'Shore Historians, a Frame Question...

Good Day folks, I Have been given a frame from back in the heyday of the North Shore from a friend in North Van while I was visiting this summer, some shenanigans about being some sorta "bike addict"... listen, going from no bike for 18yrs to 3 rigs and 2 frames in 3 years isnt an addiction, its a passion! But I digress, Im rather curious about it.

Its an On-Top Four Twenty, with a 125mm(?) Manitou XVert DC fork, and a Shimano Deore XT 3x nothing drivetrain with some White RF cranks, a mech disk front, and a side pull rim grabber out back.

C'mon Tell me Gussets arent hot.

So my Question I guess is... What can y'all tell me about this frame, the story behind it, stories you have with it, why that welded headtube brace is so sexy, and even what would be the manuever with this frame, be it a cherished wall hanger show piece or putting in the sweat equity to rebuild it.

Cheers!

On Top Bike Shop.  Did they dip their toe into the frame building game way back in the day (late 90s, early 2000s)?  I don't recall them doing that.  Gussets were due to the number of head tube snaps because we hadn't learned about transitions off of drops.

Those For’s were great bikes, geo ahead of their time and HT’s that worked really well on the shore.

I had a set of those cranks, so pretty, but ISIS was such a shitty bearing setup. 

Manitou make the last 1&1/8 steerer I'm aware of, so if you go the rebuild route a 130mm Circus would be my pick.

Red Shred in Williams lake had a frame made by Devinci called the F.O.R. which was an acronym of "For Our Riders " It was very popular frame in WL, the frame had enough clearance to run a 3" back wheel, Mark had a 3" with a Roloff hub on his personal ride

I still have an X-vert super, it might be OK with that dual crown X-vert but IME if you hang a bike by the front wheel with an X vert all the oil will leak out on your floor but its ok if you hang it by the back wheel

On Top was my home shop for many years when I was living in NV (near Princess Park) and remember this bike well.  It was a collaboration effort from 3 shops whom all put in resources to get the bike made, the O in FOR being On Top and the other two shops now escaping my memory.   The frame was not around long, not because it was bad, but at the time suspension was gaining so much momentum that the beater HT was essentially dead.  If I recall.....it was one of the few bikes with a "kegger" head tube (that is what they called it) to prevent ovalization of the head tube, of which I am sure the shop saw a few.  I saw more than one on the trails at the time (the FSA PIG headset came out with an insane amount of insertion to help prevent this.....not sure how much fun it was on the install).

Velocipedestrian:  ISIS was not that bad, and from On Top I also got a pair of Bonz cranks that had ISIS drive and were on my bikes for 12 years or more.  The best cranks ever made IMO, but I retired them and some chap back East that bought something off of me on Pinkbike bought them as I mentioned I had them in a correspondence.  Apparently Bonz are big in the trials community.  I regret selling them but........

Posted by: XXX_er

Red Shred in Williams lake had a frame made by Devinci called the F.O.R. which was an acronym of "For Our Riders "

My understanding was F.O.R. stood for: Full Boar, On Top, and Red Shreds. Three shops that collaborated on the Devinci-made bikes.

Sweet example of ‘aluminum is actual’ in any event.

It was awhile ago but I think i remember  that ^^

I didn't live in WL but I dropped in & bought alot of stuff off him between bikes/ paddling/ skiing from up narth so I would see it from that perspective

but who knows, you could make FOR whatever you wanted

at one point there were Mark FOR mayor stickers

Posted by: Polymath

Velocipedestrian:  ISIS was not that bad, and from On Top I also got a pair of Bonz cranks that had ISIS drive and were on my bikes for 12 years or more.  The best cranks ever made IMO, but I retired them and some chap back East that bought something off of me on Pinkbike bought them as I mentioned I had them in a correspondence.  Apparently Bonz are big in the trials community.  I regret selling them but........

My experience with ISIS was poor. The cranks and spindles were fine, but the bearings just wouldn't last.