the fourth frame
A week ago, I was surfing around in Togoparts and came across this ad for a Bridgestone MB-0.
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I had just acquired my first Bridgestone three weeks ago, the CB-1 you read about earlier. I was hooked.
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I read dozens of articles and posts on the MB-0, and found out it was a Taiwan TIG welded frame. They made it thin-walled, they made it light. They made it for racing and it broke. It was supposedly the top-of-the-line MB series for Bridgestone. However, it was nothing like the lugged MB-1.
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I went down to the shop at Bedok North to take a look at the frame this evening, five minutes before it closed. I brought my torchlight and my measuring tape. I took down all the dimensions, and even persuaded the shop girl to let me mount wheels to check the standover height.
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I was still not convinced it was THE bike for me. I checked all the welds, I checked for rust, I checked the paint job, and I checked it over again. Then I called the owner and asked him to come down. While waiting for him I chatted up the shop girl. Didn’t get very far before the owner came down on his Iron Horse. Then I chatted Him up, and we sat and stared into space for fifteen minutes.
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I offered him three-eighty versus his four-fifty, and we had a deal. I swiped the card, picked up the frame, and took a bus home. The risk and liability was all mine now.
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The tubes are extremely thin. I don’t think anyone could sit on the top tube without squashing it. It is a beautiful ivory colour. I think I will like this bike.
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Fourteen years on and still looking good - enter the Bridgestone MB-0.
