Here’s a once in a life time professionally restored DH mountain bike! It is a 1998 Rotec Professional Downhill bike, that has been fully restored/upgraded by  It has not been ridden since the restoration! All parts are either new, NOS, freshly fabricated, or rebuilt. Paint, anodizing, and polishing is all fresh. Many upgrades have been done to the bike to modernize and/or improve from the original design. The build took almost a year, and no detail was spared!  The bike sold for $5000 new in 1998! It is as much a pristine collectors item as it is a veritable option to ride/race this and win against modern DH bikes!

The restoration was done by Alan from Velomech / Oxide Cycles (pro frame builder who made the Oxide Valkyrie that made headlines at the 2013 NAHBS).   I bought it directly from Alan. (It was his personal project, and he DOES NOT do restoration work for customers).  Alan was a sponsored racer for Rotec in the late 90’s, and this build was influenced by his time racing these bikes, and by motocross bikes

For my asking price, the bike includes a 1998 Mountain Biker Magazine with an article exclaiming this bike. It will also include a box of spare parts such as a small subframe, fork crowns/steerer, bushings, bolts, dropouts, etc. Much of this was the LAST of the spare parts directly from Rotec’s owner.

CLICK HERE for a 13 page post on RetroBike detailing the build  i happened. There is more info from the builder than I can rehash here. It had quite the following!

CLICK HERE for full size pictures!

CLICK HERE for 16 pictures of the bike as it was being built, from a pile of parts to almost finished

SIZE: This one has a large mainframe, and includes both a large and small subframe (large is installed). With large subframe installed, it’s great for tall people, 6ft to 6ft6? If you’re shorter than 6ft, install the small subframe and it will fit you better!

Geometry / Ride Characteristics: This is perhaps the most “modern” vintage DH bike out there. It’s like Rotec had a time machine! Rotec designed this bike with strong MX influences, which made it an oddball in the late 90’s but is fairly standard these days. For the era, this bike had a super low bb and slack head tube. It’s right on par with modern DH bikes though. The suspension design is a single pivot with Rising Rate Linkage, which is still used to this day. The only aspect of this bike that’s outdated is the long chainstays.

Details of note:

  • All bushings have been replaced with needle bearings
  • Main swingarm bearings have been replaced with sealed bearings from 1.5” headset
  • Most hardware is titanium
  • ISCG tabs
  • 80mm BB shell, fits modern 83mm cranks w/extra 2.5mm spacer.

Components:

  • 1998 Rotec Pro DH MK1 main frame, highly upgraded/customized, size Large
  • Fork: NEW custom White Brothers (based on White Brothers UD 150)
  • Rear Shock: Fox Vanilla TS
  • Rims: Velocity P35, custom anodized (new)
  • Hubs: Hope Big Un’s (rear:12mm axle, front: 20x120mm)
  • Headset: Chris King Steelset (Stainless steel, w/ extended skirts to reinforce the headtube), new
  • Chain Guide: BB mount MRP Mini G2 SL (new)
  • Crank: E Thirteen DH crankset (new), custom Renthal chainring (new)
  • Brakes: Front: Hope Enduro 4 (rebuilt, new pads), Rear: Hope Mini #8 (NOS)
  • Levers: Hope Mono levers w/ Goodrich Braided Stainless Steel hose
  • Handlebars: Renthal FatBar moto bars (new) , Renthal bar clamps (new)
  • Rear derailleur/Shifter: Sram X9 10-speed (new)
  • Seatpost: Thompson (new)
  • Saddle: WTB Devo Titanium (new)
  • Tires: Front: WTB Dirty Dan (new) Rear: WTB Muddy Mary (new)