area211

Pardon me if this has already been hashed-out here. (I did a quick search and didn't see anything)... Anyway, I was strolling through a local Chicago Walmart the other day and was taken by surprise to see the following: Is this a new trend for the mainstream... in the mid-west no less?

Looking for some thoughts or info from anyone who might be Race, Inc. experts out there: Hays, Gayton, Johnson, anyone? Who did Bill Bastian use to build the "cro-moly" Race, Inc. stuff? - Frames (RM-1 & RM-2) - Handlebars (RH-6MC) - Seatposts (RSP-14MC / RSP-147MC(??) ) - Forks (RF-M & RF-2M) Or, did he fabricate those himself as well (in addition to the aluminum frames)? The reason I got to thinking about this… is that I have 2 Race, Inc. handlebars (uncut, original chrome & decals). However, the geometry is quite different (width and sweep). The shorter bar has a big sweep and a contour-cut shape decal (this one has more of a sort of 70's feel to it, if that makes sense). The wider bar has less sweep and a square-cut decal (and has more of an 80's feel to it). Do you think he switched manufactures? Or, simply evolved the geometry with the times? Here are some photos:

Here are better pictures of the two minis I posted above. You'll notice the Profile-manufactured 1981 Hutch Lil' Hole Shot is quite different now... red components are gone. New are: Campy hubs on Nisi rims / Campy Headset / SunTour pedals / Weinmann brake caliper, lever & cable / Regina BMX-3 chain / DC seat clamp. I believe the Profile Magnatanium Mini is pretty much the same... save for the crank axle dust caps are metal now instead of the red plastic ones.

Andreas, Would you mind posting a close-up of the bolt-through clamp on the seat post (or else send me a couple of shots of this set-up)? Is that using new or OG hardware? My Profile Magnatanium Mini frame was designed the same-way (hole in the 7/8" OD tube). I've always envisioned doing this... but I've never seen one done correctly; and, didn't want to trash a Uni in the experiment. Thanks, Ron

From what I've read, Weinmann was originally a Swiss brake manufacturing company. They also made rims which most (if not all) were manufactured in Belgium. Perhaps their rim division was located in Belgium?? Or perhaps they had bought out a Belgium rim company and kept the factory there under the Weinmann name?? The brake calipers I have are marked Switzerland. I have also seen Weinmann cables marked Germany. Recently and over the years things have changed markedly... bankruptcies, buy-outs, etc. In fact, for a time a rim factory was located in Olney, Illinois USA... before moving down into Mexico in 2002. Weinmann's European parent company then was Alesa (also now bankrupt) which had been itself owned by a company called Rigida. Rigida/Weinmann the current incarnation(?) just opened a rim factory in China in 2009.

I saw this Weinmann MX-style "BMX" caliper on eBay a short while back: The funny thing is, it doesn't even have the famous Weinmann cable adjuster used on Dia Compe's MX calipers. Instead, it has a different style of Weinmann adjuster (see below). One would have to see the arm backs to know for sure what it really is. I am really curious as to the date of this. Anybody here win this caliper auction? Speaking of adjusters... here's a (later?) Dia Compe branded version... (on eBay now - coffeemilk_1989 from Thailand):

paid & confirmed.

June 1986 Ad: Large and small Hutch Mini stems (Jr. & Lil' Hole Slot sizes?):

Awsome. I'm looking forward to the end result!

Well, happy birthday to you

that's a cool looking bike.

So it seems (ideally) you should mount a fork with solid (non-cut-out) drop-outs to your 1981 Shadow. Correct?

cool. I really like the old 3-bars. if I was to build a cruiser...

Tommy, I'm confused... I thought the JMC Mini forks had short steerer-tubes (4.75") to fit the smaller head-tubes (around 3-5/16") on the mini frames... And the Standard JMC forks had 5 3/8" - 5 1/2" steerer-tubes to fit the standard 4" frame head-tubes. Gary said this (his) fork has a 5 1/2" steerer tube... OR WAIT.... Is it that only the "JR Mini" frame-sets (Justin Roos Minis) have the full-size steerer tubes and headtubes??? and only 54 of these were made, right?