Gotta black magic woman - 1991 Santana Moda

tvcreative

New member
Well...call me lucky

stumbled on to this on Ebay a few weeks ago and built it up...

1991 Santana Moda - early model

Fillet brazed Columbus Max tubing

Mostly correct period parts(who cares, rides nice)

Ritchey stem

Ibis Bars

Syncros seatpost (newer)

WTB saddle

Mavic 737 hubs and rims 8sp

Ritchey Megabite tires

XTR ders

XT 732 brakes

XT 730 cranks and pedals

Phil BB
 

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tvcreative

New member
never put two and two together

Ya know?

I think the Serotta and the Santana just might be the same tube set...

I never really put it together till seeing thread comments...

I had a T-Max back in the day and it was definitely flovaled like the Santana in the same places. top tube, and seat tube at BB.

I am pretty sure the chain stays on the Santana are beefier than my old Serotta.

Handling-wise, my brain seems to forget and favor different bikes that I own at different times...I think it's called BIKEZHEIMER....and the Don Quixote-like reason that I am forever in search for the mythical best bike on earth. (When truth be told I have probably owned it already at some time, and just plum forgot the reason why i got rid of it)

Back on topic - this bike is very quick up front, steeper headtube, short fork...great on the flat hardpack, a hair twitchy on uber technical surfaces...
 

wickedwillie

New member
It's been ages since I've stopped in here at FatCogs, I no longer own a Fat and just drifted-but I was searching around the web for pics of Modas and found this.

Excellent work, you bike looks amazing, you did a great job with the build. I agree about the handling, I really need some practice on tight wooded trails here in Vermont as I am used to the slacker angles of my '86 Ritchey. I love how the bike climbs and the ride in general, but I need to swap out the Ti MRC bar and stem as the are too flexy for my 200+ lbs.

IMG_0874.jpg




If you are interested, I have some scans I might be able to post up-the are from Santana's newsletters from the era they built the Moda, and get into detail about the development and manufacturing process for the Columbus Max tubing. It's neat stuff, the guy I bought the bike from last year is a Santana dealer and sent it to me after I bought it.

Anyway, I'm glad to see someone else building one up and riding it! Enjoy!

IMG_0870.jpg
 

wickedwillie

New member
Thanks! I was very fortunate to find one close to my size, and I've had very good luck locally with parts donor bikes-it all came together nicely. It is a touch on the large side for me, so far I'm most comfortable cruising fast down dirt roads-there is no end to those here. I'm going to try a shorter and lower stem and see what effect that has. I want my weight back a little more.

I'll dig around for the scans and send them your way. Every time I read them I get all excited about the tubing, it's pretty cool stuff.
 

Bigbead75

Member
what's the ride like?

Such beautiful bikes - since I saw this post I've become somewhat infatuated with them. Ever since, I've kept my eyes open for one. They seem to be quite rare.

When speaking to someone the other day - well it came up and...I may actually have found one - nos. Very excited about this.

I own a '91 Wicked and I absolutely love the ride, on road and off. How would you compare the Moda to the Wicked?

I guess I could pull up the geometry charts and compare, but I know that you also own a Wicked (tvcreative) so it would be great to hear first hand what your thoughts are.

Thanks in advance for any light you can shed on this subject.

Regards,

J
 

tvcreative

New member
I would say, stiffer, and more road bike like...

faster steering for sure...but I put ritchey speedmax type tires on it

I like it alot, but I love all of the fats...
 
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Bigbead75

Member
Thanks for getting back.

Sounds just like what I'm looking for...

Hopefully I'll be posting some pics here soon. Fingers crossed.
 

Bigbead75

Member
too bad it's not my size

It's actually smaller than I need. I'm looking for a 21". He said it was 17" or 18" - still in the box. White.

So if anyone comes across one, let me know.

Thanks.

J
 

Bigbead75

Member
Actually I'm not quite sure of the size - it's quite possibly smaller than an 18", it's yellow and has a small dent in the center of the the top tube on the non drive side. You can see it in the profile pic. If you zoom in there's a dot right in the middle where the paint has chipped (it almost lines up with the seat post in the background).

It's been sitting brand new for 20 years and somewhere along the line it fell or got knocked over...so there you go.

I'll pm you the shop info
 

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