1991 Offroad Proflex 750 - Gravel Retro-mod!!
- Thread starter jimo746
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Re: Re:
Thanks. I actually replaced the old rear "suspension" with elastomers from the older style Cane Creek Thudbuster seatpost. Needed a bit of cutting down but work at least as well as the original ones would have.
I also have a couple is skateboard truck bushings for the Flexstem if needed.
Frame is now painted, I'll get some pics up soon, get your sunglasses at the ready though...
Scvintage":2rid45n9 said:
Thanks. I actually replaced the old rear "suspension" with elastomers from the older style Cane Creek Thudbuster seatpost. Needed a bit of cutting down but work at least as well as the original ones would have.
I also have a couple is skateboard truck bushings for the Flexstem if needed.
Frame is now painted, I'll get some pics up soon, get your sunglasses at the ready though...
Re:
Started putting this back together following it's rattlecan respray last week.
I've decided to fit drop bars and use it as a retro-mod "Gravel" bike, reason being that I found the frame quite comfy with the rear elastomer "suspension " and the Flexstem up front.
It'll be mostly modern components, 1 x 9 gearing with Tiagra brifters and road cable disc brakes (if I can get them to fit adequately) or cantilever brakes.
The respray of the frame took time but went rather well, I just rubbed down the old paint with a scotchbrite pad to provide a key for the new paint and then started the painting. Rear is a Fluro Pink which is much brighter than the photo shows, painted the stem to match (as per the original colourscheme), the main frame was done in BMW "Cosmos" black metallic, and after a few coats of clear laquer and a polish it looks great.
I think I spent around £20 in materials for the respray, and it took a weekend to do pretty much. I have doubts about the longevity of the paint with regards to chips & scratches, time will tell. I think next time I'd probably get it powdercoated tbh, purely for the time and effort it would have saved me, and the finish should be tougher.
Anyway, couple of pics...
Started putting this back together following it's rattlecan respray last week.
I've decided to fit drop bars and use it as a retro-mod "Gravel" bike, reason being that I found the frame quite comfy with the rear elastomer "suspension " and the Flexstem up front.
It'll be mostly modern components, 1 x 9 gearing with Tiagra brifters and road cable disc brakes (if I can get them to fit adequately) or cantilever brakes.
The respray of the frame took time but went rather well, I just rubbed down the old paint with a scotchbrite pad to provide a key for the new paint and then started the painting. Rear is a Fluro Pink which is much brighter than the photo shows, painted the stem to match (as per the original colourscheme), the main frame was done in BMW "Cosmos" black metallic, and after a few coats of clear laquer and a polish it looks great.
I think I spent around £20 in materials for the respray, and it took a weekend to do pretty much. I have doubts about the longevity of the paint with regards to chips & scratches, time will tell. I think next time I'd probably get it powdercoated tbh, purely for the time and effort it would have saved me, and the finish should be tougher.
Anyway, couple of pics...
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Re:
I've just been trying out different wheelsets to see how they fit & look.
1. 26" Rim brake/ disc Shimano wheels.
2. 26" Disc brake wheels.
3. 700c road wheels.
I think I prefer the 26" Disc wheels, the good news is that the A2Z disc adapter I have fits the rear of the frame, and I have an adapter that "should" work on the front forks too.
700c wheels fit, but there's not a great deal of clearance at the rear, which I think might limit tyre choice to some of the narrower knobbly 700c tyres, maybe 35c or so.
27.5/650b might be a good compromise, but as i have suitable 26" wheels to hand I'll be using those for the time being.
A few things left to do... the silver cranks I have are pretty tatty, so I might see about getting those media blasted or something next week and then just give them a polish.
Need to consider what rear mech to use, I have a couple of 8-speed mtb mechs that should work ok with the 9-speed Tiagra STI brifters I think? I've been using similar ones on a 1x8 retro mtb a lot and with a narrow-wide chainring up front I've only dropped the chain once.
I have a 10-speed SLX mech (shadow+ with clutch) but I don't think that will play nicely with the 9-speed road shifters :? I may just try it and see...
