MEGA UPDATE! Part 4 - Univega Alpina 5.7

The fourth part of the updates is going to be about the 1994 Univega Alpina 5.7. It is very much similar to the Alpina 507 I wrote about a while back (which was bought before this one, but has been just sitting). I bought this one because the Alpina 507 felt very light for a steel MTB, and I thought a smaller member of my family could use this one. But unlike the first one, this one just has a steel fork instead of a suspension fork, and is a 21-speed instead of 24.

It's in a great cosmetic condition, and I only needed to do only minor overhaul/replacements. The original Shimano Deore LX Rapid Fire shifters were malfunctioning, so I put on Shimano Deore thumb shifters that I had in my parts bin. And since the brakes were integrated with the shifters, I put on the Suntour XC Ltd. brake levers that I took off from the Trek 6000 that I wrote about in a previous post. The grips had worn off the bicycle when I got it, so I took off the bar-ends and put on a pair of End-Zone integrated grips.

It has the bent chainstays like the Alpina 507, which I read are supposed to help with mud build-up that leads to chain suck and shifting problems. Not sure if that's really the case, but it's pretty cool looking. It also has three sets of bottle cage bosses, and also rear rack bosses. That makes me wonder what the intended purpose of this bike was, since it doesn't have the clunker-like relaxed geometry of my Univega Alpina Ultima. It actually seems to have a pretty tight geometry/short wheelbase since the ride feels a slightly bit more twitchy. Or maybe the bicycle is just built wrong.

I got a bit lazy with this bicycle, so I didn't spray Boeshield T-9 inside or wax the outside. One thing I need to figure out about this bicycle is the seatpost size. The current seatpost is supposedly the same diameter as the Alpina 507, with both of them having the same tubing. But the seatpost lug (is it called that even if there's no actual lug?) on this one appears slightly bent, and the quick-release binder needs to be tightened quite a bit to prevent the seatpost from slipping around. I'm also going to replace the current stem with a shorter one.

I don't know how I ended up with so many Univega mountain bikes.

Here are the specs and pictures.
Frame: Welded Formula 969 Race Lite; Cr-Mo 969 Double Butted tubes & 969 Chainstays (couldn't find any info on this tubing..maybe .9/.6/.9 butted?); Bi-Axial Power Oval (also no clue what this means); made in Taiwan
Fork: Formula 1.3/.7 Chromoly; 1" threadless steerer
Crankset: Shimano Deore LX; 175mm
Shifters: Shimano Deore friction thumbshifter front (from 6 speed group); Deore 7-speed SIS thumshifter rear
Derailleurs: Deore LX top-pull front; Deore XT rear
Pedals: Wellgo
Chain: Hyperglide
Hubs: Deore LX Parallax; 7-speed cassette
Rims: Mavic 230 SBP
Tires: I think Ritchey something (too lazy to walk to the garage and check)
Headset: Dia-Compe Aheadset
Handlebar: Concept
Stem: Concept; 1" steerer threadless
Brakes: Deore LX low-profile catilever
Brake levers: Suntour XC Ltd
Saddle: Vetta SP
Seatpost: Concept
Accessories: Cat-eye reflector on the fork, and on left seatstay.

1994 Univega Alpina 5.7 - Drive side (9/16/11)

1994 Univega Alpina 5.7 (9/16/11)

1994 Univega Alpina 5.7 (10/21/11)

1994 Univega Alpina 5.7 - The cockpit; Shimano Deore thumb shifters; Suntour XC Ltd brake levers (10/21/11)

1994 Univega Alpina 5.7 - Shimano Deore thumb shifter; Suntour XC Ltd brake lever (10/21/11)

1994 Univega Alpina 5.7 - Dia-Compe Ahead Set (10/21/11)

1994 Univega Alpina 5.7 - Shimano Deore LX cantilever brakes (10/21/11)

1994 Univega Alpina 5.7 - Formula 1.3/.7 Chromoly fork blades (10/21/11)

1994 Univega Alpina 5.7 - Seat cluster; Bi-Axial Power Oval tube decal (10/21/11)

1994 Univega Alpina 5.7 - Shimano Deore LX cransket (10/21/11)

1994 Univega Alpina 5.7 - Bottom bracket; Formula 969 Race lite tube decal (10/21/11)

1994 Univega Alpina 5.7 - Shimano Deore LX front derailleur (10/21/11)

1994 Univega Alpina 5.7 - Shimano Deore XT rear derailleur (10/21/11)

1994 Univega Alpina 5.7 - Shimano Deore LX Parallax rear 7-speed freehub (10/21/11)

1994 Univega Alpina 5.7 - Max MudRoom bent chainstays (10/21/11)