how many on this list actually have one. 

Cheers
Dan


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## dag560 (Jul 29, 2004)

dag560 said:


> I'm looking for anyone who is still riding or still has a McMahon (ridged).
> 
> Actually, I'm just looking to see how many on this list actually have one.
> 
> ...


I think I was being a bit repetitious.

Sorry, it's been a long day.


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## vdubbusrider (Jul 28, 2004)

i have a mid 80's one of a kind fillet brazed mcmahon that i'll be re-painting soon. somehow i lost the photo of the whole frame but here are bits and pieces of it.


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## Master Shake (Mar 6, 2005)

dag560 said:


> I'm looking for anyone who is still riding or still has a McMahon (ridged).
> 
> Actually, I'm just looking to see how many on this list actually have one.
> 
> ...


 Uh oh. Brace yourself. I hear thunder...

On a personal note, I have one, kind of. It got lost out in Nebraska. I'm not saying where, but after all these years, it's just sitting out in the open waiting for me to drive 14 hours and pick it up and drive away with it. Kinda weird...


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## vdubbusrider (Jul 28, 2004)

MS, get you're finger out of the stink and haul you're little white booty over to nebraska!


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## dag560 (Jul 29, 2004)

Master Shake said:


> Uh oh. Brace yourself. I hear thunder...
> 
> On a personal note, I have one, kind of. It got lost out in Nebraska. I'm not saying where, but after all these years, it's just sitting out in the open waiting for me to drive 14 hours and pick it up and drive away with it. Kinda weird...


Yeah, that is a bit odd...
I won't ask.

I have a mid 90's mountain frame.
I'll post pictures later.

I'm would like to see pictures of other mountain and road frames Mcmahon made.
So, post em if you got em.

Cheers,
Dan


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## scant (Jan 5, 2004)

& so starts the MRC thread


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## Guest (Apr 22, 2005)

both not mine but i like them alot! the front brake is set-up perfect in the meantime i think... the forks are really nice, steel crown and Ti legs.


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## dag560 (Jul 29, 2004)

Here are some of the PIC's of mine.
Sorry, some of the photos did not come out right.
I'll shoot some more later.

enjoy.

Dan


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## dag560 (Jul 29, 2004)

photo


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## Jeroen (Jan 12, 2004)

Hmmz... can anyone provide me with some more pictures of that MRC brake??

I never knew it used that leverage thingy in the middle. I've been working on some designs for some 'ubrakes' based on the Roller/togglecamed WTB, but instead of a cam, I had a similar linkage between the arms, as these brakes have. Hmm, seems like Im reinventing the wheel here..


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## dag560 (Jul 29, 2004)

Jeroen said:


> Hmmz... can anyone provide me with some more pictures of that MRC brake??
> 
> I never knew it used that leverage thingy in the middle. I've been working on some designs for some 'ubrakes' based on the Roller/togglecamed WTB, but instead of a cam, I had a similar linkage between the arms, as these brakes have. Hmm, seems like Im reinventing the wheel here..


Sure I'll take a few more shots for you.


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## Guest (Apr 23, 2005)

Jeroen said:


> Hmmz... can anyone provide me with some more pictures of that MRC brake??
> (


i get the impression that it is almost impossible to NOT re-invent the wheel when it comes to brakes...

https://www.blackbirdsf.org/brake_obscura/mtb.html


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## tisingle (Jan 26, 2004)

he never made any ti frames in house, they were made by litespeed and sandvik at different times until he couldnt pay the bills for them. he made steel stuff in house early and glued ti and steel forks rigid together after that..had cnc'ed brakes, sus forks and other stuff made for him also. the last stuff he made was welded aluminum in house. where is he now???


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## Fres (Jan 21, 2005)

*My proud...*

Unfortunately without the matching power brake, seatpost and stem...


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## dag560 (Jul 29, 2004)

tisingle said:


> he never made any ti frames in house, they were made by litespeed and sandvik at different times until he couldnt pay the bills for them. he made steel stuff in house early and glued ti and steel forks rigid together after that..had cnc'ed brakes, sus forks and other stuff made for him also. the last stuff he made was welded aluminum in house. where is he now???


So, how can you tell who made the frame? (litespeed or sandvik)

Yeah that is a good question where is he now?

I've been trying to source some extra decals for my bike or at least get a good copy of an original set and I'll have some made at a decal shop. But I've had zero luck.

