Not the geeky guy from Friends but the American bicycle company based out of Allentown, Pennsylvania, who made one of the first mountain bikes. They also produced a range of largely low-end BMX including the Snapper, Pantera and Piranha. However, in amongst those was a little gem of a bike, the MX-Time, a short-lived but high-spec model with quality, Japanese components. There is a good test on the bike in the July ’83 edition of BMX Plus, and a picture of one adorns the front cover. There’s also a great advert from the Feb 1983 edition of BMX Action!
This particular frameset was sourced from the States and when originally found, matched the spec of the bike in the BMX Plus test. It was made in Japan in September 1982 using Ishiwata tubing, which was also used for the first batch of Skyway T/As and the Procraft Ultima. It has oval tubing and similar dropouts to a Laserlite, which is no surprise as Tokyo Kogyo also made some of the earlier Laserlites and other Kuwaharas. What sets this apart is the Redline-esque small gusset behind the bottom of the headtube and the bologna cut forks. With most of the og parts gone, the frameset was built up with a mixture of largely Japanese-made parts, in keeping with the spirit of the original spec, though with a few concessions to get the bike up and running. Here’s the full parts list, followed by some pics:-
Ross frame and forks made by Tokyo Kogyo with Ishiwata tubing
Takagi Tourney AD cranks (170mm) - og to frameset
Suntour XC-II pedals
Win Pro bars
Tange grips
SR MS-423 stem
Araike Jaguar seat
Generic cro-mo seat post
Tange SC-2 seat post clamp
Dia-Compe 1020 calipers and Tech-2 levers
Rampar cables (made in Japan)
Araya rims with Suzue sealed hubs
Cheng Shin tyres (20 x 1.75) with Kenda tubes
KMC chain
Thanks for looking!
