Melvin's stable

[Yo Eddy!]

This thread will inform you on the bikes that accompany my Yo.

Made some pics today. First bike I post is my 1993 Koga Miyata TrailRunnerCarbolite.

1st attachment
XTR cranks with CrystalDesign chainring protection. Zero Ti QR in front.

2nd attachment
Glued alloy fork, XT thumbies, Campy RecordOR brakes, X-lite bar, Footwork brakebooster. Under the bracket the two bolts can be seen that hold the stainless steel anti chainsuck plate. The bolt under the downtube is for mounting the holder of the legendary Miyata CO2 cartridges.

3rd attachment
Glued and bolted reartriangle. H-Ball's had a small shock. Initial ideas to market this pivotless construction in Europe in the '95 SkyCarbolite were canceled.

4th attachment
Another view from the rear. Campy RecordOR pedals.

All pics shot in Noorderplantsoen, Groningen, NL.

 

[Yo Eddy!]

1996 Rafty Funnel

Here we go! This is my 1996 Rafty Funnel.

As most of you probably are not so familiar with the Rafty brand, first an introduction on Rafty: Rafty was a small framebuilder in Haarlem, The Netherlands. All frame's were custom made and Rafty's can be considered as very exclusive. I won't be susprised if all polished Rafty's can be counted on only one hand. The frames were built by Edward Hagen, over here also known as iceskater. For additional information go to http://www.hagencycle.nl/ were you will be informed on Edward's current brand Hagen Cycles.

Notice the square tubed rear triangle. The machined stem is an ALPA. Another Dutch brand that is already gone.

Pics shot at various sites in Drente, NL.

 

[rumpfy]

That Carbolite is so cool.
I'm kicking myself that I didn't bid higher on the three that went through eBay a month ago! aaarg!!! :x

 

[Yo Eddy!]

1993 Koga Miyata SkyRunnerCarbolite

Next addition is my 1993 Koga Miyata SkyRunnerCarbolite. The frame is similar to that of my TrailRunnerCarbolite except for the rear end. Well, ok and the paintscheme of course. :wink: The SRC rear is in carbon where that of the TRC is in polished alloy. In 1993 the SRC was the more expensive brother of the TRC. It came with XTR and a lot Syncros stuff where the TRC featured XT/DX, but still came with all those nice Syncros goodies(post,stem,bar,barends).

Some highlights:
Kooka stem in 'Nightstorm' design
X-Lite Ti Disco BarPlugs
Rond headset.
Undestructable Sunn NK Trail bar which I cut many centimeters. Very heavy!
The good old XT thumbies.
Footwork brakeboosters
RaceFace XY post
Fi

 

[Yo Eddy!]

1988 Koga Miyata ValleyRunner

My 1988 Koga Miyata ValleyRunner. Everytime I ride it I am wondering why men have put so much energy in developing newer stuff. OK shifting is not up to todays XTR, but the well preserved Exage Mountain groupo never constrained my performance. The U-brake is doing an excellent job!

Of course it is a rigid bike. I totally don't miss the suspension on this rig. The frame is made out of Miyata HardLite FM-1 steel. It's lugged, has quite long stays, angles not as steep as on todays bikes and together with the quite upright position it delivers a comfortable ride.

I take this bike on many rides. It proved to be a good investment especially cause I bought it for only 50 euros. Since then I only replaced the original headset for a Campagnolo Centaur one. It doubled the bike's price. :lol:

 

[Yo Eddy!]

RIP 1991 Alpinestars Al-Mega XT

My Al-Mega has died. After very close inspection I discovered the frame and fork suffers of multiple cracks.

Weird thing about this is that none of the cracks is near a weld. :? Even more weird is that my Al-Mega features a near mint XT groupo, rims almost untouched by the canti's and the original tires that look like the bike has almost never been ridden. These facts say even more about the quality of the frame. The Al-Mega may look nice with the Elevated stays, the bended seattube and the flashy typical early nineties paintscheme, but it's probably one of the crappiest frames (and fork) in bicycle history. Sad, I really liked the looks.

So I end up with some very nice parts. I could use them as replacementparts for my other bikes, but I could also go for a nice frame. I am not in a hurry. If I see something nice maybe I go for it. :wink:

Another thing with which I end up are some pictures. Hope its colorfull presence will keep the good memories alive and have the bad fade away.

