2.27.2006

Bridgestone

Bridgestone used to make excellent steel mountain and road bikes. They still do in Japan, but they gave up on North America in 1997 or so. They had their day in the sun though, former product manager Grant Pederson was really good at getting press with his hardcore retro-grouch stance. There are still a group of veterans out there (myself included) who would be very happy to get their hands on a 1990 MB-Zip.


MB-Zip - The MB-Zip was a very special bike. The parts were hand-picked from several different companies - Mavic, Shimano, SunTour, Ritchey. At the time, 1990, that was simply not done. The frame was hand-welded in Taiwan, and only 823 copies made in the first year.

This bike appears to be totally stock apart from the pedals and the bar-ends. I love seeing good old bikes taken care of like this one.



MB-1 - One of the last Bridgestone to make it to North America, this is a very nice MB-1. Why is it that I find so many pics of Bridgestones with slicks? Doesn't anybody ever take these bikes off-road?


MB-1 - Eventually, the MB-1 became the MB-Zip, and that's what this bike is. It's also nearly original, with v-brakes and big flat pedals.



MB-1 - A 1990 or 91 MB-1 with Rock Shox Mag 21. It would have been sacreligious to put a suspension fork on a Bridgestone back in the day...



MB-2 - I loved this bike when I first saw it in a shop in Calgary in 1992. I wanted it bad. Unfortunately, I succumbed to the dark side and now I ride a fully suspended, oversized aluminum bike.

Oh well...



MB-3 - This a really old MB-3. I know for sure because I nearly bought a 1990 MB-3, and it was black. It's Hard to tell because Bridgestone never used biopace rings or chainstay brakes, which are good age indicators. Anyway, that Accu-Trax fork is a little out of place here, it's way beefier than any of the frame tubes. Great fork though, one of the best rigid forks ever.



XO-1 - This is Bridgestone's vision of the 'one' bike. A mountain frame with 26 inch wheels (for offroad), but with a flattened-out road bar and road brake hood/levers (for onroad). This type of bike seemed to be something that Grant Pederson is obsessed with. They never really caught on in the market place though.

I'd much rather have an MB-2 and a nice RB-1.

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