Obsession Bike Complete (I'm Pretty Sure, Anyway)

So, let's see.. In the past week, the 1984 StumpJumper Sport was first a 26"-wheeled fixed gear mountain bike.  Then, it was a 29er single speed.

I rode it to the coffee shop in 29er mode, yesterday, and I was a bit aggravated by the way that the tires would buzz the frame and/or the fork whenever I would stand up and pedal.  So, I went out into the shop and started to work on trying to increase the tire clearance.  As I was working on the bike, I glanced up into the rafters of the shop and saw the derelict Redline cross frame hanging in the same spot it had been occupying for the past year and a half.

Keeping in mind that I had been for so long putting off building that bike up, and that I had been trolling eBay looking for a steel cross frame, I had a sudden burst of inspiration:  It was time to quit messing around and build a Monstercrosser.

So, I took the wheels and Campy drive train off of the Redline, and installed them on the Stumpy.  I mounted up the 700x35c tires from the orange Peugeot (more on that in the next post), and some Origin8 Gary bars with Shimano bar-end shifters (set to friction to deal with the Campy derailleurs).  I pulled the v-brakes off of the fork, and replaced them with the Avid Shorty cantilevers from the front of the LeMond (more on that, two posts from now).
You can see the avid brakes and the Gary bars really well, in this picture.
This Racing Triple crankset (and bottom bracket) and front derailleur were the first Campagnolo components I ever bought.  They have been on six different frames, through the years.

I had to fabricate an aluminum shim for the seat tube, in order to mount the derailleur.

It is a nice all-rounder, very reminiscent of the Surly Long haul Trucker.

So, there you have it.  Rather than sell the Miami Vice bike, I will use it as my fixed gear MTB.  I will sell the Redline frame, instead.

I plan to pick up some Bontrager Jones 29x1.8" tires to put the "monster" in the monstercross.  I have a spare set of wheels that I can mount them to, and I'll just swap wheelsets when I want to do a serious multi-terrain ride.  Most of the time, I'll ride the 700x35c tires.

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