Bontrager

Bontrager is one of the (almost) originals from Northern California. He built steel race bikes that were very highly regarded and sought after by the racer types. He got swallowed up by Trek in their great frenzy of buying, and now Bontrager frames are no more, but you can find his fine components on Treks, Fishers, and Kleins.

Racelite - This is one of the pre-Trek buyout Bontragers. Very nicely updated with new brakes, nine speed stuff, and a SID, unfortunately, one of the only newer forks made with a 1 inch steerer.

I guess this rider doesn't own a hacksaw...



Racelite - Old-skool alert!! This pre-buyout Bontrager has all the old stuff on it - right down to the 3D Violet headset and front hub.

Wait a minute though - that looks like a threadless headset...



Racelite - This may actually be a BonTrekger. I think the black crown on the Rock Shox is the clue, but Keith may have scored a few of those before he sold out, I can't remember.


Privateer - I'm officially naming Bontragers as TeamCow's "Bike Most Likely to Have a Lot of Old-Skool Parts on Them." This one has an original Bontrager triple-clamp fork on it, and Onza clipless pedals.

This could be the overall champion too, you see very few of those Allsop Frankenstem's on today's mountainbikes (thankfully).


Cyclocross - Now that TeamCow has experienced a cyclo-cross bike, we've become very interested in these versatile and fast machines. This is a particularly nice , pre-BonTrekger bike. I can't tell road parts just from a pic like this, so I'll just assume this bike is well outfitted.

Titanium - Right before they became BonTrekger, Bontrager started making a Titanium frame. I'm sure these were highly sought after because of the reputation that Bontragers already had for great handling bikes. Throw some magic metal into the mix, and most XC-type riders would be salivating something fierce.


Road - What's kinda ironic about this is how some newbies inital reaction is probably; "oh great, another mountain bike guy that thinks he can make a road bike." When in reality, guys like Bontrager, Ross Shafer of Salsa, and Tom Ritchey made road bikes before they made mountain bikes.