halaburt
Retro Guru
This just got done and I was toying with entering it into this months BOTM "USA Special" until a certain porcine member ruined that by entering his mind-blowingly cool Otto tribute bike!
Anyway, this is a 1994 Steve Potts "Steelhead". It's from an era when Steve was shifting over from making custom and series "Cross Country Racer" (CCR) frames to making mostly WTB Phoenix frames.
Apparently, about 10 very similarly-sized (tall) guys got together and decided to have Steve make them all identical (except for color) frames/forks/stems. Like the CCR's, this is mostly welded but does have the brazed seat cluster. Ultimately 12 frames were made -- but this one was a "spare" that sat unsold in Steve's shop for a couple of years until a very fortunate, local high school student had his dad buy it for him as a graduation present. As luck would have it, the boy was more interested in his studies than riding apparently because the bike was in minty near-unridden condition when he (now a prosperous attorney) sold it to me late last year.
Because the bike sat in Steve's rafters from '94 to about '97, when it did get built up it was with less-than-ideal parts -- mostly M739 XT. It did come with the precious brakes/bridges and at least one appropriate hub.
Virtually everything else on it got swapped/upgraded. I went with a full XTR M900 build with all the available WTB substitutions plus a few personal favorites like the King headset, XC seatpost and Salsa skewers.
A full gallery of pics is here: http://gallery.me.com/halaburt#100515
I know it's the RB rules/custom to never say anything remotely negative about someone's build... but I've got a thick skin and would love to hear what you really think. I know from past comments on some of my builds and others that many here aren't used to seeing (and perhaps doubt) some of the Potts/Cunningham/WTB parts and setup -- for example the chainstay-mounted brakes.
Frame: 1994 Steve Potts Steelhead MTB #94211
Fork: Steve Potts Type-II
Headset: Chris King Two-Nut (No Logo)
Stem: Steve Potts Flatbar (quill-style)
Handlebar: WTB Titanium Flat-Bar
Grips: WTB Trailgrips
Brakes: WTB Rollercam front & rear w/ WTB Bridges
Brake Pads: WTB Gripmaster (dual compound)
Front Brake Cable Hanger: WTB
Brake Levers: Shimano M900 XTR
Shifters: Shimano M900 XTR
Front Derailleur: Shimano M900 XTR
Rear Derailleur: Shimano M900 XTR
Cassette: Shimano M900 XTR 12-32t
Chain: Shimano HG-91
Cranks: Shimano M900 XTR 180mm
Chainrings: Shimano SG-X 24/36/46t
Bottom Bracket: Shimano BB-UN91 XTR
Pedals: Shimano M737 Clipless
Hub Skewers: Salsa (No Logo)
Rims: WTB PowerBeam 32h
Hubs: WTB New Paradigm 32h
Nipples/Spokes: DT
Tyres: WTB VelociRaptor front & rear
Tubes: WTB
Saddle: WTB SST Titanium
Seatpost: Suntour XC-Pro
Bottle Cage(s): King Cage Titanium
Anyway, this is a 1994 Steve Potts "Steelhead". It's from an era when Steve was shifting over from making custom and series "Cross Country Racer" (CCR) frames to making mostly WTB Phoenix frames.
Apparently, about 10 very similarly-sized (tall) guys got together and decided to have Steve make them all identical (except for color) frames/forks/stems. Like the CCR's, this is mostly welded but does have the brazed seat cluster. Ultimately 12 frames were made -- but this one was a "spare" that sat unsold in Steve's shop for a couple of years until a very fortunate, local high school student had his dad buy it for him as a graduation present. As luck would have it, the boy was more interested in his studies than riding apparently because the bike was in minty near-unridden condition when he (now a prosperous attorney) sold it to me late last year.
Because the bike sat in Steve's rafters from '94 to about '97, when it did get built up it was with less-than-ideal parts -- mostly M739 XT. It did come with the precious brakes/bridges and at least one appropriate hub.
Virtually everything else on it got swapped/upgraded. I went with a full XTR M900 build with all the available WTB substitutions plus a few personal favorites like the King headset, XC seatpost and Salsa skewers.
A full gallery of pics is here: http://gallery.me.com/halaburt#100515
I know it's the RB rules/custom to never say anything remotely negative about someone's build... but I've got a thick skin and would love to hear what you really think. I know from past comments on some of my builds and others that many here aren't used to seeing (and perhaps doubt) some of the Potts/Cunningham/WTB parts and setup -- for example the chainstay-mounted brakes.
Frame: 1994 Steve Potts Steelhead MTB #94211
Fork: Steve Potts Type-II
Headset: Chris King Two-Nut (No Logo)
Stem: Steve Potts Flatbar (quill-style)
Handlebar: WTB Titanium Flat-Bar
Grips: WTB Trailgrips
Brakes: WTB Rollercam front & rear w/ WTB Bridges
Brake Pads: WTB Gripmaster (dual compound)
Front Brake Cable Hanger: WTB
Brake Levers: Shimano M900 XTR
Shifters: Shimano M900 XTR
Front Derailleur: Shimano M900 XTR
Rear Derailleur: Shimano M900 XTR
Cassette: Shimano M900 XTR 12-32t
Chain: Shimano HG-91
Cranks: Shimano M900 XTR 180mm
Chainrings: Shimano SG-X 24/36/46t
Bottom Bracket: Shimano BB-UN91 XTR
Pedals: Shimano M737 Clipless
Hub Skewers: Salsa (No Logo)
Rims: WTB PowerBeam 32h
Hubs: WTB New Paradigm 32h
Nipples/Spokes: DT
Tyres: WTB VelociRaptor front & rear
Tubes: WTB
Saddle: WTB SST Titanium
Seatpost: Suntour XC-Pro
Bottle Cage(s): King Cage Titanium
but i just meant that by comparison with a canti they are physically quite big and wrap around the tyre without much clearance
