FS: late 80's KHS Montana

[franklyn]

Hi, Folks,

I have this frameset for sale. It's a slight bit of mystery. I got it off craigslist because it had some interesting details, it fits me, and it was inexpensive. The stickers/decals say it's a KHS Montana Pro. I posted some pictures here a month ago and several members have chimed in. It's probably a late 80's KHS Montana, but whether the decals and paint are original I am not certain.

Here are some numbers: 21" seat tube center-to-top; 23" top tube center-to-center; It has 1" top tube, 28.6mm seat tube and 31.8 down tube. The fork has a set of mid-fork braze-ons for racks. and the frameset has front and rear eyelets at the dropouts, as well as at the seat stays for racks/fenders. it uses 26.8mm seatpost (I have one and can add to the sale)

The frameset itself is in very good shape--straight (I have began to build it up), no ding or dent. The paint has some chip in it, but overall the paint is in good shape too. I think the faded pink is a nice color for bikes this vintage. A couple of interesting details. There is a plate on top of the chainstays and behind the bottom bracket shell. It doesn't have a tap for fenders. One list member thinks it's a mud shield. It also has a pump peg behind the seat tube. Finally, it has braze-ons for U-brakes or Rollercam brakes. 

I have respaced the rear drop out to 130mm and installed the headset. I was about to install the stem when I realized that it uses a less common standard steerer tube with inner diameter of 21.1mm (or .833"). After some googling, I found that several stems and stem adapters using that standard are still being made and can be easily purchased at a modest price. I also explored with a local framebuilder to replace the steerer tube to standard 1" with inner diameter of 22.2mm. It's doable, but the cost of this mod exceeds what I paid for the frameset. 

With the academic year starting, work is picking up and I will have a lot less time to tinker, so I would like to hand the project off to someone else. I paid $80 for the frameset, and paid a LBS re-spaced the rear drop out. I additionally bought a new Tange headset and rear U-brakes and installed them. But I will sell the frameset/headset/U-brakes for $90 plus shipping. I have a frame box, and will use the least expensive possible way to ship. 

Here are some pictures of the frameset before the headset/U-brakes were installed: KHS Montana

Let me know if you are interested,

Franklyn

Berkeley, CA

[Shawn Granton]

On Saturday, August 13, 2016 at 6:02:17 AM UTC-7, franklyn wrote:

I have respaced the rear drop out to 130mm and installed the headset. I was about to install the stem when I realized that it uses a less common standard steerer tube with inner diameter of 21.1mm (or .833"). After some googling, I found that several stems and stem adapters using that standard are still being made and can be easily purchased at a modest price. I also explored with a local framebuilder to replace the steerer tube to standard 1" with inner diameter of 22.2mm. It's doable, but the cost of this mod exceeds what I paid for the frameset.

Nice bike!

Yeah, the 21.1 stem. Some early mountain bikes came with that size, since that's the standard "cruiser" stem size, and the early MTB's were basing it all off that old Schwinn Excelsior. My 1984 Raleigh Crested Butte came with that stem. (And a lovely Bullmoose too, but I had to switch bars, which led me to discover the funky sizing.)

Wald makes a stem in the 21.1 size, but the Kalloy stems are a bit nicer.

yours,
Shawn
 

[Chris Lampe 2]

My 1983 Takara Highlander also had a 21.1mm steerer.  Maybe the KHS is older than late 80's?