Friday, August 31, 2012

93 Yeti ARC update

Decided to try it out one more time with all (nearly all) 3DV before converting to all black parts. Threw on a spare set of Grafton cranks but decided to stick with the team cut A-TAC in lieu of a 3DV Ringle stem. Looks good and ready for the Mammoth Kamikaze!


Thursday, August 30, 2012

A couple of Bontys

Getting ready to do a couple more Bontrager builds including a 97 Ti Lite and 93/94 Race Lite. Still working on sourcing parts to complete the builds, but leaning towards a M950 spec for the Ti Lite and a M900 or M737 for the Race Lite. Should be quite the pair!

I've never really built/owned any Titanium bikes so now with this Bonty and my new WTB equipped 89 Merlin are shaping up to be a lot of fun!










I've done a few Race Lites, so hopefully I can keep it fresh for this one!









Refinished Shimano M730 XT cranks


I restored several pairs of old school Shimano XT M730 cranks and am very happy with the results. These cranks are easier to refinish than the M900 XTR cranks as there are fewer steps involved. Cranks are only polished and then clear anodized and do not require any other finishing steps beyond that.

At this point I have several pairs available in 170, 175 and 180mm long. Unfortunately I have very few sets of chainrings for these older cranks on hand. Feel free to contact me if you are interested in a pair.






Side by side comparison with NOS M730 cranks. The NOS cranks show a bit more grain of the metal than the refinished cranks, but otherwise it's virtually indistinguishable.





Wednesday, August 29, 2012

1994 Klein Adept

Adepts are not very commonly talked about around the ole Klein campfire, which is too bad. They are never as bright or flashy, they always have slicks (unlike most Kleins ;) ) and frankly there just aren't many of them around. I've had a few in the past, most XSs and so this 21" is kind of a treat. It's an odd duck as well since the Adept logo is missing and yet this is a factory painted bike, who knows. If you can add a "Sheila" why not delete an Adept.





Sunday, August 26, 2012

Quick ride report on 91 Grove Innovation Hard Core

After a bit of break in and a couple of parts swaps I finally have the Hard Core configured for trail riding. I tried to beat the heat here in SoCal and went out for a relatively early ride to Portugese Bend in Palos Verdes.

This is definitely not my ideal trail as it's either up or down, not much in the way of cross country riding. Worse yet you start off at the top and end up climbing your way back after snaking through a maze of singletrack with stunning views of the Pacific.


The Hard Core was primarily designed for Pennsylvania's rock gardens. If the name Shingletown Gap means anything to you then you understand this bike. Tons of ground clearance, able to handle slow technical terrain with ease but high speed, tight descents make you feel like you're going over at any moment. Since the Hard Core sits higher than the average bike (13.5" BB height) you have to raise the seat up further to achieve optimal extension (or get very long cranks), this results in a very high riding position. So, on steep, confined downhills you have to really lean back to keep the bike planted. But then the seat gets in your way...

The Hard Core climbs rather well. Although about 4-5 lbs heavier than my Adroit it doesn't feel very hefty, it tracks well, has zero flex and is surprisingly sticky during out of saddle climbs. Now, perhaps this rider should not have opted for the 11-24 Dura Ace rear spread, but that's another matter entirely.


All in all a great ride and I definitely feel that this bike is done. No point in trying to shave any weight and everything things works perfectly. Can't wait to get it out on some longer trails and really stretch my legs!

1994 Yeti ARC build started

I managed to squeeze in a ride this morning and then still had enough juice to get started on the 94 Yeti ARC. This build will be very similar to the 1995 Yeti ARC I just finished, with a few differences. 

The planned build is as follows:

19" Yeti ARC frame
Manitou 3 fork
Ringle Slamma Jamma headset, Zooka stem, Moby post and Super Bubba wheels all in turquoise
Grafton Speedcontroller brakes, Speedcase BB and Joystix cranks in turquoise
Answer Hyperlite handlebar in turquoise
Shimano M900 drivetrain (shifters, derailleurs, brake levers, cassette)
Flite seat
IRC Piranha tires

Here are a few pics of todays progress. Still waiting on decals and a few odds and ends.







Thursday, August 23, 2012

Refinishing M900 & M730 cranks

Another batch of M900 XTR and M730 XT cranks back from refinishing and looking pretty good. A couple of the M900 cranks had to be redone so clear coat / decal application will have to wait until they return. The M730 cranks have to get some black fill on the SHIMANO logo, but that ought to be easy.




M900







Refinishing Grafton Cranks

Just got some Grafton cranks back from anodizing and I have to say I'm very impressed with the results. There are two distinct turquoise colors so you'll see a lighter and a darker shade of turquoise for several different bikes.

Sorry about the dark pics it was getting late.




1994 Klein Adroit Sea & Sky

Another battered and bruised Klein. It seems the big boys exert a lot more wear and tear on their bikes than some of the lil fellers. Anyways, aside from some paint damage this frame in excellent condition. Sadly the steerer on the MC2 has been cut, so a small extension will be required to attach the MC2. This is a true MC2 Adroit, not one of the rebadged Attitudes. It has the oversize 2" downtube with external cable inlets but sadly no Strata fork for this one, the Judy fork will have to suffice.

The bike is slated to get a full respray in pearl white later on this fall. I'm trying to decide between black and red debossing. Black seems like it would be a slam dunk, but there is a certain amount of flair and subtlety associated with red against the white pearl, we'll see.