Mystery hand built Moutain Bike (Mountain Goat?)

[LIFE OF SCHWINN]

Looks like early to mid '90s? It has the hallmark Mountain Goat ornate lug up front, but I have never seen one with
E style frame? Rear drops are very unusual as well.
Does anyone know what this is? I have early XT stuff or early XC Pro stuff to put on it...
Also, does anyone know how to get the rust spots off? I tried CLR and a Scothbrite pad, didn't work
Thanks,
jd

 

[KingSized HD]

I'm not sure who the frame builder may be but I would use LIQUID BarKeepers Friend to clean the rust spots. Maybe use q-tips for small or hard to reach areas. It has Oxalic Acid in the formulation so it's good on rust but not too rough on the paint in the liquid form. Use a clean q-tip or towel area when you see rust on it, rinse with water and maybe follow up with a paint wax like Meguiars Quik wax.

 

[LIFE OF SCHWINN]

Thanks,
That's on mystery solved. Anyone have any ideas about this maker?

 

[Pauliemon]

Oh man that's a tuff one. There were a lot of elevated chainstay bikes back then. Haro, Panasonic, Brave Warrior, Yeti, Nisiki, Funk, Ventana, Alpine Stars plus more. I would think it was built by a small builder. The giveaway on your frame is the rear entry drops. They're easier to weld and align, something a small local builder would use.

 

[bikemonkey]

I think an OA (oxalic acid) bath is your best way forward on the rust issues.

 

[LIFE OF SCHWINN]

Thanks,
This post was moved and member solved the mystery. It's a Mark Zeh, former local frame builder. He now resides in Munich, Germany.
Unfortunately, this frame has a smashed (slightly torqued) BB and it had to be built into a single speed.

 

[SKPC]

Great frame there. The elevated chain stay bikes served an age-old problem....chain slap. Hartail and FS versions, as per @Pauliemon were plentiful, but most of these elevated chainstay frames were aluminum and prone to breakage. This german maker, if true, seems to have sourced good steel and strengthening lugs, which gave the frame unusual longevity, tweaked or not.
Most of these MTB's, when ridden like they were supposed to be ridden, eventually failed from too many flex cycles. I would think a steely frame like this would in the future be very collectable if someone was focusing on collecting early MTB's.

 

[LIFE OF SCHWINN]

Mark Zeh is from Minnesota (or at least, that's where he built bikes). He now resides in Germany. I think he's a designer or engineer of some sort?
I'm told he is the one who invented break away derailleur hanger.
In the '80s/early '90s he built all sorts of bikes. I owned a road racer and my friend
who now owns this frame has one of his early MTN bikes without the elevated stays.
He looks at bike pages from time to time and emailed me about this frame after someone told me it was his design and I emailed him for more info.

 

[Pauliemon]

Great frame there. The elevated chain stay bikes served an age-old problem....chain slap. Hartail and FS versions, as per @Pauliemon were plentiful, but most of these elevated chainstay frames were aluminum and prone to breakage. This german maker, if true, seems to have sourced good steel and strengthening lugs, which gave the frame unusual longevity, tweaked or not.
Most of these MTB's, when ridden like they were supposed to be ridden, eventually failed from too many flex cycles. I would think a steely frame like this would in the future be very collectable if someone was focusing on collecting early MTB's.

So true. Many of the steel frames survived, most of the alloy frames are in the recycle bin.

 

[MarkKBike]

I fave a few photos from various manufactores of this style type of elevated chainstay frames saved somewhere as I was considering buying one a few years ago and collected photos I found. They were popular in the late 80's early 90's. I will try to find them and see if any might be a match.

Back when they were new a friend of mine had a Nishiki Alien, and I used to think they were super ugly as they were a deveation from the norm that I was not ready for, but looking back now I kindoff think they look cool and would not mind adding a elevated chainstay frame into my collection someday.

Edit: Nope none of the photos I saved match.