# What did you do with your vintage, retro, or classic bike today?



## xcandrew (Dec 30, 2007)

I thought I start an update thread. Yesterday, I did several things to my 1993 Stumpjumper hardtail. First I changed my freehub body from the original 7spd to the wider 8/9/10spd freehub body so I could use a 9spd cassette I have. I also used the axle and right side cones/dust cap/spacers/locknut from the donor hub because the dust cap is a different size. Cleaned and repacked the hub while I was there. I was surprised to only have to add a 1mm spacer to the left side because the freehub is 5mm wider. (edit: Later removed that 1mm spacer... it was right on.) Then I did a quick wheel re-dish on the bike (though I have a truing stand/dish tool) between the brake pads. Then I put on an XT CS-M770 11-34 9 spd cassette. Lower gears than 26x30, even on a 26" tire, are much needed after riding 1x11 32x46 low gear on my newer (now stolen) bike.

I got the 740mm Salsa Bend bar in the mail yesterday, so I put that on too. The 17deg backsweep is exactly what I've been thinking I've needed for years, as that's the angle my hands want to sit relaxed. The width is a nice improvement on the 700s I've been running the past year (and 720s on the newer bike). I slapped on a 9spd XTR right shifter, but it's sitting at an awkward angle because I'm still using the integrated brake/shift lever with the 7spd shifter removed and the shifter mount blocks the way. I'm going to have to order a right brake lever (short pull/canti). (I have a parts bin lever from the local bike co-op but it's crappier than the one already on the bike, and a rule I have is that it has to be as nice or nicer.)

Then I slapped on a 9spd Connex chain. Both chain and cassette were take off from my newer (now stolen) bike when I had put the 1x11 M8000 parts on. I had to block off the large chainring using the high limit screw because the chain wasn't long enough. Besides not being long enough, the Connex chain shifts like 💩, including on the front chainrings, even with the chain length correct for improvised double, and b-screw adjustment/cable tension done properly. Hanger is straight. Chain seems too flexible. I just ordered a KMC.

Next: new chain, new right brake lever, re-check for friction in rear derailleur cable/housing, which are newish, but suspect at the moment, fork lowers service on the co-op parts bin Judy XC SL I put on a couple years ago when I couldn't rebuild the original forks, rebuild the XT parallel push front V-brake, new brake pad inserts for that brake too.
Future: thinner grips than the ESI Extra Chunky on the bars, 24T chainring to swap for the 26T on the original crank, or get a new 170mm (which I prefer over the original 175s on the bike) crank to run 2x9 (36x22 would be ideal). Or maybe stick with a triple if I can find a decent used 22/32/42 crankset and bottom bracket. Eyeing Manitou Markhor fork, which is 456mm axle to crown for 80mm travel (compared to 63mm 80mm travel on the Judy XC at 460mm a-c), much better performance, and can put the ABS+ damper in that. Would also need front disc brakes and wheel. Current front rim is deeply worn in the brake tracks anyway, rim could crack from that at any time.


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## Taroroot (Nov 6, 2013)

My classic Fat, I looked at it and admired the real Syncros and Salsa (not the overseas stuff) bits, Suntour XC Pro bits, Hugi and Mavic 230 bits, and the frame of course. Then hopped on my current Fat cross and went for a ride. I guess it could be retro since it has an Igleheart fork, just like the classic.


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## eshew (Jan 30, 2004)

Rode for 30 miles & grabbed a beer afterwards. Thought about swapping out the front XTR 960 derailleur for an M900. The M960 hits the frame before I get into the granny gear. Also thought about putting some oil on the crosses in the spokes, they make a racket. No hurry though, still rides amazingly well.


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## eastcoaststeve (Sep 19, 2007)




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## mikesee (Aug 25, 2003)




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## 92RedCDM700 (Jun 30, 2021)

I just fill the tires, ride and smile. Especially, when friends find out just how old the bike is, they are amazed that it's in such nice shape and their bikes are only a few years old and look like doo doo. I guess I practice what I was taught, take care of things and they will last, especially nice things you work hard for.


