How it all started.

Re:

I'm really looking forward to see how this progresses. It's looking ace so far.

I've recently acquired an 88 MF Explorer for pretty much the same reason. First bike love and all that.

Needs new paint though I think. It's just too far gone to save, which is a shame.
 
Re: Re:

cherrybomb":2dtgvzb0 said:
I'm really looking forward to see how this progresses. It's looking ace so far.

I've recently acquired an 88 MF Explorer for pretty much the same reason. First bike love and all that.

Needs new paint though I think. It's just too far gone to save, which is a shame.


Thanks cherrybomb,was the Explorer one of the ones on eBay recently,one of them looked in ok condition for £125
 
Re:

Had some time to sort some of the cables out and picked the rear mech and front brake,i've gone with a DX rear mech and Shimano MT-62 cantilevers. All i need to do now is clean the straddles up and they can be set up. Also my pedals arrived some Tioga surefoots,loved these back in the day :)
 

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Looking great there Spanky ;) ..
I take it you couldn't get the Energiser brakes for the front then ? although the MT-62s are a good choice and being the black finish helps them fit in nicely and speaking of fitting in nicely those yellow cables and DX rear mech fitin really nicely indeed :cool: ..

Tioga Surefoot now that takes me back some as i remember my mate getting a pair back in 1990 and i just loved how good n smooth they felt under load but never bought myself any even though i really wanted some :facepalm: ..

Oh by the way that Flite of yours looks as though it's done at least 100k :shock: ..
 
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It's starting to look like a bike :)

The brakes are now all set up,the suntour self energizing brakes were quite easy to set up compared to Shimanos.
The crank arms are all cleaned and polished,i've used a new Shimano SG-X chainring just need some decent middle and small ones now. Anyone got any lying around give me a shout.
Once i've got those it'll just be a case of fitting a chain,setting the gears up and getting out and riding it.


@muddypaw if you fit those suntours on the front they're dangerous because of the way they operate.
The surefoots were my go to pedal back in the day after reading a test in mbuk,they were just like Shimanos offerings but a lot cheaper got these new ones with toeclips for only £15
 

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Re:

That's lush.... Never been a big fan of the Fox as the geometry on the early ones makes them gate like

But that's :cool:
 
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Retro Spud":4pkl3d6t said:
That's lush.... Never been a big fan of the Fox as the geometry on the early ones makes them gate like

But that's :cool:

I wouldn't say that was quite true as i don't find my 18" 88 Courier gate like in the slightest and i'm only 5ft 11" ,,

015_zpstju5ri1e.jpg


Admittedly theirs a few 20" Explorer's that look huge but aren't really that big tbh as i had one bitd and had no issue's with it on or off road but i am refering to the 1988 model's although tbh what might make them appear so much bigger was the fact they tended to have longer chainstay's than most mtb's so adding that to the rather relaxed geometry would make them appear quite big but if you'd ever come across one in the metal and rode it you might just change your opinion ...
 
Hey Spanky i had heard a good while ago about the energiser brakes not being the best but never actually read any definite proof about it so you've kinda thrown some light on the subject and given me some better understanding on the subject but i'd be really interested in your feedback regards how those you've fitted on the rear of the Fox perform ..

Yep! those Surefoot look great mate and £15 seems like a real bargain too and i'm not surprised they were your go to pedal bitd as i said previously i really liked how they felt when i tried my mates out bitd and was always going to get some but just never did and as for them being cheaper then Shimano back then well that doesn't surprise me in the slightest as Tioga had to try and steal away some of the customers from shimano back then to get the profits in even though they were fairly popular Shimano seemed to have the biggest foot hold in the market as they still do today ..

Any way the Fox is looking great mate and i wish i could help out with the rings but that's one i never seem to have in storage unfortunately ..
 
Suntour had license from Pederse for the SE cantis but only did rear ones iirc. Pedersen made front and rear specific versions and an SE u-brake
 
raidan73":3ev4ysxp said:
Suntour had license from Pederse for the SE cantis but only did rear ones iirc. Pedersen made front and rear specific versions and an SE u-brake

Didn't know they done a U-brake bet they're hard to find,there was some Pederson front cantis on eBay last week for £60.

The story's i heard regarding putting the self energizing cantis on the front was they could lock on or something like that.
 
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