Mountain Bike (MTB)
Gravel Bike
All-Terrain Bike (ATB)
Fat Bike
This week’s Reader’s Rig comes from Nico in Germany, who presents the 1980s Panasonic MC 2500 he rebuilt with 27.5-inch wheels and a custom low-trail fork. Meet Nico and take a peek at his latest colorful project here…
Words and photos by Nico Vetter
Hey, I’m Nico from Germany. I have lots of hobbies and can easily fill my days with gardening, baking bread, music production, and bike tours with my son. But I’m also happy to share my passion for music as a music teacher part-time at a primary school. Cycling gives me a lot. For me, it has healing powers, and with the right bike, it’s so easy to get into a flow state. My bikepacking highlights so far were tours in the highlands of Iceland, the Anti-Atlas in Morocco, and the fjäll and northern islands of Norway.
Today, I’d like to write about my good old Panasonic Mountain Cat from the late 1980s. It started with a 26” to 27.5” conversion, and although the project got a bit experimental, I wanted my Panasonic to be “just a normal bike.” A bike for a fast sundowner ride in the local woods, but also one I can lend to friends coming over for a ride or an overnighter. I already took it on a family bikepacking trip, and after a few years and lots of tinkering, I finally had an idea for how to complete the bike build.
I just love the way my custom Orlowski 26+ low-trail bike rides, and I wanted my Panasonic to have that low-trail magic, too. I asked the frame builder Jacek Orlowski in Poland if he could build a longer, 80mm offset fork with a Crust fork crown I still had lying around that can fit up to 27.5 x 2.8 tires. The new fork transforms the geometry into a pretty slack, low-trail bike with a 70-degree head tube angle and a trail number around 43mm. I haven’t seen a bike with that combination yet and was a bit afraid, but I can tell you now that it’s such a fun ride!
It’s really a blast on the local dirt tracks, which are called “Waldautobahn” here in Germany. What I love about that low-40s trail geometry is that you can steer the bike with your body and your handlebars, and it feels super intuitive and effortless. After a few minutes, you get used to the fast steering, and it’s so easy to avoid potholes, bumps, or roots at the last millisecond. There are some myths that low-trail bikes are twitchy or unstable, but I like them equally with or without a front load, and on any terrain.
Compared to my other 72-degree head tube angle bike with the same low trail number, the Panasonic’s steering is slower. I guess the longer front end and longer wheelbase are why. However, I’m thrilled my experiment was worth it, and my Mountain Cat has never ridden better.
- Frame: Panasonic MC 2500
- Fork: Orlowski custom
- Rims: Crust WR
- Hubs: Crust
- Tires: Ultradynamico Mars 650B x 2.3
- Handlebars: Bassi Bikes Bobby Bar by Nitto
- Headset: Original stock headset
- Crankset: Sugino XD, Surly stainless chainring
- Pedals: DMR V8
- Cassette: SRAM 11-36 10-speed
- Derailleur(s): Shimano SLX 10-Speed
- Brakes: Starry Wide-Adjuster V-Brake
- Shifter(s): Diacompe Ene Thumb Shifter
- Saddle: Rivet Pearl
- Seatpost: Kalloy
- Stem: Nitto Technomic
- Frame bags: Wit Slingers
After trying lots of handlebars like the Magic Moth Bar, I finally found the perfect handlebar for this bike: the Bassi Bikes Bobby Bar made by Nitto. It has a great second hand position at the bends, and the 30-degree backsweep and the 750mm width feel just right, especially with the Crust Hold Your Horses ergonomic grips. While the Moth Bar was very comfortable and chilled, I felt a bit slow and too upright for more spirited rides. I recommend the Bassi Bobby Bar for a comfortable but sporty flat bar.
Obviously, I’m a big Crust and Blue Lug fanboy. I love silver bike parts, and I think the silver friction shifter and the silver polished Crust WR wheelset look amazing. It was also the lightest wide (26mm internal) rim brake rim option I could find. Maybe it’s placebo, but I notice a big difference in speed compared to the $80 650B eBay wheelset I rode before. Combined with the Ultradynamico Mars tires, it’s such a fast combo! I also like the stable shifting of the thumb friction shifter with a modern clutch derailleur and a 1x crankset.
The frame bag was made by Tijmen from Wit Slingers a few years ago. Thank you, Tijmen, for this amazing bag. Without it, the bike looks naked! And it’s so roomy I rarely need any other bag. For future upgrades, I’ll probably have a local framebuilder crimp the uncrimped chainstays for even more tire clearance and install a bigger cassette for serious mountain touring. For now, I’m so happy with this bike that I grin every time I spot it in my cluttered bike shed.
You can follow along with Nico on Instagram.
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