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## eshew (Jan 30, 2004)

mikesee said:


> View attachment 1940900


Slingshot with a dropper & discs? Damn son!


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## xcandrew (Dec 30, 2007)

Nice Bianchi. Love the Celeste. And nice retro-mod Slingshot...

I got my first flat tire in many years. I haven't carried a repair kit really since the '90s when I was riding more on the road. I'm also a runner, and I figure I could jog back pushing a bike 15+ miles if I had to, which is a lot farther than I typically get from home or car. Walk back was only a mile this time.

Heard a big whoosh of air going through a grassy overgrown shortcut. Turned out something must have snagged the valve, since it was partially torn at the base. My only tube at home turned out to be for my (stolen) 29er before I went tubeless on that, but I stuffed the tube in for now, and ordered a couple 26" lightweight Continental tubes on ebay. Thought about converting to tubeless, but decided I didn't want to mess with testing if the tire would burp on the old-school rim.



92RedCDM700 said:


> I just fill the tires, ride and smile. Especially, when friends find out just how old the bike is, they are amazed that it's in such nice shape and their bikes are only a few years old and look like doo doo. I guess I practice what I was taught, take care of things and they will last, especially nice things you work hard for.


I heard someone notice my "old Stumpjumper" to his riding partner as I rode through a trailhead today. Mine's been in good riding shape since new in '93, but I'm going to be doing some more upgrades on it this year, since I decided I'm not going to replace my stolen bike this year. I'm glad the burglars didn't have room in their vehicle for both bikes and took the newer one with the carbon parts. I'm more attached to this old one and got fair payment from insurance for the stolen bike. For the riding that I do, it's really not far off my stolen, much more modern 29er hardtail. I've cured it of it's '90s roadie like fit/scary on downhills ill ride with a much longer (+50-55mm) parts bin Judy SL Hyracoil fork in 2017. (Fork was ~$5 at the bike co-op, where things are so cheap that it made sense to have to do threaded to threadless headset & stem, cantilever to V-brake to long-pull lever, etc. Paying ebay prices wouldn't have been worth it due to the high potential that the longer fork would have had a bad result.) It's more fun than it's ever been to ride - enough so that it's worth spending money on some upgrades. I definitely wouldn't get that money back if I tried to sell it, but I'm never going to sell it.

Most annoying thing at the moment is the slapping chain, so I might swap out the 9-speed stuff that I just put on for something with a clutch derailleur (M5100 11 speed drivetrain is tempting, though 11-51 cassette is a brick). Also the Judy fork sucks, especially compared to the SID Brain fork on the stolen bike (which was actually dialed in well while I had it, despite its reputation here), so it will be replaced.


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## mikesee (Aug 25, 2003)

eshew said:


> Slingshot with a dropper & discs? Damn son!


Yassir.


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## xcandrew (Dec 30, 2007)

New right brake lever today. The shifter mount for the old integrated lever was getting in the way setting the angle and separation of the 9 speed shifter when I did the 9 speed upgrade last week. It had to be pointed straight down.










Dia-Compe MX2 lever fixes that, and another annoyance. It's a 2 finger, 20mm shorter than the old 3 finger, so I no longer crush my outer fingers when rear braking (front lever is a 2.5 finger Shimano XT SLR Plus).


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## xcandrew (Dec 30, 2007)

Just picked up an old Marzocchi Z2 Bomber yesterday. Today, I cleaned it up, polished the crown, wire brushed the rust off the crown bolts, removed the stanchion bellows, and filed smooth the bad hack job (cut was angled 2mm) at the top of the steerer.

I should just slap it on the bike, but I'm going to order another Cane Creek crown race so I can switch between forks for a while. The 432.5mm axle to crown is closer to the original spec (~405mm-410mm) for the bike, but the 460.5mm Judy does some things right for the geometry: raises the bottom bracket and slackens the head tube to 68deg. It is a pogo stick though. I also need to order 7.5wt fork oil and a seal kit.

