Hi All,
It's been awhile since I have posted, but I finally got around to finishing my Maximum, so thought I would post a quick pic! What took so long was the stem. I wanted something unique that I had not used before on any other build. I finally got it a few months back. A very rare and mint ULTRAMAX stem. Everyone if probably familiar with the ULTRAMAX heat treated seat posts, and they were the first to commercialize the tubular one piece cranks, but the stem is a rare bird that never really saw the light of day.

I got the frame set from Eric Bergman who is the son of the second owner of Maximum back in the 80s. The first owner was Larry Hess. Eric is on the boards, so Eric, if you see this, hope you like it!! Since the ultimate Chrome Maximum is already built by my buddy Ray Beard (if you haven't seen it, you're missing out!), I decided to go white. I'm pretty happy with it!






Here is the parts breakdown:
1984 Maximum XL frame and fork (headtube 71 degrees, seat-tube 66 degrees, top tube length 18.75")
ULTRAMAX stem
Hutch Pro Bars (early)
AME Dual grips (Maximum Red/Blue combo)
Dia-Compe MX900/Terrycable/Skyway Pro Pads
DK 'donut' seat clamp
ULTRAMAX heat-treated seat post
Kashimax Aero
Profile (2nd gen.) cranks/130mm Takagi bolt pattern/Takagi 44T Chrome chaining)
Sedis 3/32" chain
Hutch Pro pedals
NOS Comp II tires (they still have the yummy factory powder on them!)
UKAI HE rims
Son-Lite Turbo Hubs w/titanium axles
Haro Superlites pad set

One more pic. Had to include this. One of my favorite bikes being tested by one of my favorite riders - The Grubby One - Greg Grubbs!!!

Amazing! Thanks for sharing and as usual your builds are spot on. I second your feelings on Ray's Chrome Maximum as well. Both of them are museum quality.

well-well-well...a strikingly awesome bicycle from Jay Stark...deja vu

real nice build there Jay - good to see you on the boards.

The owner of Ultramax (Don Parscale) put one of those stems on ebay last year.

Andy,
Wow that's a very nice bike!
I remember Lee Medlin was a factory racer for Maximum.
But I can't recall what year.

Eric Bergman was a San Diego ABA Cal 2 and USBA (or was it WWBMXA?) racer
around the time I first retired from BMX in 85'.
I've got some old point standings with our names posted.

Wow, that is a stunning build!

Great to see you on the boards, you actually inspired me to re-build my 84 Profile, after seeing your Profiles in the Musuem! Not trying to go off topic, but can you tell me if you still have you Chrome Profile (Pro Champ Complete?

Again, congrat's on your sweet Maximium build...

I know very little about those frames, but that has to be one of the best looking bikes I have seen. Great stuff.

Love the allen bolt on the brake lever too. Do the same myself and not seen on many builds. Don't see many of those padsets around either. Perhaps because they didn't wear very well. At least mine didn't and the graphics started to peel pretty quickly.

How nice is it to see Jay posting?

To be honest, I don't know anything about Maximum (other than Ray Beard is the go-to guy for info), but that is a terrific bike.

I was not aware that Ultramax components went all the way back to 1984. And of course the mint Comp 2's are the stuff dreams are made of.

What's up with that awesom view? You live above the trees? Let's see an outside shot!

Great to see something new from you Jay. Very well done.

Thanks guys! The Maximum was started by Larry Hess because his son, Larry Jr., didn't like any of the current frame sets on the market back in '81. So the Maximum was born! It has great geometry, lots of ground clearance and low profile, handles excellent and had two distinctive attributes: the top tube was oversized - it actually is 'folded' in to connect to the seat tube; and the rear dropouts were oversized. They had the frames built by GT, so the quality was always top notch.

They had several factory riders over the years, Scott McDaniel being probably the best known. I think he from the WA/OR area? Any of you locals know (Ben, Ken, Dave)? I also believe that one of our own, Tony Ell was factory Maximum back in the day, so he could probably tell some great stories too.

I have always been a huge fan of ULTRAMAX. In fact, another local on the boards, Scott Loveless (you know him because of his AWESOME Sting collection!) was a factory ULTRAMAX rider and the cousin of one of my best friends. We used to ride the 'hood a lot back in the day. Always oogled over his Sting with the tubular ULTRAMAX cranks, plus Scott ALWAYS had a stack of the cool rub on ULTRAMAX decals to give away!

