26" wheel rim brake MTB for bay area

2024 is off to s slow start in the shop but at least I got this frame and fork done before the weekend. I still have to build a custom steel stem but I'll get that done early next week and this all should go to the powder coat shop.

This customer has been riding the same bike since the late '80's and wanted my version of what was being built back then. Since I was actually building frames like this in the '80's I didn't have a problem figuring out the geometry-it was what put me on the map back then as a builder. The only departure I made from the old formula was to give the bike a bit more tire room if the owner ever decided to use tires larger than the 26x2.1" tires he was running on his old bike.

For rim brakes this one is getting cantilevers, not V-brakes. This rider does not go on steep hills and mostly rides around his Marin county neighborhood so pawerful brakes are not something he feels he needs. Back in the day, all of us rode some pretty challenging trails with cantilever brakes and they did the job back then, as long as it was not raining, anyway !

I tired to make the frame and fork resemble what I was building in the 1984-1990 era and I think that it looks pretty close, right down to the head tube rings.