It's missing the left preload knob, and, not sure what is going on with the damper, but its also missing the rebound knob/screw.



















Not today, but I also recently took off the 46T chainring and put on a Shimano XT FD-786 (2x10) front derailleur. I also picked a Shimano Deore DX FC-MT60 170mm crank (a few years older than the bike!) a couple weeks ago that is awaiting a 122.5mm bottom bracket order. It's heavier than the Deore LX crank that is on the bike (but will be about the same after switching back to an aluminum big ring), but I really hate 175s. I was thinking while I had the 1x11 setup on my newer (stolen) bike that I really prefer 2x, and my current 2x9 setup (24/36 x 11-34) is really ideal for me. I'm going to also try 24/38. New (good) Jagwire housing and cheap cables didn't sort previously mentioned shifting issues because the wire windings in the cable are very noticeable. I sorted that by rubbing 100% fluorocarbon ski wax (which is being phased out in ski racing) into the cable. I guess that's why the good cables are run through a die and poly coated.

Staying with 9 speed means no clutch derailleur, so I made a chain slap protector/quietener using an old tube and double sided tape in two pieces (top and bottom of chainstay). It works well.

Also put Kool Stop salmon pads on the rear cantilevers, so now I have them front and back.


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## Grinchy8 (Jul 6, 2021)

30" wide handlebars in 9 deg sweep on the 1998 FSR restomod.
also unboxed the fork options bought last week to ponder which one will go on mine and which on my daughter's FSR. I think I'll use the dropoff.


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## xcandrew (Dec 30, 2007)

Nice bell .


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## 6ix-pack (Aug 16, 2009)

just put newer Suspension parts on it, a dropper Post, 1x11 and rock all trails 😎👍


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## xcandrew (Dec 30, 2007)

I just put on the Z2 Bomber and went for a late, (not quite midnight sun, but still light) short doggy ride out the back trail. Wow, it's as good as people say, especially compared to the Judy. (It was bad in all ways and getting worse with some new clicking sounds the past couple days).

I removed the crown race from the Judy using stacks of utility knife blades, and pressed it onto the Bomber with PVC. The Cane Creek headset is still smooth as butter, and now the fork is too, even without a service yet.

I did some calculations for the 28mm shorter axle to crown and got the setup right on the first try. Seat went back 10mm and tilted up a bit in front, seatpost went up 3mm, 105mm stem came off and 90mm stem went on, spacers from 25mm to 45mm (no way out of a tall stack with a '90s bike and short-ish fork). The steerer, after I had filed down the rough cut to 205mm the other day, happened to be the exact right length down to the millimeter with a 5mm spacer on top of the stem, so it was meant to be on my bike. I know not everyone agrees with the RAD fit thing, but I had gotten to the exact RAD fit on this bike with the Judy by tweaking things/trying a bunch of stems, etc. until things felt perfect before I ever heard of the concept. The fit with the Bomber retains the same RAD dimension down to the millimeter.

I turned the preload dials in 10 full turns to get about 11mm sag, which seemed just right for the 65-70mm travel. The broken damper, which is missing the adjustment screw (fixed to a fixed setting?) has seemingly just-right damping too, so if I can't get that fixed properly, I lucked out anyway. Looking at the dial clearance with the downtube, I bet that damper adjustment screw was broken in a crash that turned the fork into the frame.

I'm not a weight weenie, I'm way too practical for that. But I am very weight conscious, weigh everything that goes on or comes off the bike, and do the weight vs. performance/practicality/durability/cost analysis in my head with every part. The Z2 Bomber is 1960g (205mm steerer, with star nut), which is well worth the 177g gain over the Judy SL in performance.


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## bitflogger (Jan 12, 2004)

I let them collect dust while writing ad copy for selling one.

