Cactus459

So I was able to save this vintage mountain bike from the landfill. Hopefully someone can give me some additional information about it. The bike has XT 6-speed shifters, XT drive train minus the front derailleur which is a newer sram. The main tube look almost like carbon? Does have the rear XT brake mounted under the bike on the chain stays. Any ideas on the year? Thanks, cheers.

dedhed

Chainstay mounted U brakes was a late 80's thing
​​​​​​https://www.mtbr.com/threads/techniu...o-1992.989443/

Chuckk

Does it have a serial number on the bottom bracket? The first and fifth number may be the year, and 2,3,4 the day.
There are a few carbon Techniums out there on the web.

This mentions the Vision in '88 and '89 https://mombatbicycles.com/MOMBAT/Bik...s/Raleigh.html

Trakhak

The main tubes on those Technium mountain bikes were carbon-wrapped aluminum, according to the guy who was our shop's Raleigh sales rep back then.

T-Mar

The first year for Technium ATBs was 1988, which was also the last year for six speed Deore XT. So, it should be 1988 or possibly 1989 if it was rebuilt. There are no carbon fibre Technium ATBs in my 1990 literature and they'd gone back to cantilever brakes by then, so it shouldn't be 1990s. As noted, the serial number will provide the precise manufacture date.

Raleigh used names like The Peak and The Chill for their ATB series during this period. They were on a small seat tube decal. So, "The Vision' would appear to be the proper model name, though we called them Technium Carbon-Kevlar.

Cactus459

I have not seen where the serial number is printed on the frame. There is a wierd number that looks like a previous owner marked maybe?

T-Mar

The serial number may be under the plastic cable guide.

Cactus459

I have been told that what is etched into the bottom bracket is a postcode (Singapore)? I have looked all over the bike and haven't found any other numbers. Does anyone know where the serial number would be in 1988?someone suggested under the cable guide under the bottom bracket but it appears to be riveted to the frame.

Trakhak

The first two numbers of the serial number hiding under the BB guide are visible (04). A riveted bottom bracket guide would be very unusual. You can try disconnecting the U-brake cable so that you can get at the apparent rivet and then use a paper clip or what have you to see whether you can scrape away any dirt that might have collected there. Perhaps drip or spray some WD-40 in the hole in the rivet/bolt first to help in removing the dirt. There's a good chance you'll find that it's a bolt and can be unscrewed with a metric Allen wrench.

T-Mar

The 04 should not be the first two characters of the serial number. Like the other Technium, The Vision was built in the Kent Washington facility, so the first character should be an R. Being a 1980s models, the 2nd character should be an 8.

While looking for something else, I came across a road test of the 1988 model. It differs from the OP's bicycle in that it has curved fork blades. Looking at 1988 and 1989 advertisements for other Technium models, such as The Chill and The Peak, curved blades and chain stay mounted brakes were standard in 1988, being replaced in 1989 by seat stay mounted cantilever brakes and straight bladed forks. The OP's bicycle has a mox of 1988 rear brake mounting and 1989 forks.

Possible explanations for the conflicting features include the original owner replacing the fork, the straight bladed fork being a mid model year introduction or the 1989 framesets being leftover 1988 frames with the new fork installed.

The article did at least confirm that the main tubes are carbon wrapped aluminum.

This post is primarily for posterity, due to the relative lack of information on this model. Photo of the (early?) 1988 version attached.


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