Fillet Brazed Bontrager

This fillet brazed Bontrager was made in the late 1980's and is a predecessor to the Off-Road, and later Race and Race Lite frames. Although in it's precursor of things to come, in a lot of ways it's very different from the production frames.

The most noticeable visual differences include: the lack of the mono-stay rear end, the inclusion of a chain stay cross-brace, inclusion of head tube reinforcement collars, a forward facing seat post binder, an added piece of steel near the chain rings to help fight chain suck damage, and the traditional Bontrager gussets do not exist.

According to Keith Bontrager, this was build during the time that we was using "internal gussets." From what I can gather, these internal gussets are similar to lugged frames only that the "lug" was inserted into the joining tube, not on the joining tubes exterior. The joint is not a true lug though, but more of an extra thick butt for the tube.

This frame was originally build for a local Santa Cruz racer. After several years of racing, it was sold to another Santa Cruz local, and then finally to me. The bike was in pretty rough condition when I picked it up, but with a lot of cleaning, re-greasing, and touch-up paint it turned out okay.

The Bontrager Composite Fork, fillet brazed Ritchey stem, and shoulder carrying strap make for a classic late 80's bicycle. The fillet work on the frame won't win any beauty contests, but it's managed to survive almost 20 years.

The bike has a different feel to it than later Bontragers. The feel of an Off Road, Race and Race Lite, are very similar to me, but this bike is different. Not bad, just different than what was to come. As I add on the miles, and can better explain those differences, I'll try to remember to come back and update this page.

- el