This retro thing is partly understood for appreciating the stuff in the day, evolution of products etc.... but riding even the best of old MTB that were best of breed against my modern bikes is a reminder of how wrong the industry got it. For actual use I mostly ride our modern bikes.


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## Grinchy8 (Jul 6, 2021)

Also put a Marzocchi Z1 (a 2002 drop off 130mm) on this weekend. And got the theu axle front hub to go with it laced in. And set up the front tire tubeless with a new Cross King 2.3. And put a race king on the rear.
Currently 68 deg hta.


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## xcandrew (Dec 30, 2007)

bitflogger said:


> but riding even the best of old MTB that were best of breed against my modern bikes is a reminder of how wrong the industry got it.


Well, I agree with that considering how they were set up back then. But the frames are redeemable to be basically similar in ride to recent hardtail cross country bikes with parts changes, main things being a longer fork and wider bars.

I have had the '93 Stumpjumper hardtail since new, and until 2017, it was set up with the original 13cm stem and 56cm Brahma bars that I put on. With the quill stem at max safe height (a bit over actually), the saddle to bar drop was still something like 8cm, more than my 1990 era road bike. It was halfway to endoing just riding along, like that that classic German video of the '90s mountain bikers crashing over and over on a downhill. But that endo JRA feeling disappeared when I put on a longer fork in 2017, getting the bars up to near saddle level, and shortened the stem to less than 11cm (tried range from 7cm to 11cm). I was too stretched out, torso angle almost flat like on a road bike, so the changes basically changed it to a much more balanced position.

My over forked '93 Stumpjumper, is almost identical in geometry to a 2019 Epic Hardtail, but one size smaller, with the exception of the seat tube angle. With a straight post and the seat forward on the rails, I can get the seat exactly where I want it without being out of the adjustment range, so the slack seat tube angle has is no effect on position. My bike that was stolen, a 2015 Stumpjumper Elite M5 hardtail (basically, the highest end Epic hardtail aluminum frame with a different name that came with fancy bits like carbon Roval wheels) didn't handle any better than my 1993 Stumpjumper the way it is set up now, other than being able to roll over roots better. My rim brakes even work great, better in some ways than the M8000 discs on the stolen bike.


18" 1993 Stumpjumper with 65mm Z2 BomberSmall 2019 Epic Hardtailhead angle69.469.8seat tube angle71.974chainstays430430effective top tube575568bottom bracket height295309wheelbase10641074reach402395stack549599

Of course, I'd fit better on a size medium recent bike instead of a size small, where I'd be able to go shorter than 90mm in the stem and longer in the reach, but I'm far from endoing JRA. Dropping a vertical line from my grips, the horizontal distance to the front tire contact patch is very similar to the same measure on all the cross country pro bike features I'm seeing. I can't hit the most gnarly downhill runs near my house on this bike (Dig Deep, Eh-Line in Anchorage), but I couldn't on my 29er hardtail either. For the milder trails that I enjoy most, this bike is just as good. I'm a one bike guy (at least currently), this has to do everything including paved path duty. It's a great do everything bike, certainly better than a gravel bike (that people joke are '90s mountain bikes) for my situation.


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## Grinchy8 (Jul 6, 2021)

xcandrew said:


> Well, I agree with that considering how they were set up back then. But the frames are redeemable to be basically similar in ride to recent hardtail cross country bikes with parts changes, main things being a longer fork and wider bars.
> 
> I have had the '93 Stumpjumper hardtail since new, and until 2017, it was set up with the original 13cm stem and 56cm Brahma bars that I put on. With the quill stem at max safe height (and a bit over actually), the saddle to bar drop was still something like 8cm, more than my 1990 era road bike. It was halfway to endoing just riding along, like that that classic German video of the '90s mountain bike crashing over and over on a downhill. But that endo JRA feeling disappeared when I put on a longer fork in 2017, getting the bars up to near saddle level, and shortened the stem to less than 11cm (tried range from 7cm to 11cm). I was too stretched out, torso angle almost flat like on a road bike, so the changes basically changed it to a much more balanced position.
> 
> ...


