# Dean Colonel 19" - picked up in SF - pictures - 650 conversion? 1x9? Drop Bar? SS? What do you think?



## aa240sx (Jun 28, 2008)

Recently picked this up over the holidays. Very much a dream purchase for me. Used to have a Dean Oscar (aluminum) way back in the day. Anyway, kind of an interesting mix of parts on this which include;

19" Dean Colonel Titanium - with v brake post mounts and disc brake mounts, no idea about the year of it, maybe 2004/2005?
3x9 XTR drivetrain - oddly mated to mechanical disc brakes which use Avid Calipers. I say oddly because I assumed at the XTR level, the brakes would have been hydraulic. This is the older XTR shifter setup which uses the brake lever to shift
Fox Vanilla R Fork
Spinergy Xyclone wheels
Generic Giant tires which I have to assume the bike shop I bought it from put on
Synchros Stem
Origin8 post
Serfas seat
RaceFace Bar
Ritchey Grips
XTR Crankset 3x9
XTR front and rear derailleurs

It's in ridiculously pristine condition. Not sure if it's because of the titanium finish, but there's zero blemishes on the frame at all. Putting this out there on the off chance that may be the previous owner still haunts these pages?

It's a 26" bike so I'm not sure what my future plans are for it. May be a 27.5 conversion? There seems to be some support for a 69er setup, but may be not 650 according to this thread;









Anyone converted a DEAN Colonel 26er?


Hi guys, I ride a DEAN Colonel 26er (2009) 1 x 6, custom made for a 120mm-140mm fork. It just so happens that my fork of choice on it right now is a 2009 RS Pike 454 coil U-turn (which from my trolling through this site is compatible with 650b). It is a basically a XC hardtail made to handle...




www.mtbr.com





May be 1x9? I've never had a titanium bike before so I can't wait to try it out once these ridiculous atmospheric rivers subside... If I do some tweaking and upgrades to it, I'll post up pictures and update this post over the next year or so.


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## Chris Pringle (Oct 28, 2003)

A 69er setup would not work well at all on this bike, IMHO. Your front wheel will be wandering all over the place in your climbs. And in SoCal, you have tons of those. I will suggest keeping this bike as 26er and go for the largest front tire you can fit under the fork crown - most likely a 2.35” which is a lot for that bike. Having more rubber alone should make a big difference in your descents.

The Shimano MTB brifters were, for the most part, hated back then as it caused miss-shifts while breaking. Shimano got rid of them after a few years of complaints. So, yes, a modern 1x9 or 1x10 sound like a good idea along with upgrading to hydraulic calipers. But do ride the bike for a while and decide whether the old-skool geometry works for you before putting money into upgrades. It’s a beautiful bike! Congrats on the purchase.


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