# True Temper OX3



## RockyWanderer (Oct 27, 2005)

Hello,

I can't find anything worthwhile about True Temper OX3 steel. I've heard that it's good steel, but how good? Mid-range, upper-range, top-of-the-line? Has anybody ridden it? Does it have any particular characteristics?

Thanks!


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## laffeaux (Jan 4, 2004)

RockyWanderer said:


> Hello,
> 
> I can't find anything worthwhile about True Temper OX3 steel. I've heard that it's good steel, but how good? Mid-range, upper-range, top-of-the-line? Has anybody ridden it? Does it have any particular characteristics?
> 
> Thanks!


If was the top-of-the-line back in it's day (mid to late 90s). It replaced OX-II as True Temper's high end tubeset, and was replaced by OX Gold and then OX Plantinum (I believe that that was the chronological order).


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## lebikerboy (Jan 19, 2005)

I'm still riding my '93 Rocky Mountain Blizzard OX-III frameset. The tubes are .7mm
thick making for quite a light steel frame.It's been repowdercoated and is still going strong.
Nothing like a steel hardtail for commuting.


laffeaux said:


> If was the top-of-the-line back in it's day (mid to late 90s). It replaced OX-II as True Temper's high end tubeset, and was replaced by OX Gold and then OX Plantinum (I believe that that was the chronological order).


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## Elevation12000 (Jun 16, 2004)

Well, here are some figures:









The True Temper figures are printed incorrect => 1 spot to the right should be correct

Whole article (MBUK):
1
2
3
4
5


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## lawhoo (Feb 27, 2004)

RockyWanderer said:


> Hello,
> 
> I can't find anything worthwhile about True Temper OX3 steel. I've heard that it's good steel, but how good? Mid-range, upper-range, top-of-the-line? Has anybody ridden it? Does it have any particular characteristics?
> 
> Thanks!


I have a 1995 Trek 990 in my stable made from OXIII. It was high-end in 1995 and still pretty high-end today (a notch or so under air-hardened steels like 853 and OX Platnium).

Trek's OX III pipes were triple-butted, and as a result, my frame is pretty light and lively. It was my main bike from 1996 until just a few weeks ago when I picked up my dualie, so the frame and the steel has stood the test of time for me. If you can find a OX III frame at a good price, its worth picking it up.


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## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

Fat Chance and Slingshots were made with True Temper. And they don't suck.


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## surlytman (Nov 9, 2005)

Rumpfy said:


> Fat Chance and Slingshots were made with True Temper. And they don't suck.


Not as nice of a ride as Some Columbus or Reynolds but still very nice tubing! My Slingshot does indeed have some True Temper in it.

I rode several Treks and other bikes with OXIII 10 + years ago, I liked it.


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## RockyWanderer (Oct 27, 2005)

Thanks all; OX III sounds good to me!


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## RockyWanderer (Oct 27, 2005)

Got the frame I was enquiring about.  A three year old Independent Fabrications frame which was only road ridden for two and which spent the other year in the garage.

If anybody is interested, this is it:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8718453410


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## crisillo (Jul 3, 2004)

*Great buy...*



RockyWanderer said:


> Got the frame I was enquiring about.  A three year old Independent Fabrications frame which was only road ridden for two and which spent the other year in the garage.
> 
> If anybody is interested, this is it:
> 
> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8718453410


specially for a 100 EUR.

Are you planning in riding it as it is or upgrading stuff, post some pics (bigger than ebay )

Cheers,
Cris


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## laffeaux (Jan 4, 2004)

RockyWanderer said:


> Got the frame I was enquiring about.  A three year old Independent Fabrications frame which was only road ridden for two and which spent the other year in the garage.
> 
> If anybody is interested, this is it:
> 
> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8718453410


Wow!!! That price is incredible! You got a deal and a half on that bike.


