Mad Honk 

I went to my Co-Op today for a few parts and did a bit of work while there. At the end of the day a fellow brings in a Trek 720 and donates it. It appears complete with the original components and set up for touring. However, it had bad crash damage to the front end with wrinkles in both the top and down tube. The Co-Op does not have a comparable frame to transfer the parts to. There will be a complete group available for a reasonable price if anyone might be interested. I did not have a camera with me, so no pictures. If interested in this group of parts PM me and I will put you into contact with the Co-Op. Smiles, MH

VintageSteelEU

Now I need to do some research into early mountain bicycles. This frame looks like something that could carry quite a lot. As in: possibly a great touring bicycle.

bikemig 

Agreed the Trek 830s and the 850 tend to fly under the radar as the 900 series gets all the attention. But the 830 I picked up is a nice bike with a double butted True Temper frame. I plan on using it as a loaner bike.

Classtime 

An idea that has worked for me: After you get it rideable, ride it to some automobile sales lots and lean it up against some like colored cars. If you find something close, order touch up paint for that model. Keepin mind that your old bike has faded in places and there will be nothing that matches everywhere on the bike.

mrv 

due to my cheapness, frames accommodating large tires, and abundant & affordable parts upgrades- I really like setting up old ATBs as my touring/camping rides



89 Panasonic Mountain Cat- for illustrative purposes!

VintageSteelEU

It seems the chainstays are a bit longer than on typical touring frames. What I'm actually thinking about is building a city bicycle that can withstand a bit of weight on the rack without being a bulky longtail bike. Something I can actually carry on my shoulder up some stairs if need be. And something that's obviously made of decent lugged steel I'll have to do some trawling and have a look at Panasonic and maybe Koga Miyata models from the early to mid 80's

curbtender

Designed by guys who learned by breaking a lotta' vintage bikes...

mrv 

I’d love to get my mitts on a mid 80s StumpJumper. One popped up on Facebook last winter for about $400. Perfect paint and biplane fork. Since I’m using this late 80s RockHopper my trail bike, I really didn’t need a fourth 26in wheeled bike in my garage. The RockHopper clears a 2.3in tire, so as little as I trail ride, it’s great.


Lots-a upgrades! Linear pull brakes. Paul levers. Cliffhanger wheelset. Brooks saddle!
About 25ish pounds I think. Not sure.

Mad Honk 

Building a beater bike that comes complete wit a few glitches. Schwinn World step through with 27 x1 wheels and tires. New rear wheel and then the front turns out to be 700c so building a wheel later this afternoon. I managed to get the stem, bars and rack installed, and yet to find a seat, and figure out the brake set up. Hopefully done this week with some good luck.

A quick build change, from straight bars to a bit of rise, and shortening the bars by 1" on each side. Makes for a much better posture for the rider.

Rack required a bunch of stash parts but it will be solid. Bike is set to be a single speed free-wheel with a nice city gear.

mrv 

You have no idea how unburdened I am seeing garage backgrounds that look at least as bad as my ….. “workspace”.

Nemosengineer 

Body work on the Stratos is done, filler used was JB Weld, on to paint prep and primer.

Top tube filled small dent.
Untitled by nemosengineer, on flicker

Left chainstay filled ripples.
Untitled by nemosengineer, on Flickr

Right chainstay filled ripples
Untitled by nemosengineer, on Flickr

: Mike

Bergz

"What God has yoked together let no man put apart..."
I had a Suntour Superb rear derailleur that had been crashed and had a bent inner parallelogram link. There was no way to straighten it while assembled and it was bent just enough to mis-align the chain cage when mounted on the dropout.
I was able to scavenge a damaged donor and set to dismantling the parallelogram links. This involved drilling 2 small holes in the knuckles and driving out the pins. Reassembly was tricky as one end of the inner parallelogram has the spring that needed compressing just so to refit the pin.
Photos should explain everything. The pins splines grip firmly when reinstalled and besides they are held captive by the cage pivot and cable adjuster barrel.


