Hello VRC,
I've been wanting to do this for quite a while, and I am optimistic I am finally going to be able to do it.
Back in '95, I bought a beautiful Pearl White WTB Phoenix (standard edition, suspension corrected) as a high school graduation present from my parents. It was a truly wonderful bike built with a mix of XC-Pro, New Paradigm, and a rolling assortment of other accessories. It handled the Alaskan trails around my house beautifully in winter and summer for a couple years, and even carried me on an Alaska -> Oregon bike tour with 4 dutch guys when I transferred to an out of state university. Despite the increased mud and much more technical terrain, the bike was still awesome, although I was affectionately known as "endo king" for my propensity for going over the front (i'll blame the 140mm stem).
I've had AMP forks, Judys, a Type II, and even a Noleen Crosslink on that bike. Scoff all you want, that crosslink was an awesome fork for my riding and I liked it a lot (so much so that i even had a local builder roll out the fork induced dents :madman: and move the cable stops back to better work with the fork). The frame was nicely repainted by my dad a sort of midnight blue, which I immediately dented up again. I guess in retrospect, that fork was a bad decision for this bike.
...
Time passes and the Phoenix slowly fades from ride circulation for a variety of reasons. It has been waiting patiently in a series of garages or storage places for 7 or 8 years, coming out to play every once in a while.
I now live in California again (and will for the foreseeable future), where the Phoenix will shine. My plan is to do a sort of nuevo-retro thing. I want to put a rollercam on the back and a nice quality period correct V-brake up front on a modern 80mm fork, putting as much of the xc-pro & new paradigm stuff back on that i can scrounge up. This is definitely going to be a rider and I hope to explore a lot of central coast trails on the resurrected Phoenix.
So my first step is to contact Steve Potts who I spoke to back in 2007 about this frame, and who was willing to replace the jacked up front triangle then. Unfortunately, at the time my wallet wasn't so into the idea. Things are a little different now, and I e-mailed him on Tuesday, but have yet to hear back (is that typical?).
I'm not really asking any questions, but just kind of sharing a bit of my excitement that I hope will be realized sometime in the not too distant future.
-Damon
I've been wanting to do this for quite a while, and I am optimistic I am finally going to be able to do it.
Back in '95, I bought a beautiful Pearl White WTB Phoenix (standard edition, suspension corrected) as a high school graduation present from my parents. It was a truly wonderful bike built with a mix of XC-Pro, New Paradigm, and a rolling assortment of other accessories. It handled the Alaskan trails around my house beautifully in winter and summer for a couple years, and even carried me on an Alaska -> Oregon bike tour with 4 dutch guys when I transferred to an out of state university. Despite the increased mud and much more technical terrain, the bike was still awesome, although I was affectionately known as "endo king" for my propensity for going over the front (i'll blame the 140mm stem).
I've had AMP forks, Judys, a Type II, and even a Noleen Crosslink on that bike. Scoff all you want, that crosslink was an awesome fork for my riding and I liked it a lot (so much so that i even had a local builder roll out the fork induced dents :madman: and move the cable stops back to better work with the fork). The frame was nicely repainted by my dad a sort of midnight blue, which I immediately dented up again. I guess in retrospect, that fork was a bad decision for this bike.
...
Time passes and the Phoenix slowly fades from ride circulation for a variety of reasons. It has been waiting patiently in a series of garages or storage places for 7 or 8 years, coming out to play every once in a while.
I now live in California again (and will for the foreseeable future), where the Phoenix will shine. My plan is to do a sort of nuevo-retro thing. I want to put a rollercam on the back and a nice quality period correct V-brake up front on a modern 80mm fork, putting as much of the xc-pro & new paradigm stuff back on that i can scrounge up. This is definitely going to be a rider and I hope to explore a lot of central coast trails on the resurrected Phoenix.
So my first step is to contact Steve Potts who I spoke to back in 2007 about this frame, and who was willing to replace the jacked up front triangle then. Unfortunately, at the time my wallet wasn't so into the idea. Things are a little different now, and I e-mailed him on Tuesday, but have yet to hear back (is that typical?).
I'm not really asking any questions, but just kind of sharing a bit of my excitement that I hope will be realized sometime in the not too distant future.
-Damon