This video features a 1991 Koga Miyata Skyrunner Carbolite.

This bike belonged to a former bike mechanic who’d sadly passed away since. And only 7 of these bikes were sold in the Netherlands at the time, which makes this mountain bike extremely rare indeed.

It’s a competition cross country mountain bike, and as with all top models of that period, it features a frame triangle composed of Carbolite tubing
Since the use of carbon in the bike industry was still in the early stages, it meant it wasn’t until 1994 that Koga Miyata would introduce their first monocoque carbon frame

But earlier models had the frame made of carbon, which was reinforced from the inside with a 0.7mm. aluminium tubes. This was glued into aluminium lugs, which gives the frame its unique look.

Only the top-, steerer-, and down tube were made from Carbolite. The seat- and chain stays were still made from aluminium.

1991 would be the only year Koga Miyata mountain bikes would feature the massive “Big Champ” steel rigid forks. It kind of marks a turning point in MTB history because rigid mountain bikes and steel frames would loose favor in this decade, especially for high-end mountain bikes.

From 1990 to 1993 four rigid Skyrunner Carbolite models were made. The unpainted naked carbon and elaborate bolted frames make the first two the best-looking ones by far if you ask me. They would also offer the more classic-looking frame geometry, with an almost horizontal top tube.

But the 1991 version has several features that make it stand out from the rest of the pack. It has a bigger 1.125″ headset and 73mm. bottom bracket shell with anti-chain-suck-teeth as part of the frame itself.

Both the 1990 and 1991 bike feature 1st-generation Carbolite frames, which means they have aluminium seat- and chain stays.

The 1991 version has all of its cables visibly routed along the top tube.
It features the Miyata CO2 cartridges underneath the down tube, which were only installed on the Koya Miyata lineup of 1991. Later versions did have the mounting point.

The fork is the aforementioned “Big Champ” chromoly one, with bolted on brake bosses front and rear.

It’s the last 7-speed version, which feels kinda outdated and almost cute considering the futuristic look-and-feel of the rest of the bike. 8-speed STI shifters would be introduced in 1992.

It’s the last mountain bike with the fitted Deore XT groupset being top-of-the-line before the XTR M900 groupset would be the new king of the hill.

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Music is from the YouTube Audio Library
Songs are "Koto San" and "Rewind" from Ofshane