Supposedly, this bike was in one of the 1980s MFR Rainier commercials, the ones with the wild herds of Rainier bottles with legs.
Supposedly (“allegedly”) the bike has had a single owner since the commercial shoot, and from the looks of it he did some serious riding with it.
Throughout the restoration, we kept the patina and custom Rainier stickers that were put on the bike for the commercial shoot. Notice:
- The big red “R” Rainier logo on the head badge
- “MFR” on the seatpost
- “Rainier” on the top tube stickers
Backstory
One of the guys working on the commercial shoot in the woods was given the bike when the shoot wrapped up. Supposedly there were two couples out on a ride on four of these bikes and then suddenly a herd of MFRs rumbled across the landscape. Or at least that’s what the guy I purchased this bike from on Craigslist told me.
Who knows maybe the Rainier commercial footage still exists. They made a movie about those commercials. The movie folks had access (ownership?) to all the archival footage. They restored (some?) and made a movie about it. Maybe there’s one with two couples riding mountain bikes…
Build details
The one picture above with the bike on the green lawn with bricks is from the Craiglist ad we got the bike from. That’s how the bike looked before restoration started at all, and supposedly how it looked in the Rainier commercial shoot decades ago.
Details:
- Think it is a Nishiki Cascade but they removed all ID stickers and replaced them with Rainier branding stickers
- Frame is 19" center-to-center seatpost, 21" top tube.
- Serial numbers: TH85 06 and 644666
- Stuck with the classic 3x7 drivetrain.
- Suntour Power Shifter thunbies overhauled.
- Bullmoose handlebar
New:
- MKS bear trap pedal
- Brooks B67 saddle
- Fenders with Honjo hardware
- Cork Chop grips
- Schwalbe Big Ben tires
- Silicon pads on brake levers
- Modern seat post
- Crank caps
- Cable housing
- Cables
- Brake pads, Kool Stop
- Wheels, used but new to the bike
- Rear safety sticker
- Zefal pump
- Non-QR axle skewers