My 1993 Bontrager Race. Medium. Serial No. 1473, 22.4lbs. as pictured.
Here’s one of my bikes. It was originally blue with silver/white decals. It was pretty beat up when I picked it up off my local craigslist. I had it re-powdered a slick orange-sparkle with a gloss clear powder on top. I made the new decals myself (never really cared for the original ones much). They’re just white vinyl made from a home cutter (graphtec). The forks are 2007 SID Race mounted to a Bonty offset crown. I scored a strange lot of NOS Rock ShoxTitanium steerers off eBay a while back and was able to press this one together. I love the feel of the SID over the Judy it replaced. This is about as modern as you can get up front with a reasonable budget.
Notable parts:
- [formerly] NOS Rolf Propel wheelset. Very light and so far bulletproof. Relatively rare to find these wheels these days. Very smooth and fit the Bonty nicely. Set up tubeless.
- 2007 Rock Shox SID Race fork. 80mm travel. With the recommended sag, it’s a perfect A-C height of 425mm, just like the original 63mm Judy. I’ll take this fork ANY day over the Judy! The lowers were NOS off eBay, and otherwise exclusive to the carbon-crowned WC model.
- Ritchey Logic Compact crankset. 175mm. Ti crank bolts. Rare blasted finish. I love these cranks. They were slightly modified to run as low as a 29T ring, but has a 30T on it now. Found I needed the smaller ring for the 1×9 setup!
- Ti Bottom Bracket, unknown manufacturer.
- Paul Thumbie(s) with Dura Ace 9spd barcon shifter. Paul chainkeeper.
- Rock Shox suspension seatpost. I’m an admitted weight weenie, but this post works so well to take the edge off the rear that Can live with the weight hit…for now. I have a mint Syncros Ti post to swap in on those heavy days…
- Other: Specialized carbon low-riser bar, Ritchey WCS Carbon saddle, Ritchey v4 pedals (light and work great; I ride these on all my bikes)
Update: Sold 06/29/13:
Sadly, I sold the Bonty today for what I think is a relative steal at $800. I’m now down to only 4 bikes(!). Did I mention I picked up a ratty Dekerf Team SL? I decided (for now) to keep that over the Bonty, partly due to it’s standard 1-1/8″ headtube.
I swapped back in the rigid Vicious Cycles fork and kept the SID. I’ve also still got one Bonty Ti threadless crown left as well as the rare Paul Components crown. You know, just in case I come across that elusive Ti Lite one day!
The final build for the Bonty:
- Vicious Cycles rigid fork
- Ritchey WCS stem and Marathon saddle
- XT 9spd m770 rear shifter pod
- Race Face Turbine crankset 36t
- Paul Chain Keeper
- DT Swiss/Hugi 240 laced to Mavic 517 wheelset
- XTR m950 v-brakes / m952 SGS rear derailleur
- Bontrager/Titec Titanium bar
- Curve seatpost 26.8 (debadged)
- Intense System 2 tubeless tires
