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Old 12-11-22, 09:27 AM
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swen0171 
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Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Indianapolis
Posts: 445

Bikes: 1993 Bridgestone XO-3, 1981 Trek 613, 1988 Fisher Montare, 1986 Univega Alpina Uno, 2010 Surly Long Haul trucker, 2004 Rivendell Quickbeam. 1970s Gitane Mixtie (60cm), 1994 Diamond Back Axis TT

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Here’s my 1993 XO-3 in dark green. 59cm. This is not the coveted orange XO-1 but the 2 and 3 from 1993 had very similar frames and geometry. I spent a lot of time in the early 90s at The Alt in Minneapolis drooling over these XO bikes, and years later I traded a nice early mtb for this frame on the “pass it around” frame page here and finally got one with the Alt sticker (it came from Texas and I now live in Indianapolis).

This has been built up in a number of ways over the last 10+ years, I’ll try to find pics from the first, fancy build and post them too. Thise parts got swapped to a Surly LHT because I couldn’t use this frame for year round commuting. Eventually it got a parts bin build and a vintage Burly trailer and became the tractor for rides with my son. Awesome to have a cool bike dedicated to kid rides and we did a ton of miles over the years.

Recently I got a set of beautiful golden Araya RM-40s/XT wheels and they matched the gold stickers perfectly. I also had a set of those insane Rivendell/Nitto bullmoose bars (that didn’t work out on my Atlantis) and both worked so well with the XO that I did a new build.

It’s still technically a parts bin build, though I cleared out all the best bits. It’s a true frankenbike with parts from many different eras but highlights are XT thumbie with later XT derailleur, late 80s Deore cranks with Rivendell chain guard, cool SunTour levers with modern, shiny Tektros, OG MTB front rack (modified to sit totally flat!) and a tight hyperglide 7-speed to give it a faster gearing to match the always surprisingly sporty ride.

One important note is finding Schwalbe Black Jack tires. These are 26x1.95 small tread knobbies that look and ride like old cyclocross tires and I think they’re perfect for XOs. Hard to find modern tires that fit the tight clearance of the front fork.

Thanks for starting the thread!
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