I'm seeing similar results on my fsr restomod. Already have the at rest hta to 68, and after the angle headset it should stay around there when I increase the rear travel another 30mm or so.


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## xcandrew (Dec 30, 2007)

The original LX BR-M560 cantis in the rear perform perfectly (one of the few remaining original parts on the '93 Stumpjumper), especially with the Kool Stop salmon pads, but the BR-M739 V-brakes that I put on 4 years ago were in bad need of a rebuild.

The rebuild kits are hard to find and overpriced for what I could just get a different brake for, so I had improvised some shimming on much slacker cable link arm side a few weeks ago and had improved it substantially. But it still had a lot of play remaining. I went and got a third, more scratched up arm (cable link side) from the parts bin of the local bike co-op that was still there 4 years later because it was missing the cable clamp side arm. Turns out I've been running mismatched arms. The much slacker arm with the TK date code (November 1995) has a thin, split brass main pivot bushing that I could push out easily by hand while the UC (March 1996) arm has a much bigger, main pivot bushing that is pressed in solidly. The cable clamp side arm that I've been using (less play than the other side) was probably originally matched up with this scratched up UC arm.










I wanted to keep using the less scratched up TK arm so I shimmed behind the split brass main pivot bushing with aluminum foil. I had used one layer of foil a few weeks ago, and that was a nice improvement. This time I went two rotations of foil to start, and then trimmed the foil back bit by bit until the pivot axle would just fit in, about 1.5 turns of foil. Now the pivot is super tight (and free turning, cleaned and lubed up the pivot axle).










I had used two layers of aluminum foil donuts behind the bushing on the brake pad holder assembly a few weeks ago, and it helped. Now I took the tighter brake pad assembly from the new arm I picked up and used 4 layers of aluminum foil donut shims and now it's also super tight. Also did the same 4 layers for the other arm. I used the brass bushing from the slacker brake pad assembly to tap out (with a hammer) the much tighter steel bushing.



















The brakes are now tighter than new. Very nice. I've been doing 1-finger braking front and rear since the Koolstop salmon pads went on, so I'm going go to spend a couple minutes moving my brake levers inboard a bit to give my fingers more clearance for 1-finger braking.


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## Monty219 (Oct 26, 2020)

Picture is from last spring but a good depiction of a typical dad/son ride on my first mtn bike, iron horse mt200 circa 1996.


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## Proto20000 (Jan 19, 2021)

Dusted off a few recently since they don't get their turns at rides. More shop Queens than anything else.


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## Proto20000 (Jan 19, 2021)

A few more for Shop Queens


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## Grinchy8 (Jul 6, 2021)

Took the two 1998 FSRs to the local trails. Definitely the oldest bikes I saw, by at least 15 years I would guess.
No trouble running green trails with my 12 year old and 9 year old. 12 year old rode one, I rode the other.
We hit some practice jumps and I had no trouble with a four foot drop. I think they will be up to any challenge.


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## Sparticus (Dec 28, 1999)

That would be my 1984 Diamond Back Mean Streak. What did I do with it? I gave it to the Oakridge Bike Shop, where it hangs from their ceiling above the display counter.

Sorry no photos — go to Oakridge, Oregon to check it out. The riding there is fantastic. Well, whenever there’s no smoke from wildfires that is.
=sParty


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## jetdog9 (Jul 12, 2007)

I rode both of mine today.... '95 Mongoose IBOC is currently the "kid carrier", has an iBert seat attached and the old Judy XC is temporarily replaced with a rigid fork... '96 Moab converted to Singlespeed.

I rode the Moab on a ride with the bigger kid on MUTs to practice riding around other people, when we got home the little one was demanding a ride so it was Mongoose time.


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## Dan Zulu (Jul 5, 2008)

Rubbed some Evapo-Rust inside the head tube to get some light surface rust out. Tomorrow I'll start building it.


