We’re probably beating a dead horse over here by promoting the restoration of vintage mountain bikes into resto mod beauts. Even a run of the mill frame can become something extraordinary, with the right amount of time, parts, and money. Today, Lucas from Tune Germany shares just that, an überlight resto mod of a 1995 Rockrider 520 that weighs a scant 9,7KG with pedals! Let’s check it out below!
My name is Lucas, a French guy, working for Tune in Germany for the R&D dept. I was working for a few months on a project that might interest you for an article maybe? The idea was to get an old 90’s MTB and do a real resto mod of it. No compromise, light, comfortable, strong enough to carry stuff, and one of the big criteria, as on my other bikes, was where the parts come from. For me, working with small companies is very important. The roots of this project must be visible (mainly German parts), and must sound like, “damn that’s a true German “Swiss army knife” bike!”
Here’s a small recap of the project and where it started…
One year ago, I bought an old 1995 Rockrider 520, without wheels, that was lying on the floor of the back of a house for quite a while. I bought the frame and the fork for 10 euros. Pretty happy to say I saved this frame from the trash. My job provides me with plenty of talented people who helped me realize complete this build. After buying the bike, the next step was to bring the frame to a friend, Luc, a local frame builder ( @lm.cycles ). Lucas stripped the right dropout paint to braze a disc caliper tab and a reinforcement brace. Luc is used to this kind of modification, as he does this frequently for his own projects.
Once the frame updates were done, I gave the frame to a local painter to sandblast it. Then came the paint job. I used Spray.bike, which the crew at Squid Bikes use. The top color is a vintage red, and it fades to raw steel. I then coated it with Keirin red flake varnish.
Now that the frame was ready, I began to work on the build, starting with the wheels: Blackburner enduro carbon rims 650b, laced with some stunning Princess and Prince Hubs by Tune (ceramic bearings and a few prototype parts). Those wheels are built with some Conti Xking tires, with Tune’s sealant. In addition, there are some Ashima 180/160 rotors that are very light and pretty affordable.
Speaking of brakes, the bike is stopped by some gorgeous 10yo Trickstuff Cleg 2. The previous owner told me these were a limited edition of the Clegs, which I couldn’t verify but they fit perfectly on the bike. Old Clegs don’t need to be jealous of modern brakes: they are strong!
To continue about what’s on the handlebar, there’s nothing more than 2 Ritchey ergo foam grips (because, yes, it’s singlespeed) that are super comfy. Speaking of the handlebar, this one is supplied by Mike from Passchier in NZ; I need to thank him for sending this discontinued MTB handcrafted bamboo bar. The feeling of this one left everyone who tried it speechless. Plus, it looks amazing!
This one is attached to the bike by a Tune stem. The saddle is a Christmas edition, made in Germany, Komm Vor by Tune. Seatclamp is the Tune Schraubwürger. Seatpost is a manual dropper post by Kind Shock, 100mm of travel. The transmission is also unique.
The crankset is a Tune silver Smartfoot with an Absolute Black 34t chainring. The chain tension is brought by a chain guide for a downhill bike that is simply used as a chain tensioner. The angle of the pulley can be adjusted by the screw that you can see through the chainring.
The complete weight of the build is 9,7KG (with pedals!)
Build Spec:
- Frame : Rockrider 520 1995
- Wheels : 650c blackburner carbon W Princess/Prince
- Tires : Conti Xking 27,5*2,2 tubeless
- Skewers : Tune DC Quickrelease
- Brakes : Trickstuff Cleg 2 W ashima 180/160 rotors
- Handlebar : Passchier Bamboo
- Stem : Tune Geiles Teil 4,0 + Tune carbon spacer set
- Stem cap : Tune Cap
- Seat clamp : Tune Schraubwürger
- Seatpost : Kind shock eten 100mm
- Transmission : Tune Smartfoot, singlespeed kit, 1x chain
- All the screws are Titanium screws
We’d like to thank all of you who submitted Readers Rides builds to be shared here at The Radavist. The response has been incredible and we have so many to share over the next few months. Feel free to submit your bike, listing details, components, and other information. You can also include a portrait of yourself with your bike and your Instagram account! Please, shoot landscape-orientation photos, not portrait. Thanks!