Otherwise I may look for a cheap 8/9 speed road mech.
I've just been trying out different wheelsets to see how they fit & look.
1. 26" Rim brake/ disc Shimano wheels.
2. 26" Disc brake wheels.
3. 700c road wheels.
I think I prefer the 26" Disc wheels, the good news is that the A2Z disc adapter I have fits the rear of the frame, and I have an adapter that "should" work on the front forks too.
700c wheels fit, but there's not a great deal of clearance at the rear, which I think might limit tyre choice to some of the narrower knobbly 700c tyres, maybe 35c or so.
27.5/650b might be a good compromise, but as i have suitable 26" wheels to hand I'll be using those for the time being.
A few things left to do... the silver cranks I have are pretty tatty, so I might see about getting those media blasted or something next week and then just give them a polish.
Need to consider what rear mech to use, I have a couple of 8-speed mtb mechs that should work ok with the 9-speed Tiagra STI brifters I think? I've been using similar ones on a 1x8 retro mtb a lot and with a narrow-wide chainring up front I've only dropped the chain once.
I have a 10-speed SLX mech (shadow+ with clutch) but I don't think that will play nicely with the 9-speed road shifters :? I may just try it and see...
Otherwise I may look for a cheap 8/9 speed road mech.
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Frankenorange
Orange 🍊 Fan
Re:
Looks cool as in the 2nd pic!
Looks cool as in the 2nd pic!
Re:
The build is moving along, no photos as it was raining outside this evening, but I got the rear mech mounted, i picked up a cheap new 9-speed Microshift mech, despite not having a clutch mechanism it has a stronger spring than my spares box options, combined with the narrow - wide chainring the chain should stay in place 99.9% of the time on this bike
Also fitted the 38T oval chainring and the chain.
And have been fine tuning the position of the brifters on the Midge bars.
Just need to cable up the brakes and rear mech, then do the bar tape.
Should be rideable by the weekend
The build is moving along, no photos as it was raining outside this evening, but I got the rear mech mounted, i picked up a cheap new 9-speed Microshift mech, despite not having a clutch mechanism it has a stronger spring than my spares box options, combined with the narrow - wide chainring the chain should stay in place 99.9% of the time on this bike
Also fitted the 38T oval chainring and the chain.
And have been fine tuning the position of the brifters on the Midge bars.
Just need to cable up the brakes and rear mech, then do the bar tape.
Should be rideable by the weekend
Re:
Cranks, some cheap tatty Deore Hollowtech versions, previous owner had attempted to spray silver paint on to cover the heel rub...
And after media blasting...
And then wet & dry paper and autosol....
Looking a LOT better
Cranks, some cheap tatty Deore Hollowtech versions, previous owner had attempted to spray silver paint on to cover the heel rub...
And after media blasting...
And then wet & dry paper and autosol....
Looking a LOT better
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blimey!
Re:
The different wheel choices make a huge difference to the overall look of the bike - it's personal preference, but I'd agree that the disk wheels look really good. Nice to see the various options compared on the bike.
Those cranks have come up very nicely indeed too. It's hard to see the original condition, had they been completely sprayed or just in patches?!
The different wheel choices make a huge difference to the overall look of the bike - it's personal preference, but I'd agree that the disk wheels look really good. Nice to see the various options compared on the bike.
Those cranks have come up very nicely indeed too. It's hard to see the original condition, had they been completely sprayed or just in patches?!
Re:
Took it out for a ride today, just a short ride to make sure things were OK.
Noticed a bit of creaking, could have been my knees, but I'll take a look at the swing arm pivot later, I probably forgot to put grease in some important place
At least with the low-tech suspension it's just a case of removing 2 Allen bolts to remove the swing arm.
Took it out for a ride today, just a short ride to make sure things were OK.
Noticed a bit of creaking, could have been my knees, but I'll take a look at the swing arm pivot later, I probably forgot to put grease in some important place
At least with the low-tech suspension it's just a case of removing 2 Allen bolts to remove the swing arm.