Bent inner link

Reassembly

Pin at the barrel adjuster almost fully pressed in

Completed, 2 small holes visible on top of the knuckles

VintageSteelEU

Clearing out stuff continues. I was quite pleased to find out the wheels I built a year and a bit ago are still perfectly true. Cleaned them up, removed the old grease from the hubs, repacked with fresh one and adjusted. And flushed the freehub with some oil. These are built on Exage HB-RM50 and FH-HB50, so respectable but not overly fancy. Now I need to source another CXP33 rim and build some Ultegra Tricolor hubs I have into another wheelset to use up some more of my stash of spokes.

etherhuffer 

Finally finished a 650b conversion on Fuji S12S LTD:

Sugino triple with RSX front and Rear DR. MKS touring pedals. A nice pair of TA cages to hold the Mickey's Big Mouth bottles. 105 hubs, 2.0/1.8/2.0 Sapim spokes with CR18 rims.

Velo Orange touring saddle. Panaracer Pacenti 1.50" tires

Sora shifters. I ride the hoods a lot and like these. Crossover 'turkey wings' for city riding and out of habit.

Fuji logo bar plug. Why not?

The boring side

Now for the little stuff, like bell, pump, ODO, saddle bag, etc. A way overdue build that was prompted by a broken frame on old bike. Riding butted Chromoly is sure a nice treat!

mrv 

This amazing time suck Specialized Allez has cable guides. Oops. One cable guide when I got it.
I removed it and just brazed two cable stops.

my brazing prowess leaves much to be desired- much like Quasimodo was found desirable by All The Ladies…

any who. It’s done.
next up an acid bath for the frameset, as the bike neglect was significant.

i was thinking my best go at a full on restoration- then I thought-plum paint and white cables white near period correct components would better suit me!

VintageSteelEU

Out with the old:


In with the old:


I actually prefer Weinmann Carrera levers. They are slightly lighter (not much, 10g per lever), but the main thing is they do not need additional ferrules on them. One less item to displace.
Also, decided it's time to replace the handlebar tape, the old one was a bit tired. Still need to spray it with water repellent spray. I think eventually I will go with some leatherette stitched together, but don't have much time to explore this route now.



The 600EX conversion is almost complete. Only the shifter levers are newer - Shimano SL-A400 (Exage 300EX 7sp), but I don't think I actually want the SL-6208 as I read they are not very durable. I kind of got used to Suntour ratcheting ones (in Superbe / Cyclone variety) so much now that indexed shifting feels almost like a downgrade. Might go for the Dia Compe version at some point.
Now I'm just waiting for new brake inner cables and need to adjust the derailleur cable (shifters are 7 speed, freewheel is 6 cogs, so I think I might need alternative cable routing in this case).

VintageSteelEU

I can't say anything about your brazing prowess, but sure I'd love to have the skills and option.

tiger1964 

That sounds interesting and good to remember - I presume this method works for you?

mrv 

Similar question- I always think of JB Weld as staying kind of gummy.
maybe that helps prevent cracking in the future. Maybe.

I’m good to give Spray.Bike puddy a try.
This Allez has a number of tube dings. Possibly from a bike carrier.

cheers

mrv 

I used a my retired and rusted through Cherry race bike for practice.

I had an early 90s RockHopper crack around the bottom bracket, so I used that one a couple years ago to practice. And the frame builders section is fantastic. Those guys are extremely helpful and patient. As long as you’re willing to not do dumb stuff….😬

VintageSteelEU

I mostly do dumb stuff and make my life more difficult than it has to be

bikemig 

This bike came out great. I'm curious, how did you attach the water bottle cage to the seat tube?

etherhuffer 

I searched high and low for a ‘gentle to the frame’ mount. I will look for a link. Made in Italy.

etherhuffer 

https://bikepacking.com/index/add-cage-mounts-bike/

Look at the Topeak Versa Mount. That is almost identical to what I used. I really didn’t want to use a metal clamp.

bikemig 

Yeah I've read that post before. SKS and Topeak both make similar products. I'm a little skeptical of a piece of plastic holding the water bottle well. Is it working?

I'm leaning towards using a metal clamp of some type. If you run electrical tape underneath, it won't scratch the paint.

Alternatively I like some the bikepacking bags that hold a nalgene bottle and mount under the downtube but they're expensive.