Interesting frame?

[coffeejo]

Spotted this bike outside the Riverside Café in Langport yesterday. Did a double take. Curious to know if it was designed like this or if it's been adapted as a road bike after a previous life with a different purpose.

(Not sure if this is the best place to put this thread.)

 

[Roadrider48]

I think it was originally a mountain bike.

 

[dan_bo]

Looks like an old Alpinestars. Nice work though.

 

[biggs682]

is there not a Decathlon that looks similar ?

 

[Crackle]

Looks like an old Alpinestars. Nice work though.

Full marks to dan Bo

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/wiki/Alpinestars

 

[DCLane]

Well spotted @dan_bo

Looks a simple conversion; bars / shifters / crank

 

[mickle]

Lots of companies made elevated chainstay mtbs. Most notably Nishiki whose Alien model was based on (and licenced from) Charlie Cunningham. They offered greater mud clearance and/or a shorter rear end. I had a Funk in 1990 which was funking terrible. Alpinestars continued churning them out (plus 1.5inch headsets) long after everybody else gave up on the design as a bad job.

 

[Pale Rider]

The design is still used in a small number of belt drive bikes.

They use a hub gear/single sprocket, so it is possible to remove the belt without splitting the rear triangle.

Most belt drives I've seen use a traditional rear triangle with a joint, which probably tells us this design doesn't work well.