Goodbye Al-Mega

Picture shot in Groningen(Pieterpad), NL.

 

[Yo Eddy!]

1992 Koga Miyata GentsRacerCarbolite

Roadbike with 4 Carbolite tubes in the fronttriangle and Alloy reartriangle. Furthermore: Fork with Carbolite blades and Shimano 600/DuraAce components. Notice the platform pedals. This leaves no room for doubt; I am a mountainbiker.

Also notice the Miyata CO2 cartridges under the downtube. A well known feature on (Koga) Miyata's from that era.

I bought the bike from a friend who does speedskating and used this Koga for trainingpurposes.

 

[yoshboston]

nicely selected poses/pics

where did you take the shots in the fields? in holland? what part?

 

[Yo Eddy!]

Re: nicely selected poses/pics

where did you take the shots in the fields? in holland? what part?

Yosh,

Good question! I already updated my posts.

I really like seeing nice pictured bikes. I am only a beginner in taking photo's and already noticed many things that leave room for improvement. Nevertheless nice to hear that somebody can appreciate them.

The purple SRC and the old teal ValleyRunner are both pictured about 30 km above Amsterdam near the coast. Bergen is where my parents live and it is also the place where I started mountainbiking in '92. Since '96 there is a official mountainbiketrack in Schoorl. One of the nicest, or even the nicest, in The Netherlands.

Of the purple one I also took some awesome shots near cows. They were very close. Great site and perfect light. Nevertheless for some reason I totally messed them up.

I am studying in Groningen and that is in the northeast of The Netherlands. Drente is near Groningen and Drente is a great area for (mountain-)biking. BTW on the last picture of my Rafty a nest for storks can be seen on the background. Unfortunately the animals were not home at the moment I took the picture. It always proves to be difficult to make a appointment with animals. You really can't rely on them.

At the moment I am busy with taking pictures of my Yo! and some other bikes. I hope being able to post them soon.

Melvin

 

[yoshboston]

Cool!

I will have to look at a map and check out the mountain bike trails you mentioned as I was just in AmDam last week. I have a few friends there and lived in Maastricht for about nine months during school. Look forward to seeing your Yo Eddy pics. I updated my avatar with a head tube shot as my Yo is currently mothballed awaiting a refurb/rebuild after it was strip mined by a theif. All I can say is I am glad I had renters insurance!

 

[Yo Eddy!]

Yosh,

My Yo! can already be seen in 'Melvin's Yo Eddy'.

Very bad that your bike got stolen. I always thought that was typical Dutch tradition, but since some time I know that it also happens in the USA. I often see US-people in forums telling there bike is stolen. I once was at the house of a friend in Schwitzerland. They parked there expensive bikes in the open air in their backyard! We went out for a trip and half-way we parked our bikes unlocked near a pub and went inside. When we came back the bikes were stil there! That was in a not so populated area, but also in Bern I could discover an unlocked Zaskar....
Coincidence or common?

 

[yoshboston]

at least the bugger didn't get my frame or my RSR cranks

all the parts can eventually be replaced but the frame cannot. thank you kryptonite Ulock! :lol:

 

[Yo Eddy!]

1991 Koga Miyata TrailRunner

I bought this TrailRunner about 6 months ago. When I bought it it was in superb condition, really like new. The only wear on it now, is from me. In '91 the TrailRunner came with full XT and a lot Syncros parts. For some reason this bike came only with XT brakes, bracket, headset, front der. and seatpost. The groupset was completed by STX parts. There weren't Syncros parts on this bike. I guess Koga had some frames left over, cleared stocks and a dealer finished it as it is now.

I am planning to upgrade it to original specs. I attached a catalogue pic of the bike with original specs.

Decent frame? Well, weldquality is way nicer than many could ever imagine such excisted. Makes my other welded alloy frames look like build by the monkeys. Do not know whether the job is done by robots or such, but to me it is hard to believe such flawless, perfect symetric welds can by done by a human creature. The point is it is okay

I enclosed a pic of the nice Miyata BigFork.

I use this bike for more technical hard core riding.

