The Bike Hive

I picked up this Miele in very rough condition last month.  Although I'm not super excited about the brand, it is a decent quality classic early 90s steel bike made with Columbus Cromor tubing.  I got it with a solid Shimano 600 group on it.  Even though I like the 600 components, I do love Campagnolo.  It doesn't hurt that I have a Daytona gruppo in a box that would look great on this. Before I get ahead of myself, there's some serious cleanup and touch up to do.  I'd rather not spend the money on a repaint so I have some fine sanding to do and some paint touch up.  The fork is in very poor condition with more rust than chrome plating left so I'm thinking of installing a carbon fiber fork that I have.  Not only would it look great but it will smooth out the ride quite a bit too. I'll post updates as I work through this new project!

If you've known me for any length of time, then you've likely heard me talk about DBR bikes and how awesome they were.  For anyone who hasn't heard, here's a quick lesson: DBR stands for Diamond Back Racing.  The bikes were made in the mid-late 90's, the golden age for mountain biking.  This was before there was XC or trail, enduro or free ride.  This is when you just bought a mountain bike.  And when you did, you got an aggressive bike.  A quick handling, scary-to-ride-down-a-hill bike.  Sure, they were uncomfortable, but the were fast.  And fun. Like anything that etches ones memory, these bikes more than define the top of the market, they define the time.  This is when Ned Overend and John Tomac were battling it out every weekend.  When Cadel  Evans was tearing it up on the world mountain bike circuit.  When Tinker Juarez was...well, he's always been awesome.  Anodized colors were the rage and suspension was just gain...