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## mtbtimeline (Aug 22, 2021)

I use two old Ritcheys, one mostly original 1983 Mt. Tam for urban commuting and grocery runs, with fenders and a rack:









And then for off-roading, I resto-modded an unfinished 1980 Ritchey frame with TA Carmina crankset, Shimano XT-T8000 touring derailleur (great chain capacity,) Paul brakes, Shimano dura-ace & xtr shifters, etc. I've left my old suspended mt. bike in the shed and haven't looked at it since. I've since swapped those tires for a classic smoke/dart combo, which works much better.


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## Grinchy8 (Jul 6, 2021)

In restomod fashion home brewed a 140mm link for this 100mm rear suspension.
Here are after and before.
Just need to find some quality time to rebuild the Marzocchi 130mm fork I plan to pair with the new / improved rear.


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## xcandrew (Dec 30, 2007)

Hot waxed my chain for the first time ever. It's something that I've known about for 4 decades, but my first time doing it.

A thread on weightweenies by MrMagura made it seem easy, cheap, and not time consuming. Plus, I've always wanted a drivetrain that stays clean and looks like you could eat off it. Key item was a $10 mini rice cooker from Goodwill (a lot faster than a crock pot). Got tea candles, paraffin oil (lamp oil/kerosene), and STP oil treatment (as anti-wear additive) from the grocery store. Quickly cleaned the chain first using camping fuel in a jar to strip the old lube (Dupont Chain-Saver wax spray) and then Dawn and water to get the remaining sediment out. Did 50/50 paraffin wax/paraffin oil, and then another 5% STP.

Also got a (n oil) slick new saddle to replace the torn, old titanium Ritchey Vector, as well as some new grips to replace the torn ESI Extra Chunkies.


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## xcandrew (Dec 30, 2007)

I went for a 28 mile ride in the rain immediately after that last post. New saddle was awesome, grips were nice when wet compared to ESIs (also had Oury grips a couple months ago on the bike before the ESIs, but the Mountain version, which is too short and didn't like look of outer flange). The drivetrain felt completely frictionless, and the hot wax held up in the rain, but the 50/50 paraffin wax/paraffin oil mix left a lot more residue than my previous spray wax. MrMagura suggested 50/50 was only starting point (use more wax if collecting dirt, more oil if flaking off or wet conditions), so I might tweak the mix more towards more wax for summer use.

Got a box of goodies from Germany today. It contained new tires: Continental Race King RaceSport 2.2s date stamped 2721, so fresh out of the factory last month. My old Panaracer Fires had always had noticeable rolling resistance from the day I put them on, and low rolling resistance is one of the things I value most, so it's a really nice upgrade to have the fastest mountain bike tires on the bike. 2.2s are not considered wide anymore (and I would have favored 2.35s if Continental made them), but they are visually quite a bit wider than the 2.1 Fires (though only 3mm). Also got Continental Supersonic tubes to go with the tires, 97g each, so together they took off 425g, almost a pound of rotating weight (and the old Fires were not that heavy to begin with). I'm pretty sure this bike is now faster than my (now stolen) 29er with carbon wheels because the tires I had on that bike were also noticeably draggy.

I also got new HT PA03A pedals. They were really inexpensive to add to my order since I was already paying a flat rate for shipping (bike24). I liked the cheap, all plastic DMR V6s that had been on the bike for the past 4 years (I think they were ~$15 at the time, also from bike24). When new, I liked them better than Race Face Chesters and OneUp Composites, but 10 of the 40 pins have sheared off. The left pedal was also developing some play, and they are non-serviceable. The HTs are substantially wider, so they fit my 11.5/12 shoes well, and are still fairly lightweight at 346g. First ride on them, they feel great. Going off a longer ride now.


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## Grinchy8 (Jul 6, 2021)

I have a race king black chili on as my rear tire and love it.
Using a cross king for the front.


