Early 90s Alves disc hardtail max OR 853 lash up

Proper ride today. Well proper for me. Very up and down with a bit of road to warm up.

First impressions? Wonderful. Reminds me of the old 92 explosif but bettererer. Much bettererer. Responsive, press and go. Turns on a sixpence but really stable. I've spent the last year riding nothing but rigids as that's all I had. And old ones with older geometry at that. This is a revelation. Really in the sweet spot. I had the forks locked out for the most part only bouncing for the very narrow twisty down bit. and a faster muddy slippy catching it section.

Chris was a fool to let this one go. Especially as he's my size (but not stature I hasten to add) and was pleased to pass it on. So glad you did!

The cable discs were surprisingly adequate, bringing me down from the 51mph descent into the castle grounds in time for the left turn. Tyres gave just enough grip for it to be fun rather than clenching. Conti Vapours with about 50%.

Up the hill from Hailes Abbey


At the top of the twisty stepped 26% descent


Snack stop


This is a keeper. The retro hardtail for all seasons. Sid Air would be nice. Other than that. Nothing. Zero cost build after buying frame and forks. Obviously cable inners are new but everything else recycled from the shed of love.....

There's quite a lot of the original Trig in there. Chainset, rear mech, saddle, chain. It lives on.

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Just been out on this again. Really do like the short immediateness of the geometry. I don’t do much technical stuff, more the swoopy trail type ups and downs and slow steep climbs. Very well suited to my needs. Patters along nicely. Forks are a little vague when it gets complicated but not too much to stop the fun.

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Just got back from actually riding a bicycle. Shock horror.

The more i ride this the more I'm growing to love it. I'd go so far as to say it's better than either explosif I had or any other hardtail that's passed though History Towers. Light and nimble but not at all twitchy. Hardly surprising with me on it but the bar stem combo livens things up and gives great confidence. Fork got a little confused on a rougher downhill but I can live with that.

Chris, when you get back please accept my gratitude. A keeper.

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Still loving this one.

This has become my regular go to bike so I thought I’d strip off all the stupidity and give her a makeover. New forks, brakes and a tune up. Lovely ride.

I use the dropper every cliff ride so it will stay.

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Much awesomeness. That bar/stem combo is super short, you might say thoroughly modern, if it works then why not?
Some bikes just feel "right", they don't come around too often, but it looks like you found yours

How did you manage to find a fork with a steerer long enough? :shock:

It took a bit of a search but was offered one on here. With lock out and everything modern. Tyres are super slow but then so am I. They come into their own though on the sketchy cliff descents on my regular loop.

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Yeah, that's one place you definately don't want to have a sudden and unexpected loss of grip :shock: