passerby38

Being a mini velo lover, i had my ultralight weight carbon mv but i still hope to have something more classic. I been searching high and low for those classic mv frame but either it was hard to get or it was too expensive for me. Until i chanced upon a 2nd hand raleigh mv8, it wasnt exactly the classic geometry but overall i was still pleased with it and the down tube was kinda interesting too. And somehow i googled around for built ideas and saw sadisticnoob thread and pinholecam contributions and it further sparked my reason to pimp it haha.

So here i will document my journey and sharing to transform the stock mv into my final desired outcome.

Lets begin with an original stock photo and some work/observations:



Original stock bike bought second hand.

Some Issues/Observations:
- Worn out housing and inner cables.
- Steel fork has a defect from manufacturer with lower base tube of the brake mount having an obvious chipped-off.
- Aluminium rims have been slightly damaged by the brake pads as owner did not swap out when the exposed brake pad metal frame inside the pad starts to scratch and eat into rim.
- Crank is interesting, its aluminium with a steel spider.
- Vbrakes are aluminium.
- Internal routing sizing is made to insert entire housing through!
- Crankset and bottom bracket gonna be a pain in the ass. (I see rusty pedals' spindle and rough bearings, adding on more pain to the ass haha)



Here's the plan. Im going to convert it to 1x7 speed dropbar. Color and feel will be towards something more classic/retro. I decided on navy blue with silver color scheme for this purpose. Gum/tan/yellow wall tires coupled with brown bartape and saddle. I will salvage what parts i can/need.

First off will be stripping the bike apart and remove paint off the frame and fork. This is the most tedious process as multiple coats and scrapping was needed. After the surface paint was removed, there was also the stubborn primer layer. Depending on the type of chemical agent used, do standby mask, goggles, arm sleeve etc. I had a rather stinging experience when i tried scraping off the paint. The tiny bits that were scrapped off dropped onto my arms and legs along the way and it stings very badly on my skin due to the chemical! Can you imagine if it gets into your eyes or nasal?




Stay tune for more updates along this journey with me (i mean my mv haha)