 

[Yo Eddy!]

1997 Koga Miyata Survivor

Okay, you have seen a bike for 50 euro and 125 euro. Both bargains you would probably think. Yes, they are, but there are exceptional expensive compared to this '97 Survivor. It was free!!!

A car magazine in Holland organized a competition. I never enter competitions like this, but this time a Koga Miyata Survivor was the first prize. What they asked was difficult, but hey!, I know quite a lot about cars. I won. I added some left over parts to its setup and here it is, my '97 Survivor:

Bike & Car. My Car, my other hobby.

Welded HardLite frame (great finishing), LX componentry and a lot ITM for the standard Survivor. On mine many parts laying around came on: Rond HydroPro2 (many machined bits!), Answer ATAC, Bontrager Titec Ti bar, Kooka rasta post and a lot of spacers. Funny brakebooster machined out 3 glued print plates for the rear brakes.

Excellent handling bike. Both stable and agile.

Melvin

Well, okay, it wasn't free. I had to pay for the stamp on my entry.

 

[Yo Eddy!]

In Holland Miyata's are a real curiosity. Koga Miyata's can be seen here, but Miyata's; no! This Century is a limited edition issued because of 100 year Miyata bikebuilding. This bike is said to be a gift from Miyata boss to the boss of another large bike company that had some frames built by Miyata. The lugs of the Century are said to be goldplated. I am not 100% sure whether this is actually the case, but it definatelly looks like gold. More specs: Full XT, Tange Switchblades and awesome Trimble ROO bar/stem combo.

The frame: Miyata's first generation bonded and bolted mountainbikeframe with 3 Carbolite tubes in the front triangle. The frame can be considered as very sturdy, but it isn't the lightest around. It's sturdyness is very good visualised; notice for example the massive square edged lugs.

Bike would suit a Pimp very well BTW !

 

[Yo Eddy!]

Vitus CL1 project

Bonded aluminium Vitus CL1 mountainbike frame. Rear takes both cantilever and U-brake. Cables run nicely covered under down- and toptube. Seatpost clamp is very unconventional. It clamps like a Zooka ahead stem.

 

[Yo Eddy!]

1991 Koga Miyata TerraRunner Carbolite

Neatly made carbon bike with DX and for the most Japanese parts.


The frame is pretty much similar to that of my golden Century, except for a few things:
- no gold
- it has a Hardtlite (steel) rear
- it is one year newer, what implies slimmer dropouts and a reworked, slimmer bracketlug with integrated chainsuckteeth. Frame now fitting 1.125" headset and 73mm bracket, instead of 1" and 68mm. Toptube cablerouting.

 

[Yo Eddy!]

1991 Panasonic MC-Comp project - almost finished

Bought the frame some time ago and built it up with with decent, functional stuff.

Frame Tange MTB OS
Fork Tange Switchblades
Headset XTR
Stem Syncros polished
Handlebar Tioga DL2000 Duraluminum silver
Grips cork
Brakes XT polished
Cantilever cable hangers 'Uebercool' Campagnolo Euclid
Cable stopper front MAFAC
Brake Levers LX
Shifters LX
Front Derailleur DX
Rear Derailleur XT short cage
Cassette XT 13-26
Cranks Shimano XT, Ti crankbolts
Bottom Bracket XT axle, Tioga BB-501 cups
Pedals DX
Quick Releases XTs
Rims Ritchey Vantage polished
Hubs XT polished
Tyres meat Tioga Psycho in front, Panaracer Ibex II in rear
Saddle Flite Ti black
Seatpost Trek polished (actually it was labeled Bontrager, but I removed the Bonty decal as I don't think this kind of badge engineering is a good thing)
Bottle cage Ringle H20 silver
Weight sufficient

Furthermore Retrobike sticker, blue Gorilla brake boosters, blue and red anodized alloy cable ends, proper rust prevention

Bike waiting for silver brake boosters and fatter rubber for the rear.


Enclosed a page from the 1991 Panasonic brochure showing the original MC-Comp.

 

[fat-tony]

Damn Melvin:
You giving First Flight Bicycles a run for their money or what! Nice looking rides......

 

[stevek]

Fantastic collection Melvin. Super pics as ever.