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Pacific Exploit Women's Mountain Bike (26-Inch Wheels)

Sporty enough for spelunking through the city, the 18-speed Pacific Exploit women’s mountain bike also offers a hard edge to take on bumpy country trails. The Exploit is equipped with a lightweight, hand-built, high-tensile steel tube frame and a Vortex front cross-country suspension fork that delivers a smooth ride over rough terrain as well as improved control. The 18-speed twist shifters, meanwhile, let you efficiently change gears wherever you ride. Other details include linear pull brakes, a three-piece crank set, an MTB riser handlebar and stem, a sport saddle, and 36-spoke silver rims with MTB hubs.

This Bike came from my father-in-law who bought it around the early 1980s from a local amateur racing driver near Frankfurt/Germany. Apparently he used the Bike only a few times, and I think the state in which I received it is more or less the same he got it. No decals are left. Actually he didn't knew who the manufacturer was, he thought it was italian and startet with an »M«. So I had to dive into the then unknown world of classic racing bicycles. I started my research by looking for italian Brands with »M«. I found »classicrendezvous« and it was fascinating. But no Masi, no Motta, nor Molnago, Mios and no other of the shown machines was similar to the the one I got. I found more sites in the WWW and finally on »speedbicycles.ch« there was one (and now are two) very similar. In fact–apart from size, colour and several components–the frame is exactly what is shown on speedbicycles (most obviously the connection of the seat stays to seat tube, the two circular holes underneath the bottom bracket, no frame number ...).

The state shown here is pretty much the same that I found. After about 25 years in a (dry) cellar new tires were needed, I bought a NOS handlebar (3TTT as before) and ribbon, a new chain and a cheap shimano freewheel.

The components in detail:
frame 60 cm (center to top), toptube 57 cm (c-c), Sugino crank, Campagnolo headset and bottom bracket, Campagnolo seat post (27,2 mm), brakes and shift levers, Mafac brake levers. The wheels were Mavic »Championnat du Monde« rims with Normandy hub (front) and a Zeus hub (rear), Dura Ace front derailleur (FD 7210), RD 6200 EX »Arabesque« rear derailleur. The shown Brooks B-17 was replaced by a new Swallow.

The all-in-all state is medium. Countless small defects in paint work are to consider, in several places the color is repainted–most notably on the head set's lower part. Since the spokes were not the best anymore and the rims too are heavily used, I bought a wheel set that is slightly to new (Mid to late 80's) but look for avery good one for tubulars. Apart from optical faults and not contemporary parts the Kessels is great fun to drive.

Unfortunately my father-in-law couldn't report anything from the bike's history. One might assume, that most of the none-Campa parts were later replacements after the bike was not used for racing anymore but for training purposes. But that remains speculation.

Bridgestone Classic 5-Star

Specifications:

Bike size : 26 inches
Manufacturer : Bridgestone (Japan)
Frame type : Bridgestone Classic (Five star)
Frame color : Nippon (Nax) Urethane classic pearl yellow
Handle bar : Stainless classic
Handle post : One-piece aluminum
Fenders : Stainless
Front basket : Stainless original Bridgestone
Head light : Shimano Nexus with 7 led bulbs (Light sensor type)
Tail light : Battery operated blinking tail light
Rear carrier : Chrome finish
Chain cover : Original bridgestone chrome finish
Cranks :Aluminum
Front hub : Shimano nexus japan dynamo hub (6 volts , 3-watts)
Rear hub : Shimano japan 3-speed internal gear
Rim : Size 26 stainless araya japan
Spokes : Stainless (Original)
Tires : Brand new Cheng Shin yellow side with reflector
Center stand : Classic type, chrome finish
Lock : Original bridgestone hard lock
Bell : BBC original