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## RockyWanderer (Oct 27, 2005)

crisillo said:


> Are you planning in riding it as it is or upgrading stuff, post some pics (bigger than ebay )


I'll change some of the specs sooner or later, but for the time being I'll just ride it as it is. The seller says the bottom bracket is making a grinding noise and has to be replaced, so that will be the first part to go.

Give me some tips, what would you change with a limited budget? 

I'll post some bigger pics as soon as I get the bike.


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## crisillo (Jul 3, 2004)

*Cheap updates...*



RockyWanderer said:


> I'll change some of the specs sooner or later, but for the time being I'll just ride it as it is. The seller says the bottom bracket is making a grinding noise and has to be replaced, so that will be the first part to go.
> 
> Give me some tips, what would you change with a limited budget?
> 
> I'll post some bigger pics as soon as I get the bike.


Tires and tubes are relatively cheap and help on increasing performance. You could also check brakepads and new cables and housing can always help.

Any worn out parts like the BB, as the seller says, should be taken care of, but mostly replace stuff as it fails, so that the budget stays under control 

Cheers,
Cris


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## steveit (Jan 25, 2004)

whats with the single mounting screw below the the front derailer?? interesting.. not a bad lookin ride tho, from the pics so far. i had a few OX3 bikes myself (treks). tough frames.


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## steveit (Jan 25, 2004)

sorry-- i just checked an old schwinn frame i have and they did the same thing--separate the two h2o bottle mounts with the front der.-- musta been common, just seems like an odd thing to do


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## laffeaux (Jan 4, 2004)

steveit said:


> sorry-- i just checked an old schwinn frame i have and they did the same thing--separate the two h2o bottle mounts with the front der.-- musta been common, just seems like an odd thing to do


Yeah it's pretty common from back in the days of high-mount front deraillers (where those top pivot or bottom pivot? - I could never keep that straight). Seat tube bosses often have spacers to move the cage out far enough to clear the clamp.

Before switching to Camelbacks, I used to use nylon Profile cages. I used a knife to carve a knotch in the back of the cage to clear the clamp.

With low-mount front deraillers, it's no longer an issue.


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## floibex (Feb 7, 2004)

laffeaux said:


> Yeah it's pretty common from back in the days of high-mount front deraillers (where those top pivot or bottom pivot? - I could never keep that straight).
> ....
> With low-mount front deraillers, it's no longer an issue.


 ... topswing (classic version, "real derailleurs" built like these  ) vs. downswing. the wear of the later one's is much bigger in areas with a "normal amount of precipitation". if it's a rainy season and you're using a top pull downswing fd, you'll need nearly one derailleur per year.

ciao
flo


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## surlytman (Nov 9, 2005)

steveit said:


> whats with the single mounting screw below the the front derailer?? interesting.. not a bad lookin ride tho, from the pics so far. i had a few OX3 bikes myself (treks). tough frames.


One of my little style elements on my bike was and is always a couple tiny French chainring spacers to hold my waterbottle cages away from the deraileur. Works well and allowed minor der height adjustments w/o removing the cage.


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## RockyWanderer (Oct 27, 2005)

crisillo said:


> [snip] post some pics (bigger than ebay )


Bad news regarding the bike. I just got an email from the seller. He wanted to remove the broken bottom bracket but couldn't because it was stuck. So he took the bike to a bike shop to let them remove it, but they discovered that the frame had a crack on or near one of the welds holding the bottom bracket together, the email wasn't that clear. Anyway, he's going to send me some pics of the area, I'll post them here.


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## laffeaux (Jan 4, 2004)

RockyWanderer said:


> Bad news regarding the bike. I just got an email from the seller. He wanted to remove the broken bottom bracket but couldn't because it was stuck. So he took the bike to a bike shop to let them remove it, but they discovered that the frame had a crack on or near one of the welds holding the bottom bracket together, the email wasn't that clear. Anyway, he's going to send me some pics of the area, I'll post them here.


That's a bummer. Sorry about the bad news.


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