New project! 1983 Diamond Back Ridge Runner
#51
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I'm the one who's coming across like a dick- and I've re-written each of those posts over again to try not to sound like a dick... and then I read it after I post and roll my eyes at myself.
So much most everything Suntour did was so cool. No shifting solution is as cool as Command Shifters. The quality of the XC Pro stuff is so much nicer than XT or XTR. I can't find my chain takeup pix I did when I fell in love with my XC 3 pulley- it's ridiculous how much chain that elbow takes up. But the "tech" RDs are solutions to problems that didn't exist. Complicated for the sake of being complicated.
So much most everything Suntour did was so cool. No shifting solution is as cool as Command Shifters. The quality of the XC Pro stuff is so much nicer than XT or XTR. I can't find my chain takeup pix I did when I fell in love with my XC 3 pulley- it's ridiculous how much chain that elbow takes up. But the "tech" RDs are solutions to problems that didn't exist. Complicated for the sake of being complicated.
I will say that I've always been interested in that 3 pulley design... It's just so different looking! I've been doing a little more research on them, and I'm leaning towards that as a replacement for the Centurion. That's the bike I'm most worried about having setup right. It's my favorite rider by far.
#52
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Happy new year everyone!!! Really looking forward to getting back into this build as my first project of 2018. I haven't really done anything with it since fixing the broken RD spring. I did play around a little with some different stems and drop bars just for fun. Still unsure which direction I'm going to take, but I'll build it up with the original bullmoose bars first since I have all the original parts for that.
#53
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Happy new year everyone!!! Really looking forward to getting back into this build as my first project of 2018. I haven't really done anything with it since fixing the broken RD spring. I did play around a little with some different stems and drop bars just for fun. Still unsure which direction I'm going to take, but I'll build it up with the original bullmoose bars first since I have all the original parts for that.
Happy new year to you, too.
#54
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#55
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Got her up on the stand and ready to tear down! Still has some drop bars and a few other random bits on it that I was playing around with a few weeks ago, but they won't be staying. I'm definitely going with the original bullmoose bars at least for the first build up.
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I did get it completely stripped down last night, but haven't gotten to clean the frame and fork at all yet. Everything came apart a lot easier than I was expecting considering it's condition. I did run into one snag though. That's the reason I haven't gotten anything cleaned up yet. I knew things were going suspiciously well.
The last parts I went to remove were the 2 adjustment screws on the rear dropouts. Of course one of them decided to snap off in the frame, so I spent most of the night fighting with that...
Finally got it drilled out without damaging anything though! After dealing with that all night my next tool purchase will be one of those "easy-out" kits for my drill. That really would have made the job a whole lot easier!
I'm back on track now though, and getting ready to give the frame and fork a good wash job. Pics to come shortly!
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Finally got it drilled out without damaging anything though! After dealing with that all night my next tool purchase will be one of those "easy-out" kits for my drill. That really would have made the job a whole lot easier!
I'm back on track now though, and getting ready to give the frame and fork a good wash job. Pics to come shortly!
I'm back on track now though, and getting ready to give the frame and fork a good wash job. Pics to come shortly!
Looks like a fun bike!
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#59
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I know I'm repeating myself, but I dig those bull moose bars. I'm glad you're leaving them.
#60
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I really didn't get as much work done yesterday as I would've liked to, but I did at least get around to cleaning up the frame and fork. Nothing major. Just an initial soap and warm water cleaning to knock the first couple of layers of neglect off. It's pretty beat up with tons of scratches, missing paint, and surface rust. The top tube is the worst of it. Fortunately the inside of the frame doesn't look too bad as far as rust goes. It's definitely been neglected for a LONG time, but after spending a little time with it I've become quite attached to it, and I really want to show it some love! I plan to add fenders and use it as a wet weather bike anyway, so the patina doesn't bother me although I will have to do something about stopping as much of the rust as possible. I'm confident this one is going to be a keeper though!
#61
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Beautiful! Man I really like it.
You have two practically pristine Centurions, so one with scars is cool.
