1988 Bridgestone MB-1 Project
 

So I’ve been in the process of down sizing and moving to other interest. Collection mostly leaned vintage road bikes and have not been feeling super safe out on the road as the years have gone by. I like to ride by myself and just let the road take me somewhere and didn’t always bring a phone. No major incidents, just a few close calls on the road had me feeling uneasy.

I love riding my Cimarron build below and am always sort of having an eye on building something similar to add another.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4165/3...b40a54e0_c.jpg

Wasn’t interested in buying much of anything until I ran into this today. Been wanting one for a little while even though I was unimpressed with an RB-T and RB-1 I owned in the past. Believe it to be a 1988 MB-1 and it has been sitting for quite some time. It is extremely dirty but think it will clean up very well. It will go down to the frame and built back up.

https://i.ibb.co/x6WVtNz/7-F73-CBEC-...-BB2-CE7-B.jpghttps://i.ibb.co/HBgFkgf/0013-E67-C-...EC60214-DE.jpghttps://i.ibb.co/mDGmM0f/295722-B9-1...-B3-AC64-A.jpghttps://i.ibb.co/ts6XYwG/98029-D3-B-...6-CCFFA271.jpghttps://i.ibb.co/86Nq6Vz/240-E037-E-...1-B3652-FB.jpghttps://i.ibb.co/0sYnd6z/272-CE84-B-...-FD0-BACF4.jpghttps://i.ibb.co/hF0KLPr/CE55-FFF0-B...BCCC825018.jpg

The only question I’m having is build it as an aggressive street/trail rider to kick around and have some fun or build it as a bike with racks and bags like the Cimarron is used for currently. The gal rides the Cimarron a lot if we go on a slow ride together so I’m not terribly concerned if they overlap. It does not have much in the way of rack bosses however.

Off the top of my head, I will be getting the below for it. I haven’t made firm decisions on most.

• Saddle - black Turbo/Regal
• Seatpost - black Nitto
• Seatpost binder bolt
• Pedals - black platform of some sort, need to look into it.
• Tires - love Compass/Rene Herse RTB but this needs all black tires IMO, do they make them?
• Cables, pads, and chain.

I am undecided on the cockpit up front so far. Black bull moose a possibility but I do sort of like this set up even if it looks a bit janky.

I'm a big fan of vintage MTBs and a fan of Bridgestone bags. If I were building up a vintage MTB to different sorts of rides, I'd opt for trekking or butterfly bars. Just think of them as a drop bar squished flat. They give you lots of hand positions which makes them really comfortable. Plus you get good control with them.

Nice MB1, I had the same year for a short period, but I moved it on since it was too small. I'm a bit jealous as yours is my size.

I've tried a drop bar conversion on a few vintage mountain bikes. They just didn't feel right when riding, compared to a road / touring bike, so they were converted them back to a flat bar.

Ya, I’m just not certain on a drop bar type transformation. I don’t mind the bar and the Flite Rockets bar ends but I’m not sure I care for the more relaxed and elongated stem. Thinking of going to a bigger drop.

The stem looks original, I'd just replace the saddle, seatpost, and pedals then see if it's comfortable before making changes.

The stem looks high, make sure it's not past the max head tube line.

So I think I’m going to turn this one on it’s head and build with boutique-y vintage MTB parts from 80’s and 90’s.

Thinking Cook, Grafton, Kooka, Paul, and the like. If anyone is holding something in black and/or red, let me know. With that in mind, this one may take a little more time to build up than I was previously thinking while I source some parts.

Spot on with your plans...good luck. That Bridgestone is gonna be an absolute heartbreaker. LOVE your Cimarron. I've got such a woody for those; I own 3, two of which I've turned into loaded touring dírt-roaders; the third is 100% original (sitting in my attic).👍😎

Test fitting.

https://i.ibb.co/wzR81xQ/5-CDEBFD9-7...-DFB227-EC.jpg

Hi. Im into vintage MTBs also. I have some red ano stuff, but its from the mid 90s in good condition. For starters, a RaceFace Turbine LP 175mm in Suntour Microdrive with chainrings. Let me know if you're interested, I have them dismounted.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...a9cbdb5ac0.png

A 27.2 Ringle Moby

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...6ab20804be.png

That Ringle post is pretty cool.

I just had a 3 piece set of titanium red ano Ringle Twister skewers delivered for this project.

Fun project.

Tire choice can be tricky. I usually used either Town and Countrys, Fat Franks (Performance) or Marathon Supremes on our MB-1s.

All of these are fine for our Class 5 trails and roads. All have black side walls.

If you are going to cruise around the local parks and trails any of these will work great.

None of them are as blingy as the Rene Hearse tires, but you might be surprised at their performance.

If you are going off road, I'm a big fan of Ardents and Aspens. That's what I run on my Yeti SB5.

Tenacious grip depending on conditions here on the Twin Cities' trails, I can't imagine they would let you down.

btw One of our MB1s would fit up to 26x2.4s. Nice when you head down to the river bottoms.

Keep the pics coming, as it's an awesome project.

I think I’ll end up going with RTP in a black wall. I’m going to build up the bike with tires and pedals the last thing I purchase to see what I want to do when I see it mostly complete.

RTP may look a little strange on it given the overall direction but this will see mostly gravel/road instead of single track and I want it to ride a certain way in that setting.

It's a nice tire.

It works if you want it to. :)

LOVE the (tubeless ultralight) RTPs on my VO Polyvalent... They feel awesome.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...71dade2a15.jpg

Your Cimarron build is absolutely gorgeous - well done!