84Profiler, yes, I still have my chrome Champ Pro. I'll post a pic here later for you. I love that bike!

Awesome build Jay. Your too kind even mentioning my name in your post. Whats up with the head tube rings? Nice touch with the XL decal cut off.

If they are my frame decals they look much better on white due to the semi transparency of the ink.

Bart McDaniel also rode for Maximum for a short period of time. I beleive that was after Tinker Juarez's stint.

Jay,

I was just thinking about how I never see you posting anymore and here you are with another killer build. Very Cool!

Both Scott and Bart were from the Seattle area.

My little brother was on the Support team and still has his Maximum sitting in his garage. Perhaps I'll clean it up for the Portland show on the 23rd.

Great build, Jay. I remember you telling me you had a white Maximum when I last saw you in Seattle. It came together nicely. I chatted with a member here a while back who has an enormous collection of Maximum bikes, stickers, brochures, uniforms, etc. Hopefully he'll see this thread and chime in.
One question: When did Ultramax start selling posts? I have one on a 1982 build and was wondering if it's a little too new for the rest of the bike.

Ultramax were in business in 1982.

I think their posts came out around 83?

Very NICE build.

I don't recall ever seeing a Maximum that was not Chrome; Maybe b/c I loved the Chrome and did not pay attention to painted bikes. However, this is absolutley Top Notch. It almost has me considering painting my Maximum!

I have recently been convinced by Z-man99 to build my former race Maximum. (any one out there with OG fork stickers please PM me)

Ray Beard and other Maximum buffs, I would love to gather any additional information from you guys.

Again, Top Notch build.

On another note, who is the person to reach out to regarding knowledge of Ultramax Cranks? I have a set on an original Hutch. I was told that there were not many of these cranks produced, the ones I own have the bike shop name etched in one side of the crank and Ultramax on the other. Is this normal?

Thanks in advance for add'l info guys.

Nice Jay! There is all kinds of cool parts on that bike.

I remember seeing Tinker @ the Murray World Cup National in '85. He was on Maximum.

Randy, Warm, Ray, Ken and Corn - great to hear from you guys!

ULTRAMAX post were around in 82, so you are good to go! The straights were 14" and the layback were 16". The cranks were marketed as 'lighter than aluminum, but as strong as one-piece cranks" - The ad I have lists the pro cranks as 1lb. 4oz. They also made a mini series coming in at 15oz. These things were few and far between - they cost as much as Redline and Profiles ($120+) back in the day and they were one-piece cranks!

When I was in high shcool, I started a mail order BMX business so my buddies and I could get our frames at cost. ULTRAMAX was also a parts distributor and I got a lot of our parts from them as well. I bet I still have some of the old dealer catalogs at my parents house!

stunning build! i was a support rider for maximum around '83 that i got through eric bergman's dad. still have my uniform. again, that's one of the nicest maximums i've ever seen.
mike

Jay,

Nice work! Any luck on getting a Wedge together?

Paul
Trickstar

The Wedge is next up! Hope it doesn't take me another 2 years!

Awesme jay..I agree its good seeing you post again...so how many f/f sets did they do?I have seen only one in real life...

Top Notch Jay. Sweet build as always

Warm, yes, above the trees, on Lake Washington in Seattle (that is Mercer Island we look over - where Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, lives. I guess you could say we live "on the other side of the tracks"...

But still a beautiful place, so come visit!

That is a beautiful veiw for sure....florida is so flat and burned looking,it really makes you appricate the rest of the country...

does anyone have pics of maximum riders in action? it'd be cool to see.
mike

that sure makes me miss mine.

he is lying it's very ugly in Washington. please don't move here

nice bike...I don't know much about maximum but I did just come across a Maximum cruiser in a garage attic a week ago. It is all very original condition and probably been up there since it was last raced. I believe the serial number was 11830010 so it should be the 10th cruiser made? It has maximum stickers on the number plate and even on the hubs(has very skinny wheels). The owner said not for sale but I'm still working on it.

Two survivor Maximums from the east coast.

What a great build... and a good start to an interesting thread.

Thanks for posting.