If it were me and since I lack the patience to make it original I would :
Treat any rust with rust remover. Then access, touch up paint and clear coat or just clear coat.
BTW I dig those tires that were on there too. Your bike seems to be rare and unique, I'm envious.
Keep it going, and please more pics of your progression.
You have two practically pristine Centurions, so one with scars is cool.
If it were me and since I lack the patience to make it original I would :
Treat any rust with rust remover. Then access, touch up paint and clear coat or just clear coat.
BTW I dig those tires that were on there too. Your bike seems to be rare and unique, I'm envious.
Keep it going, and please more pics of your progression.
#62
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Oh, I like the little gizmo-y things... but that stops when it comes to my derailleur deciding to throw itself into the spokes through no fault of my own, when it's 5, 10, 20, 150 or however many miles from home.
I've thrown a derailleur into my spokes through faults of my own... I ONLY had to walk only a mile home carrying the rear end of the bike, and that sucked. Plenty of time for me to rationalize my poor decision making...
I think Suntour tried to get way too cute with it. You want a Suntour triple pivot that won't blow up on you? Try LeTech. Or better yet, a 2nd generation Mountech with the 13T pulley instead of the enclosed blowey-uppy-pulley. Just as cool, probably more rare and that bigazz pulley is pretty cool.
But even WAYYYYY BETTER- a Cyclone MII GT or an XC Comp or XC Pro... no useless 3rd pivot and a well proven record of reliability, rugged good looks and badassery... sounds like I'm talking about a lumberjack or something...
But for unique and badass and working well... Any of the Suntour triple pulley derailleurs are fantastic.
You may notice most of these derailleurs are on one bike- I've swapped out the derailleur on my 720 bunches of times, I've used XTR, XT, Duopar, Cyclone, Cyclone MII, XC Pro, XC Comp, LeTech, XC, and now Dura Ace on this bike. Maybe I'm even missing a few.
If I wasn't going with a 10 speed indexing system, I would have probably kept the triple pulley Suntour XC on there. It shifted as nicely as anything- I would say it was a tie between the Duopar and the XC triple pulley- and the triple pulley never hosed on me like the Duopar did. I did up the lower 2 pulleys with red Bullseyes and the jockey pulley as a "titanium" colored Bullseye- that was badass.
My Stumpjumper came to me with an M735 XT RD and an LX/Weinmann rear wheel, and the stock front wheel. The stock RD would have been an 1st gen Mountech. It doesn't take much to tell me that RD blew up sometime in the early 90s and the whole rear wheel needed to be replaced. The original owner of that bike told me that was his commuter. It wasn't a dirt bike, that was his "ride over the Golden Gate Bridge on his way to work 5 days a week" bike.
Yeah it's cute to have a death defying derailleur on there. Yeah, it's cute to say you taunt fate instead of tempting it. While the bike is a whole lot for lookin' good, it's more for riding. But you're not riding and you're not looking good with your RD tucked into your spokes and cussing out words sailors don't even know.
I've thrown a derailleur into my spokes through faults of my own... I ONLY had to walk only a mile home carrying the rear end of the bike, and that sucked. Plenty of time for me to rationalize my poor decision making...
I think Suntour tried to get way too cute with it. You want a Suntour triple pivot that won't blow up on you? Try LeTech. Or better yet, a 2nd generation Mountech with the 13T pulley instead of the enclosed blowey-uppy-pulley. Just as cool, probably more rare and that bigazz pulley is pretty cool.
But even WAYYYYY BETTER- a Cyclone MII GT or an XC Comp or XC Pro... no useless 3rd pivot and a well proven record of reliability, rugged good looks and badassery... sounds like I'm talking about a lumberjack or something...
But for unique and badass and working well... Any of the Suntour triple pulley derailleurs are fantastic.
You may notice most of these derailleurs are on one bike- I've swapped out the derailleur on my 720 bunches of times, I've used XTR, XT, Duopar, Cyclone, Cyclone MII, XC Pro, XC Comp, LeTech, XC, and now Dura Ace on this bike. Maybe I'm even missing a few.