Cheers,
Dan


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## Fres (Jan 21, 2005)

*oh...*

just seen that pictures of mine already have been posted by carsten...  
damn slow connection... 
the front brake has recently been replaced, because of better performance and cleaner look...


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## dag560 (Jul 29, 2004)

Here are some more shots of the powerbrake on mine


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## tisingle (Jan 26, 2004)

you can tell the difference by the dropouts. usually sandvik used the tapered bullets welded to the end of the chain and seatstays, litespeed used a curved piece of plate to cover the ends of the seat and chainstays. from what i can see in the pics here it looks like the later ones are and had the monostay. he was always south of santa barbara and north of ventura. his shop was in carpinteria beside the 101 through the 90s.

So, how can you tell who made the frame? (litespeed or sandvik)

Yeah that is a good question where is he now?

I've been trying to source some extra decals for my bike or at least get a good copy of an original set and I'll have some made at a decal shop. But I've had zero luck.

Cheers,
Dan[/QUOTE]


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## vdubbusrider (Jul 28, 2004)

mcmahon did some crap work! i was sponsored by him for CX and he welded up a set of aluminum bikes for the team. he used no jig and absolutely nothing was lined up. brake posts were in funky positions and the rear triangle on all of the frames were noticbly jacked up. a real turd of a bike. that early 80's fillet brazed frame i have on the otherhand has wonderful workmanship. maybe someone else welded it.


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## vdubbusrider (Jul 28, 2004)

Cycleart in San Diego did the paint for Mcmahon. they have every single Mcmahon decal except the one i need for my 80's Mcmahon Adhesion Cycles (the first mcmahon company before getting sued and starting the newer company). the prob is cycleart will not sell decals unless they paint the bike. with Mcmahon out of business (again) maybe you can offer them money to break the rule. the not selling decals is a rule made by the bike manufacturers so if they are not around anymore maybe they will hook you up?


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## dag560 (Jul 29, 2004)

vdubbusrider said:


> Cycleart in San Diego did the paint for Mcmahon. they have every single Mcmahon decal except the one i need for my 80's Mcmahon Adhesion Cycles (the first mcmahon company before getting sued and starting the newer company). the prob is cycleart will not sell decals unless they paint the bike. with Mcmahon out of business (again) maybe you can offer them money to break the rule. the not selling decals is a rule made by the bike manufacturers so if they are not around anymore maybe they will hook you up?


vdubbusrider - Do you have any of the Cycleart contact information?


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## vdubbusrider (Jul 28, 2004)

sorry, i was spelling it wrong. it is Cyclart. www.cyclart.com


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## dag560 (Jul 29, 2004)

vdubbusrider said:


> sorry, i was spelling it wrong. it is Cyclart. www.cyclart.com


Got it! Thanks I'll see what I can do.


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## GonaSovereign (Sep 20, 2004)

vdubbusrider said:


> mcmahon did some crap work!


Credit to McMahon for pushing a number of interesting parts, but this is a company that would have benefited from a little R&D and quality control. Those ti stems were the worst: I think McM simply asked Sandvik to weld some tubes together in a few sizes, with no thought to ride quality. I had a(n admittedly) long, 1" quill stem, and that thing had more travel than a Boxxer. Made for a supple ride, unless you wanted to steer (imagine that?).

Bad QC on a seatpost, which finally arrived as a freebie after bad QC issues with a BB spindle killed my desire to deal with those guys.


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## vdubbusrider (Jul 28, 2004)

thats the thing about mcmahon. thier stuff looked cool and sometimes worked but usually was just simply dangerous. they were sued countless times and started at least 3 mcmahon companies as a result of being pushed out of business. finally i think the insurance companies just abandoned him and thats what left him out of the bike biz. i did hear that he was amzing to watch with a CNC machine so i would guess he's working for someone else doing CNC work. probably not not bike related though. his forks were the worse. he did'nt feel the need to put a bottom out in it. at 350lbs the tire slammes into the crown. it does'nt take much for a 175lb rider get 350lbs of force on the fork. thats only 2 G's.


