A Bike From My Past

Thursday at work I was greeted by "an old friend".

When you've been working on bikes, enjoying riding on bikes, and have been in the industry of cycling as long as I have, there are so many bicycles that you have been on, or know about, it is mind boggling. I get that many people maybe have a few bicycles in their entire lifetime, so I am an odd duck when it comes to this sort of thing. I get that.

So the following story may not be remarkable to you, but it does bring together the extremes of the range- those that have had many and those that have had few- into one story. This story is about my 1992 Park Pre 925.

Park Pre wasn't a well known company, but it did have a wide range of bicycles available and those ranged from entry level to Pro level racing bikes and everything in between. A local shop where I traded, and eventually got my first job at, Advantage Cyclery of Cedar Falls, Iowa, sold this brand from about 1991-ish to 1993.

In 1991 I started looking for a new mountain bike as my 1989 Mongoose Sycamore was thrashed. Tom, the owner of Advantage, talked me into getting something really nice. That was all well and fine, but at the time, I had been married to my first wife who was into cycling as well and also wanted a new MTB. That meant I had to buy two really nice mountain bikes. I almost decided to lower my expectations and get two nice Park Pre MTB's and went so far as to test ride one. I almost did it, but my desire to get something really nice ended my search eventually on a Klein Attitude in 1992. And yes..... had to buy two of them. Anyway...... That's a different story.

By the time I was a wrench at Advantage I had become aware of Park Pre due to my earlier research. Advantage had moved on from the brand, but in 1992 they had their race team sponsored by Park Pre and the then team members were availed of pro-pricing on race bikes. Then team member, and former Advantage Cyclery mechanic, Tracy Thompson, bought a Team 925 and raced it, but afterward was going to be moving from the area and was wanting to sell the bike. I ended up buying it.

This was the bike that had a Specialized Future Shock on it, basically a rebadged Rock Shox Mag 21, which I rebuilt and modded. This was the bike I put a set of blue anodized Paul Motolite Brakes on and realized how much better brakes could be. I built wheels for this bike, and I learned how to do a lot of things that I take for granted today because of the stuff I did to this bike while I owned it.

My chief memory of this bike is riding up Vail Mountain in 1994 and then bombing down the World Championship MTB Downhill course on it. Those Worlds were held just two weeks after I had been there, and the course was set up for the athletes to practice on. I'll never forget that weekend and this bike.

I sold it not long afterward. I was buying a new Specialized S-Works Stumpjumper FS, and it was time to move on from this "antiquated" machine. I think it was a mistake to sell this bike though. It rode so well. That Tange CroMo tubing in that thin butted profile just was sooo good. I just did not realize what I had. Anyway, I sold it, and the man who bought it still rides it all the time. It showed up at Andy's Bike Shop where I work, and I was flabbergasted! I hadn't seen the bike in well over 20 years. I'd heard rumors of it still being in town, but had never seen it.

The Future Shock is long gone, and I kept the wheels and brakes. The owner changed out the stem and saddle, but otherwise it is all there. Even my custom chain stay guard I made which is half zebra striped and half checkerboard. I made it using electrical tape! That it has survived the decades is amazing! It was also how I was able to positively identify the bike as being my old one.

Anyway, a three owner bike there. Good to see that it is still loved and being ridden to this day!

A Bike From My Past

Thursday at work I was greeted by "an old friend".

When you've been working on bikes, enjoying riding on bikes, and have been in the industry of cycling as long as I have, there are so many bicycles that you have been on, or know about, it is mind boggling. I get that many people maybe have a few bicycles in their entire lifetime, so I am an odd duck when it comes to this sort of thing. I get that.

So the following story may not be remarkable to you, but it does bring together the extremes of the range- those that have had many and those that have had few- into one story. This story is about my 1992 Park Pre 925.

Park Pre wasn't a well known company, but it did have a wide range of bicycles available and those ranged from entry level to Pro level racing bikes and everything in between. A local shop where I traded, and eventually got my first job at, Advantage Cyclery of Cedar Falls, Iowa, sold this brand from about 1991-ish to 1993.

In 1991 I started looking for a new mountain bike as my 1989 Mongoose Sycamore was thrashed. Tom, the owner of Advantage, talked me into getting something really nice. That was all well and fine, but at the time, I had been married to my first wife who was into cycling as well and also wanted a new MTB. That meant I had to buy two really nice mountain bikes. I almost decided to lower my expectations and get two nice Park Pre MTB's and went so far as to test ride one. I almost did it, but my desire to get something really nice ended my search eventually on a Klein Attitude in 1992. And yes..... had to buy two of them. Anyway...... That's a different story.

By the time I was a wrench at Advantage I had become aware of Park Pre due to my earlier research. Advantage had moved on from the brand, but in 1992 they had their race team sponsored by Park Pre and the then team members were availed of pro-pricing on race bikes. Then team member, and former Advantage Cyclery mechanic, Tracy Thompson, bought a Team 925 and raced it, but afterward was going to be moving from the area and was wanting to sell the bike. I ended up buying it.

This was the bike that had a Specialized Future Shock on it, basically a rebadged Rock Shox Mag 21, which I rebuilt and modded. This was the bike I put a set of blue anodized Paul Motolite Brakes on and realized how much better brakes could be. I built wheels for this bike, and I learned how to do a lot of things that I take for granted today because of the stuff I did to this bike while I owned it.

My chief memory of this bike is riding up Vail Mountain in 1994 and then bombing down the World Championship MTB Downhill course on it. Those Worlds were held just two weeks after I had been there, and the course was set up for the athletes to practice on. I'll never forget that weekend and this bike.

I sold it not long afterward. I was buying a new Specialized S-Works Stumpjumper FS, and it was time to move on from this "antiquated" machine. I think it was a mistake to sell this bike though. It rode so well. That Tange CroMo tubing in that thin butted profile just was sooo good. I just did not realize what I had. Anyway, I sold it, and the man who bought it still rides it all the time. It showed up at Andy's Bike Shop where I work, and I was flabbergasted! I hadn't seen the bike in well over 20 years. I'd heard rumors of it still being in town, but had never seen it.

The Future Shock is long gone, and I kept the wheels and brakes. The owner changed out the stem and saddle, but otherwise it is all there. Even my custom chain stay guard I made which is half zebra striped and half checkerboard. I made it using electrical tape! That it has survived the decades is amazing! It was also how I was able to positively identify the bike as being my old one.

Anyway, a three owner bike there. Good to see that it is still loved and being ridden to this day!