If I wasn't going with a 10 speed indexing system, I would have probably kept the triple pulley Suntour XC on there. It shifted as nicely as anything- I would say it was a tie between the Duopar and the XC triple pulley- and the triple pulley never hosed on me like the Duopar did. I did up the lower 2 pulleys with red Bullseyes and the jockey pulley as a "titanium" colored Bullseye- that was badass.
My Stumpjumper came to me with an M735 XT RD and an LX/Weinmann rear wheel, and the stock front wheel. The stock RD would have been an 1st gen Mountech. It doesn't take much to tell me that RD blew up sometime in the early 90s and the whole rear wheel needed to be replaced. The original owner of that bike told me that was his commuter. It wasn't a dirt bike, that was his "ride over the Golden Gate Bridge on his way to work 5 days a week" bike.
Yeah it's cute to have a death defying derailleur on there. Yeah, it's cute to say you taunt fate instead of tempting it. While the bike is a whole lot for lookin' good, it's more for riding. But you're not riding and you're not looking good with your RD tucked into your spokes and cussing out words sailors don't even know.
I had it pretty much narrowed down to the 2nd gen Mountech, any of the various 3 pulley designs, and the Le Tech. Since my search began I only came across one 3 pulley on ebay, but it was way too expensive. Found a couple of decent 2nd gen Mountechs, but they were pretty pricey as well, and I really just wasn't liking the look with the big black line across the front.
Then I got a tip about a guy who might have a Le Tech for sale. I contacted him on FB and after a few messages back and forth I managed to score this super clean Le Tech at a price that I can live with! Seller said it was only really used on a display. It's missing it's cable clamp bolt, and the flat backing nut, but the seller is including a couple of different bolts from other SunTour derailleurs that should fit. I'm hoping that the little flat backing nut is the same as the one on my Mountech so I can just use that.
I haven't received it yet, but here are some pics of it. I think it's beautiful!
#63
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Well after our discussion in this thread about the Mountech RD on my Elite GT 15 I couldn't stop worrying about the RD while out riding the bike, and that really bugged me... I started looking for a replacement, and put a lot of thought into it! I wanted something that was really unusual and interesting, and while not mandatory, I kind of wanted something that was period correct as well.
I had it pretty much narrowed down to the 2nd gen Mountech, any of the various 3 pulley designs, and the Le Tech. Since my search began I only came across one 3 pulley on ebay, but it was way too expensive. Found a couple of decent 2nd gen Mountechs, but they were pretty pricey as well, and I really just wasn't liking the look with the big black line across the front.
Then I got a tip about a guy who might have a Le Tech for sale. I contacted him on FB and after a few messages back and forth I managed to score this super clean Le Tech at a price that I can live with! Seller said it was only really used on a display. It's missing it's cable clamp bolt, and the flat backing nut, but the seller is including a couple of different bolts from other SunTour derailleurs that should fit. I'm hoping that the little flat backing nut is the same as the one on my Mountech so I can just use that.
I haven't received it yet, but here are some pics of it. I think it's beautiful!
I had it pretty much narrowed down to the 2nd gen Mountech, any of the various 3 pulley designs, and the Le Tech. Since my search began I only came across one 3 pulley on ebay, but it was way too expensive. Found a couple of decent 2nd gen Mountechs, but they were pretty pricey as well, and I really just wasn't liking the look with the big black line across the front.
Then I got a tip about a guy who might have a Le Tech for sale. I contacted him on FB and after a few messages back and forth I managed to score this super clean Le Tech at a price that I can live with! Seller said it was only really used on a display. It's missing it's cable clamp bolt, and the flat backing nut, but the seller is including a couple of different bolts from other SunTour derailleurs that should fit. I'm hoping that the little flat backing nut is the same as the one on my Mountech so I can just use that.
I haven't received it yet, but here are some pics of it. I think it's beautiful!
The regular jockey pulley. There’s still the whole goofy 3rd pivot- completely and wholly unnecessary- one more thing to break and go wrong.