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## dag560 (Jul 29, 2004)

vdubbusrider said:


> thats the thing about mcmahon. thier stuff looked cool and sometimes worked but usually was just simply dangerous. they were sued countless times and started at least 3 mcmahon companies as a result of being pushed out of business. finally i think the insurance companies just abandoned him and thats what left him out of the bike biz. i did hear that he was amzing to watch with a CNC machine so i would guess he's working for someone else doing CNC work. probably not not bike related though. his forks were the worse. he did'nt feel the need to put a bottom out in it. at 350lbs the tire slammes into the crown. it does'nt take much for a 175lb rider get 350lbs of force on the fork. thats only 2 G's.


Yeah, components were not the highlight of the company.

The frame I have seems to be a quality frame and has been able to handle a lot of punishment over the years. 
Of course these frames were outsourced.

I looked on the cyclart web site and saw this for $850.00. Seems a bit overpriced but I thought I'd share.

NEVER BUILT McMahon RACING CYCLES 3/2.5R TITANIUM FRAME TITANIUM BOTTOM BRACKET TITANIUM SEATPOST ZIPP CARBON FIBER FORK 56CM TOP TUBE 56.5. HEAD ANGLE 73 SEAT ANGLE 73.5 CHAIN STAY 40.7 REAR SPACING 130 BB HEIGHT 19.5
SEATPOST 27.2 THE DEALER PRICE FOR THE FRAME ALONE WAS $1350 SEATPOST WAS $100 BOTTOM BRACKET ANOTHER $95. ZIPP CARBON FIBER FORK


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## slowrider (May 15, 2004)

*Mc Mahon*

I hope the ridgid frames were a buch better than his suspension frames because my Mc Mahon B.U.F.F. broke 3 times just before he went out of buiseness. It cost me a bunch to support a small company but I think it cost him more to be a small company. Damn shame too because it was a six inch travel bike that rode and peddled great. I actually think it would compete well with current designs.


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## dag560 (Jul 29, 2004)

slowrider said:


> I hope the ridgid frames were a buch better than his suspension frames because my Mc Mahon B.U.F.F. broke 3 times just before he went out of buiseness. It cost me a bunch to support a small company but I think it cost him more to be a small company. Damn shame too because it was a six inch travel bike that rode and peddled great. I actually think it would compete well with current designs.


That does suck!
Too spend all that money and to have the frame break.
At the time I picked up my frame I bought it from a guy who raced it about 4 times and than was picked up by a sponsor and he switched to a sponsor bike.

I've had mine since 97 and have road it the entire time with no issues.

Do you know if he made is FS frames or were they farmed out also?

Cheers,
Dan


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## slowrider (May 15, 2004)

*FS frames*



dag560 said:


> That does suck!
> Too spend all that money and to have the frame break.
> At the time I picked up my frame I bought it from a guy who raced it about 4 times and than was picked up by a sponsor and he switched to a sponsor bike.
> 
> ...


Mc Mahon said he did his own welding and that he maid some of the Dean/ Battle Bikes F.S. stuff which I believed because they looked like they shared some of the same parts like stays, pivot's and rockers.


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## dag560 (Jul 29, 2004)

slowrider said:


> Mc Mahon said he did his own welding and that he maid some of the Dean/ Battle Bikes F.S. stuff which I believed because they looked like they shared some of the same parts like stays, pivot's and rockers.


Anyone have any pictures of the F.S. bikes?
I'm trying to remember what they looked like.

Or a photo of a similar bike.

Cheers


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## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

Bringing a thread back from the dead:

I've had this for a while...it's just a low priority project:


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## DeeEight (Jan 13, 2004)

Remember that "mystery Ti frame" thread a couple weeks ago? Betcha it was a McMahon/MRC. As I recall the guy stuck it up on ebay after the thread in here. Think it closed REALLY low.


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## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

DeeEight said:


> Remember that "mystery Ti frame" thread a couple weeks ago? Betcha it was a McMahon/MRC. As I recall the guy stuck it up on ebay after the thread in here. Think it closed REALLY low.


I'm digging for that thread, but I'm not finding it. Worth a second look to see if that was it.


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## DeeEight (Jan 13, 2004)

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=215535


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## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

DeeEight said:


> http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=215535


Maybe, but the wishbone rear end, internal cable routing, and rear drops were all different...unless it was some proto/experimental rig.


