---- ===== American Bicycle Manufacturing Corporation ===== Fred Schilplin founded the American Bicycle Manufacturing Corporation in 1984, in St. Cloud, Minnesota. An early adopter of Aluminum only frames, ABM bikes featured large toothpaste welds, often on un-painted or anodized frames. Early ABM bikes featured an adjustable head tube, so that the geometry and wheelbase could be quickly altered with an allen key. ABM famously teamed up with Joe Breeze, selling American Breezers from 1987 -> 1991, and in 1993 produced a couple of beryllium framed mtbs for a price of $36,000. The first 1984 ABM bikes were simple 20" BMX geared cruisers and no proper mtb was produced until 1985. The last, new ABM model were created in 1993. Fred also founded the [[https://www.cheqmtb.com/|Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival]] in 1983 which is still run today.

Just when you thought you had seen everything, along comes something like the Montaneus, an aluminum frameset with an adjustable head angle. A patented system allows the head angle to be adjusted from 66.4° to 71.6°, at the same time changing the wheelbase from 43.8" to 42.15" and any angle between the extremes is also possible. Fe/Mar 1985 Fat Tire Flyer, pages 17-18. [[https://fattireflyer.com/2023/02/11/fat-tire-flyer-issue-22/|fattireflyer]]

Resources: * [[http://mombatbicycles.com/MOMBAT/Bikes/1985_American_Montaneus.html|mombat]] * [[http://mombatbicycles.com/MOMBAT/BikeHistoryPages/American.html|mombat]] * [[https://www.oldschoolracing.ch/archiv/american/|oldschoolracing]] * [[https://fattireflyer.com/2023/02/11/fat-tire-flyer-issue-22/|Fat Tire Flyer #22, Feb/Mar 1985]] * [[https://www.cultmtb.com/History/American/|cultmtb]] * [[https://www.annandaleadvocate.com/obituaries/25321/frederick-c-schilplin-iii|annandaleadvocate]]

{{fred.jpg?400|Fred Schilplin, 1990}} \\ Fred Schilplin, IFMA bike show, 1990, showing off an aluminum drillium frame. //"20% lighter."// \\ [[ https://www.retrobike.co.uk/attachments/american-durchlöchert-ifma-bericht-aus-bike-6-1990-jpg.770078/|retrobike]] \\ {{ad.jpg?200|1985 Montaneus brochure.}} \\ 1985 Montaneus brochure. [[http://mombatbicycles.com/MOMBAT/BikeHistoryPages/American.html|mombat]]

---- ===== 1985 Montaneus ===== Adjustable headset, Suntour XC (1984-85) including XC rear rollercams.

{{1985.jpg?300|1985 Montaneus }} \\ 1985 Montaneus [[ http://mombatbicycles.com/MOMBAT/Bikes/1985_American_Montaneus.html|mombat]]

---- ===== 1986 Montaneus Comp Lite ===== Adjustable head tube. Shimano XT M700 v2 (1985.)

{{1986.jpg?300|1986 Montaneus Comp Lite }} \\ 1986 Montaneus Comp Lite, Sep/Oct 1986 Mountain Bike Magazine. \\ [[https://www.cultmtb.com/History/American/|cultmtb]]

---- ===== 1987 Comp Lite ===== Shimano XT M730 (1986-88), rear U-brakes, aluminum frame, bullmoose bars, fixed headtube. Koski Duratec fork.

{{1987.jpg?300|1987 Comp Lite }} \\ 1987 Comp Lite [[ http://classiccycleus.com/home/1986-american-comp-lite/|classiccycleus]]

---- ===== 1988 American Breezer ===== Chromed aluminum frame. SunTour LeTech and XC Pro derailleurs, XT brakes. "Designed by Joe Breeze" sticker on top tube.

{{1988.jpg?300|1988 American Breezer }} \\ 1988 American Breezer [[ http://www.vintagemtbworkshop.com/1988-american-breezer.html|vintagemtbworkshop]]

---- ===== 1989 American Breezer ===== The date is suspect, as are the originality of most of the parts. The short cage Dura Ace rear derailleur will not handle most shifts. The decals have been replaced by Series III Breezer stickers which were last seen on [[https://mtbtimeline.com/wiki/breezer/start|Joe Breeze's]] 1982 model.

{{1989.jpg?300|1989 American Breezer }} \\ 1989 American Breezer [[https://fotos.mtb-news.de/p/2373072|mtb-news.de]]

---- ===== 1990 M-16 ===== Internal cabling, full XT M732 (1989), removable derailleur hanger, front brake cable roller.

{{1990.jpg?300|1990 M-16 }} \\ 1990 M-16 [[ http://classiccycleus.com/home/1990-american-m-16/|classiccycleus]]

---- ===== 1991 M16 ===== Deore XT M732 (1989) and many upgrades. Serial number: 0M9190. Onza Porcupine tires.

{{1991.jpg?300|1991 M16 }} \\ 1991 M16 [[ https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/1991-american-classic-m-16.301717/|retrobike]]

---- ===== 1992 Comp Lite ===== Probably all new parts.

{{1992.jpg?300|1992 Comp Lite }} \\ 1992 Comp Lite [[ https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/92-american-comp-lite.198457/|retrobike]]

---- ===== 1993 Comp Lite ===== 15" frame. Top tube derailleur cable routing. All rebuilt.

{{1993.jpg?300|1993 Slingshot }} \\ 1993 Slingshot [[ https://fotos.mtb-news.de/p/2372252|mtb-news.de]]

---- ===== 1993 Berileum ===== Frame produced by Brush-Wellman (([[https://case.edu/ech/articles/b/brush-wellman-inc|Brush-Wellman]] was the world's largest producer of Beryllium. It has since changed its name to [[https://materion.com/|Materion]] )), out of beryllium tubing and aluminum lugs. The frame weighed 2.5 pounds, where the lugs alone weighed 1.5 pounds. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beryllium|Beryllium]] is one of the most toxic elements and inhaling beryllium dust is often fatal. It is also one of the most expensive, at $469/pound((Wholesale prices from [[https://www.metal.com/search?keyword=beryllium&type=price|Shanghai Metals Market]] as of Sep 28, 2023.)). It is likely only two complete examples were produced. The beryllium tubes were made from rolled and welded sheet metal((Manufacturing info from [[https://bike.bikegremlin.com/11843/metallurgy-for-cyclists/|bikegremlin]].)).

{{beryl.jpg?300|1993 Berileum }} \\ 1993 Berileum [[ https://bicycles.stackexchange.com/questions/43838/what-different-frame-materials-have-been-used/57625#57625|stackechange]]