I’ve got a LeTech on my Voyageur SP- it shifts nice on a 5 speed block- but it’s been goofy about 6 before (which is why it went back to the VSP- it’s too cool to not use, but it seems to favor 5 speed). If I start riding that bike more this year, the 3 pulley XC is going on there!
FWIW- this time period of Suntour used ink/screening on the derailleurs that is somewhat fragile. Looking at it too intently will cause the screening to come off. I put clear nail polish on mine (and my Cyclone MII) to protect it.
It’ll be glorious! I can’t wait for pix!
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#64
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You see what makes the LeTech so much cooler?
The regular jockey pulley. There’s still the whole goofy 3rd pivot- completely and wholly unnecessary- one more thing to break and go wrong.
I’ve got a LeTech on my Voyageur SP- it shifts nice on a 5 speed block- but it’s been goofy about 6 before (which is why it went back to the VSP- it’s too cool to not use, but it seems to favor 5 speed). If I start riding that bike more this year, the 3 pulley XC is going on there!
FWIW- this time period of Suntour used ink/screening on the derailleurs that is somewhat fragile. Looking at it too intently will cause the screening to come off. I put clear nail polish on mine (and my Cyclone MII) to protect it.
It’ll be glorious! I can’t wait for pix!
The regular jockey pulley. There’s still the whole goofy 3rd pivot- completely and wholly unnecessary- one more thing to break and go wrong.
I’ve got a LeTech on my Voyageur SP- it shifts nice on a 5 speed block- but it’s been goofy about 6 before (which is why it went back to the VSP- it’s too cool to not use, but it seems to favor 5 speed). If I start riding that bike more this year, the 3 pulley XC is going on there!
FWIW- this time period of Suntour used ink/screening on the derailleurs that is somewhat fragile. Looking at it too intently will cause the screening to come off. I put clear nail polish on mine (and my Cyclone MII) to protect it.
It’ll be glorious! I can’t wait for pix!
I'm also still on the hunt for 3 pulleys, 2nd gen Mountechs, a couple of Le Tech FDs, and a plethora of other sweet SunTour derailleurs as well though! Honestly I think I'm developing an addiction to SunTour derailleurs. I've been reading through some of your threads on experimental 3 pulley builds and it's really gotten my hyped up about collecting a bunch of derailleurs to play around with!
#65
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This project has been on hold for a while due to some life stuff happening, but things have finally settled down enough for me to get back to working on some bikes! This project has been sitting right where I left it. Haven't done a thing since the last pics, but I hope to have some fresh updates and pics real soon! Fall is approaching, and I want to get at least most of my bikes ready for action!
#66
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No sweat man! Life gets to us all sometimes. I’m about to get hit myself in a few days.
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#68
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Can't sleep, and thinking about maybe working on this some tonight. Here we are like 2 years later, and I'm still sitting on this project... I guess the amount of rust to be removed from all of the different components, and the fact that the wheels need to be re-spoked has put me off of working on it when I do have a little time. There's just so much to be done that it's hard not to get burnt out before seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. I do hope to ride it again someday though. Maybe I'll go scrub some parts.
#69
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Can't sleep, and thinking about maybe working on this some tonight. Here we are like 2 years later, and I'm still sitting on this project... I guess the amount of rust to be removed from all of the different components, and the fact that the wheels need to be re-spoked has put me off of working on it when I do have a little time. There's just so much to be done that it's hard not to get burnt out before seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. I do hope to ride it again someday though. Maybe I'll go scrub some parts.
Is this project still alive??? Any updated pics....
#70
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Last edited by OutnBack; 04-30-21 at 07:16 AM.
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Hi,
I have a Diamond Back Ridge Runner that I need help with valuing.
Any help or interest would be appreciated!
I can't post pics until I have 10 posts or more....sorry
.
.
I have a Diamond Back Ridge Runner that I need help with valuing.
Any help or interest would be appreciated!
I can't post pics until I have 10 posts or more....sorry
.
.
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Classic and Vintage Bicycles: Whats it Worth? Appraisals.
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08-05-18 07:25 PM