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## eshew (Jan 30, 2004)

I rode it to get beer. It was nice


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## gravityhurts (Nov 27, 2014)

I finally bought handlebar tape and a pair of MKS caged pedals for my NOS 1993 Bridgestone XO-1. I recently sold my other XO-1 and my gravel season has come to an end... 
so, its time.


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## xcandrew (Dec 30, 2007)

gravityhurts said:


> I finally bought handlebar tape and a pair of MKS caged pedals for my NOS 1993 Bridgestone XO-1. I recently sold my other XO-1 and my gravel season has come to an end...
> so, its time.


Looks just like this, but in real life .


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## gravityhurts (Nov 27, 2014)

xcandrew said:


> Looks just like this, but in real life .
> View attachment 1947677


pretty much


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## xcandrew (Dec 30, 2007)

I replaced my 90mm Ritchey WCS stem (post #30) with a [email protected] 110mm Easton EA90 stem the other day, playing with fit again. The 90mm stem (RAD neutral fit) was decent except when I wanted to get low - too close when in the saddle, and moves my butt too far back relative to my feet for good balance when standing hinged lower. Might try the Specialized 100mm stem later (it's the lightest of my collection of 70 to 110 stems). I gave the Z2 preload adjusters another two turns to compensate for the increased loading over the front.










I aired down the tires too low for the ride testing out the longer stem and got a pinch flat in the rear. Surprisingly, the leak was quite slow. I thought I had lucked out initially, and went maybe 10 minutes after the hit before I couldn't ride it anymore. At home, with the tube out of the tire, it couldn't even hold air for a couple seconds, so it took it a while to locate and patch the hole.

My old tires were so loose that I thought going tubeless would require building up a lot of additional thickness under the bead. I even ended up gluing one side of the tires to the rim to prevent valve stem flats from braking and slipping on the rim last month (mentioned the first flat earlier, but got two more valve stem flats, making it clear what the cause was).

But the new Race Kings are much tighter. I actually needed tire levers to get the tire off, something I haven't ever had to use on this bike. It almost held air with the non-tubeless, non-adhesive, one-piece plastic rim tape on the old-school rim with a leaky valve to rim opening and no sealant. So I'm probably going to try tubeless, though not right away. I wouldn't be saving much weight over the 97g tubes.


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## Grinchy8 (Jul 6, 2021)

Built up a 2000 fsr xc sworks for my oldest. Now I have three old fsr.
I need to weigh it, it feels for sure lightest of the three.
It has the Mrp link and bearing pivots.


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## dirtdrop (Dec 29, 2003)

Went for a pootle on my Elevator.


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## xcandrew (Dec 30, 2007)

Went on a reconnaissance mission today with my .mil fluffer pupper.


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## craigx (Sep 27, 2021)

My early GT leaves with a friend who has the skills and parts to make it better for me.


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## Buster Bluth (Sep 11, 2008)

Does anyone realize how difficult it is to do a bunny hop on a penny-farthing??


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## xcandrew (Dec 30, 2007)

Today I finally ridded myself of the original 175mm LX cranks on my bike. I have disliked the length of them for the entire 28 years I've had them😕. A backordered 122.5mm bottom bracket for my 170mm crank finally came in last week. While I shopping, I took advantage of how unpopular front derailleurs are, and ordered a $30 brand spanking new XTR FD-M985 to replace my perfectly good, new a couple months ago XT FD-M786. The XT had too much going on for me - cable routing for down pull, top pull, and top pull with cable housing, and was a direct mount model on a machined 28.6 adaptor - so the XTR is much cleaner. I slapped that on first yesterday.










There was about a teaspoon of water in the bottom bracket shell, but thankfully no rust. The original Shimano BB-UN51 BB was still spinning smoothly (but was too short for the older 170s I was putting on). I installed the new BB-UN300 bottom bracket, and then the co-op parts bin 170mm Deore DX MT60 (polished up slightly, didn't want to polish off the logo) with a steel Shimano 24T and an aluminum 38T unpinned Sugino ring (upsizing from 36T), held by narrow PorkchopBMX cro-mo chainring bolts to get rid of the axle spacers I used on the old cranks for the 3x to 2x conversion.

