UNstable: Bontrager Privateer

Like many folks, my cycling experience began with track bikes.  I quickly learned how sketchy, albeit fun, they were to ride on mixed terrain.  Even before I could talk my friends into riding mountain and cross bikes, my main objective was to see what lay beyond the urban environment I was used to.  Years of cross racing and chilling on mountain bikes bring us to the current moment where I've become quite interested in the versatility of those early all-terrain bikes whose sole purpose was for exploration, not being good at fitness.

Many cyclists, myself included, think about what bikes they are going to build sometimes long before they purchase the frame, parts, and accessories. Sometimes your vision is compromised by the fact that great rides beckon, and the right bike for the job simply isn't going to come along in time.  With the recent trend in cycling favoring a versatile, in-betweener bike, I've given some thought to a concept I call the "UNstable."

By this, I mean that I like to see a collection of bikes which are a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none.  These are bikes which allow you to be impulsive.  Explore that dirt, hit that sketchy jump, hop the cross-barrier-height gate.

None of the bikes in an UNstable are purpose built.  A bike built for one purpose is simply less fun than one which can hit trails at a moment's notice.  A stable of purebreds merely inspires one to find situations in which to NOT ride a particular bike.  With multiple bikes, the dominant thought should be, "Which of these bikes could I take out today, no matter the terrain?" 

The first bike in this UNstable series is my Bontrager Privateer.  Equally as fun to ride on concrete as it is on sketchy trails, this embodies my idea of a bike that anyone can build for a small investment and often from a parts bin.

This bike is the culmination of trying to stay true to a period and build a bike around original WTB dirt drops.  Most of the parts are from 92-98, including the NOS tires recently gifted to me by Pearl Velo owner Tyler Hardie.  The only new components are the Thomson seat post and a 1/1 Paul Neo Retro set in rasta.