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## Deivid (Apr 5, 2006)

*91 McMahon in Spain*

Hi  I,m Dave, I´m from Madrid (Spain), this is my history:

I toke out from a fogoted corner, in the garage of my parents home, an old 91 steel Scott Montana  I tried to restore but it was for a long time under the sun and rain. First I was 2 weeks trying to take out the seatpost :madmax: , after that I tried to take out the Bottom braket but it was totally imposible... the BB is sold to the frame... when it was close to make me crazy :madman: ... turned up in my life that frame... :thumbsup:

At this moment I´m looking for the original McMahon Brake a WTB or something similar... If somebody have one and want to sale, pliz let me know... I need one desperately..

I hope you like it


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## bushpig (Nov 26, 2005)

DeeEight said:


> Remember that "mystery Ti frame" thread a couple weeks ago? Betcha it was a McMahon/MRC. As I recall the guy stuck it up on ebay after the thread in here. Think it closed REALLY low.


I don't think it was a McMahon. Have a look at rear dropouts, downtube cable guides, and even the finish of the Ti. I am guess Litespeed on that one.


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## rudymexico (Aug 14, 2010)

Sorry to dig this old thread...

Did McMahon made any Full Suspension Aluminium bikes?

I think I saw one in my town...


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## Veloculture (Dec 18, 2005)

rudymexico said:


> Sorry to dig this old thread...
> 
> Did McMahon made any Full Suspension Aluminium bikes?
> 
> I think I saw one in my town...


Yes, they made a lot of them in the later years of the business. Both cross country and downhill rigs.


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## muddybuddy (Jan 31, 2007)

Had this one for a little while. Never got around to building it up though.

Set up looks almost identical to a Specialized FSR., with cartridge bearings at all pivots.

Looked pretty well built with lots of neat machined details.


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## rudymexico (Aug 14, 2010)

How where they? any good?
How much are they worth?


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## Retro Dude (Jun 7, 2010)

*MRC ti tube kit for Manitou I*

Here's a shot of the MRC ti tube kit on my Manitou I, flexy but lighter than the original.


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## proto2000 (Jan 27, 2007)

Those do look sweet and who cares about flex on a singletrack trail?


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## shovelon (Mar 16, 2006)

muddybuddy said:


> Had this one for a little while. Never got around to building it up though.
> 
> Set up looks almost identical to a Specialized FSR., with cartridge bearings at all pivots.
> 
> Looked pretty well built with lots of neat machined details.


I think I bought that frame from you. Built it up and been riding it. Rides great until it gets pointed uphill. Then lockout on Stratos shock needs to be used to get rid of bobbing. I did some research and found the swingarms crack, and sure enough I saw where a repair had been made, probably by the man himself. I ground out the repair, rewelded, and added plates top and bottom of cracked area. You can see the plated area if you look closely just behind the big chainring.


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## IF52 (Jan 10, 2004)

Litespeed built McMahon. Pretty much identical to a mid 90s Obed. 22lbs of retromod fun as built right now

Fork is kind of jacked up right now, running at 80mm. Ride is OK, but will probably bring it back down to 60ish.


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## misterdangerpants (Oct 10, 2007)

Just got this lovely MRC stem back from T.O.C. Finishing (a local place that also does work for Firefly Cycles). They did an amazing job at polishing it and at keeping all the pretty welds in tact. This is going on my Rhygin Metax road bike and I'm looking forward to installing it. I have a reproduction decal that will also be affixed upon installation.

View attachment 618638


View attachment 618639


View attachment 618640


P.S. Here's what it looked like when I got it:

View attachment 618672


View attachment 618673


View attachment 618674


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## GonaSovereign (Sep 20, 2004)

misterdangerpants said:


> Just got this lovely MRC stem back from T.O.C. Finishing (a local place that also does work for Firefly Cycles). They did an amazing job at polishing it and at keeping all the pretty welds in tact. This is going on my Rhygin Metax road bike and I'm looking forward to installing it. I have a reproduction decal that will also be affixed upon installation.
> ]


It looks good! Those stems offer a lot of, hmm, passive suspension aka flex, but could be OK in the relatively short length. I had a 140mm and someone with more upper body strength could probably have twisted the bars vertical.


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## misterdangerpants (Oct 10, 2007)

GonaSovereign said:


> It looks good! Those stems offer a lot of, hmm, passive suspension aka flex, but could be OK in the relatively short length. I had a 140mm and someone with more upper body strength could probably have twisted the bars vertical.


I haven't noticed any flex whatsoever. Did about 50 (road) miles this past weekend with a fair amount of climbing and roughly a quarter of that was on gravel roads (not planned). So far I'm really digging it.

View attachment 621581


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