I also put on a new KMC X9 chain because I needed two extra links moving from 36T to 38T. Stripped the storage grease off the new chain using white gas (which I will dispose of by burning in a Tikki torch), and then waxed the chain in Molten Speed Wax. The homebrew 50/50 paraffin wax/paraffin oil combination I used last month was kind of dirty. I was going to try straight wax next time, but the MSW was just a $20 add on to the last order. I read an article saying not to use rice cookers for waxing chains, so I measured the temperature of the wax this time (using my $10 Goodwill single serving electronic rice cooker), and it was right on where it should be according to MSW ~200F, and it got there in 10 minutes, so it's perfect. I'm keeping the Connex 9 speed chain (still under wear limit) around in case I want to run a 36T sometimes.










The unpinned outer ring wasn't shifting though. When I got home, I slapped on a heavier (15g), new 38T ramped and pinned Origin8 (by Vuelta USA, I think) black ring. The black and silver looks better.


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## Sparticus (Dec 28, 1999)

xcandrew said:


> Today I finally ridded myself of the original 175mm LX cranks on my bike. I have disliked the length of them for the entire 28 years I've had them😕. A backordered 122.5mm bottom bracket for my 170mm crank finally came in last week. While I shopping, I took advantage of how unpopular front derailleurs are, and ordered a $30 brand spanking new XTR FD-M985 to replace my perfectly good, new a couple months ago XT FD-M786. The XT had too much going on for me - cable routing for down pull, top pull, and top pull with cable housing, and was a direct mount model on a machined 28.6 adaptor - so the XTR is much cleaner. I slapped that on first yesterday.
> 
> There was about a teaspoon of water in the bottom bracket shell, but thankfully no rust. The original Shimano BB-UN51 BB was still spinning smoothly (but was too short for the older 170s I was putting on). I installed the new BB-UN300 bottom bracket, and then the co-op parts bin 170mm Deore DX MT60 (polished up slightly, didn't want to polish off the logo) with a steel Shimano 24T and an aluminum 38T unpinned Sugino ring (upsizing from 36T), held by narrow PorkchopBMX cro-mo chainring bolts to get rid of the axle spacers I used on the old cranks for the 3x to 2x conversion.
> 
> ...


Nice! Sounds like you went to a lot of work fine tuning -- something I would have cheerfully obsessed over myself back in the day.
I used to love to spend happy hours at my home workbench optimizing bike components; to the point that I often machined unique small parts to make things perfect.
Fun. I miss those days.
Someone please alert @speedygz for the FD content.
Oops, guess I already did.
=sParty


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## rumstove (Sep 25, 2021)

I've been updating my '97 Rockhopper A1 FS. Decided to swap out the original pedals (with foot straps and all) for some flats. Went with the RaceFace Ride pedals and put them on today. Being that I usually wear softer sole skateboard shoes I thought they should have plenty of grip while avoiding possible shin injuries from metal pins. Well, I just got back from a short tester ride on a gravel path and they didn't have as much grip as I thought. Hmmm...jury is still out on them. At least it was nice not having to deal with getting my feet in the straps.


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## Grinchy8 (Jul 6, 2021)

Rolling with the composite stamp 1 and like them. I especially like that the crank brothers stamp shoe has grooves to match the pedal pins, it’s halfway to a clip in when seated correctly, fine of course when not.


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## Grinchy8 (Jul 6, 2021)

Added 40mm to my shock link. Supposed to go from 100mm to 130mm. Test ride feels like it’s balanced with 130mm front. Good times!








looks like I need to fix my seat tilt


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## super_stein (Mar 2, 2004)

2004 Curtlo recently mod'd by the man himself. My parts bin is now depleted.


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## rockychrysler (Aug 9, 2003)

Ol' No. 6 took me for a bit of a shred in the woods today. She's going to be 36 soon, still rides like she's new.


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