PRESERVATION BICYCLE #26: The 1996 Bontrager Privateer Comp
This one is pretty special!
*Instructions for this special bike.
Rare and iconic bikes like this are why we started the Preservation Bicycle Society (PBS)! If our team fixed this bike up we would have to sell it for about $900, probably $300 less than it’s worth, and for the average Joe/JoAnne, that’s a lot of money for a 25-year-old bike. Instead we can sell it as a project bike for about $300, and give someone access to a $1200 icon that they would otherwise never have access to.
If you want this special bike, here are your special instructions. When purchasing, you must tell the Facilitator at the front counter the following:
Where you, or the special someone you’re building it for (not selling it to), plan to ride it.
What you envision the your restoration looking like.
While holding your right hand up. “I, or someone I love, plans to ride, not flip this bike.”
About the Bike:
Preservation Bike #26 (2021: 3/12) was made in the USA in 1996, and designed by mountain biking pioneer Keith Bontrager. From what I can tell, this is one of their last frames hand built in the Bontrager factory in Santa Cruz, before all of the components were added on at the Trek factory in Wisconsin. 1995 or 1996 was about the same time Bontrager was bought by Trek, and while their sweet components are still being built today, this acquisition was the beginning of the end of Bontrager’s iconic frames (check out Keith’s letter in the 1996 catalog)… just look at that wishbone seatstay (the bar/s that run from the seatpost to the rear hub)… and those incredible gussets where the top tube and down tube meet the head tube… and of course at that Shimano XT!!!
At the time, this was one of the best mountain bikes on the planet, and with a little love to the all original components, it could still pound some single track trail today. Here’s the deal though, “all original” is certainly cool, but “comfortable and efficient“ is a million times cooler. Have some fun with this bike, make it your own, and for cripes sake, put on a more upright handlebar.
#26 Facts and Figures:
MAKE: Bontrager MODEL: Privateer Comp
YEAR/AGE: 1996 (the Year Tupac faked his death, Lance won the Tour, and we cloned a sheep and named her Dolly because her DNA came from mammary glads (figure it out)).
SIZE: 19’’ (If you’re within a few inches of 5’8, you’re probably good).
ADOPTION FEE: $300 & we’ll throw in a $50 BBP gift cert to help with used parts.
RECOMMENDED REPAIRS:
BASIC: If you cleaned it up, shot in some fresh grease, got some new used tires and tubes, and lubed the chain, you could probably ride it to Parma… but your neck and lower back would sore from bending over to reach the long stem/flat bar combo. With $300 adoption fee and the $50 gift certificate + 3 hours of dedicated bearing work, you’ve got an iconic MUSA bike (Made in USA).
BETTER: Do yourself a favor and swap out the handlebar to something that swoops up and back. There’s a chance you might need to switch out the stem too, and we have plenty of both, used, at at the shop. The chain and cassette could likely be replaced, and a full bearing overhaul would go a long way. With those changes, some nice platform pedals, and a comfortable saddle, your ride to Parma just got a lot better. Add another $50 for the cassette and chain.
BEST: Oh yeah! Let’s add a Velo Orange Klunker Bar… a Swift Industries saddlebag…a rigid suspension corrected front fork that fits a big tire…a front rack with a Wald basket zipped tied to it…maybe a Brooks saddle…these Summer Yummy tires…get rid of the biggest chainring and add a bash guard…and now you’ve got the sweetest commuting/touring/camping bike in Boise. All those things probably add $500 to the bottom line, but that’s still under $1000 for an amazing bike. Be patient, do it over time, and you won’t break the bank.
BICYCLE HISTORY:
Born in Santa Cruz at the Bontrager Factory, went to preschool in Wisconsin at the Trek Factory, graduated and entered society from Idaho Mountain Touring in 1996…been shredding the Boise foothills ever since.