Rockhopper '95 First strip n build

Alreet Folks,

Was gonna flog my rockhopper to raise funds for a Boardman comp but have now decided to strip n clean her and do my first C2C on a retro instead
I'm afraid its not gonna be period correct or a BoTM, gotta build on a budget. Cantielvers are soaking in Gunk, forks took off tonight and stripped to the metal. Hopefully pull the crank tomorrow and get cracking on the frame, doing the C2C in april and promised a ride round kielder next sat so gotta get moving.
Colour is gonna be a bit different, I'm gonna gun blue the whole frame and forks, done the forks already so pics below. Could do with some advice on a good clear coat for the finish.
Already very pleased with the gun blue, looking forward to getting the frame finished, think the colour would go well with some Ti or carbon parts.

Almost forgot the obligatory 'before' shot
Didn't get a great deal done tonight, gonna have to pick up am 8mm allen key and get cracking tomorrow after work and full day on sunday to move forward with

It allready looks minty

paint looks good, v stealthy.. gonna lose that chainset?

You made a very very wise decision sticking with your Specialized over splashing out on a new bike

Your gonna be able to build something unique to you, that will be much better than a CBoardman, and cost a fraction of the price

My first build since getting signed up to this forum cost £265 - including the base bike:

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=129920&start=75&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=

As previously hinted at, if you replace that chainset (it's Alivio isn't it?) with one that is all aluminium, you'll save a hell of a lot of weight

- Those steel rings are pretty heavy

Anyway about clear coat, wet and dry the paint, then spray a god six or seven coats of acrylic lacquer at 10-15 minute intervals

Let it harden up for at 24+ hours dependent on temperature

Test the hardness with a thumnail in an unobtrusive spot...

Wet and dry that til it's flat, then polish and it will look grand

Good luck with the rest of your build

You're doing great already

Thanks for reply's.
Bike not so minty close up, lots of scratches to the paint, need to overhaul it for the C2C so thought I may aswell strip her thoroughly.

Will hope to lose the chainset, cost will determine timeline for that, but hope to have a 48T on it at some point.

Thanks for the info on the clear coat, will check out some acryllic clear coats, and yes it is an Alivio chainset, same as the cantilevers, bike is pretty much as I bought it 2nd hand about 8-10 years ago, so a new BB will be going in once the frame is stripped.

Just to clarify, I haven't painted the forks, I've used gun blueing (shotgun barrells etc) on them, its a liquid that causes a chemical reaction in steel to colour it, your meant to use about 10 coats to get a dark blue/black finish but didn't want to go that far so stopped at 6 coats. Very easy to use, wipe on, wait 30 secs, then polish with wire wool, repeat.
Very pleased with the finish on the forks.
Thanks all

great work!.......is that a pair of 'guinness' slippers?.......

walshy69":2ivwnyks said:

Thanks for reply's.
Bike not so minty close up, lots of scratches to the paint, need to overhaul it for the C2C so thought I may aswell strip her thoroughly.

Will hope to lose the chainset, cost will determine timeline for that, but hope to have a 48T on it at some point.

Thanks for the info on the clear coat, will check out some acryllic clear coats, and yes it is an Alivio chainset, same as the cantilevers, bike is pretty much as I bought it 2nd hand about 8-10 years ago, so a new BB will be going in once the frame is stripped.

Just to clarify, I haven't painted the forks, I've used gun blueing (shotgun barrells etc) on them, its a liquid that causes a chemical reaction in steel to colour it, your meant to use about 10 coats to get a dark blue/black finish but didn't want to go that far so stopped at 6 coats. Very easy to use, wipe on, wait 30 secs, then polish with wire wool, repeat.
Very pleased with the finish on the forks.
Thanks all

Click to expand...

That's cool about the gun blue, never come across that before, looks really nice

So no wet and dry before the clear, you shouldn't need any primer of any sort either, the gun blue will serve the purpose of etching primer just lacquer straight on!

The Alivio brakes are pretty cool, nice and light, chainset has those steel rings all hanging off the five bolts... Mechs have a lot of steel in them too, but work well

The great thing about bikes like yours is they are fully compatible with all the higher level stuff so you can do rolling upgrades as you go along/have dosh

I said it before, but so much well done on deciding to stick with your Rockhopper

I was in Halfords the other day and tried out a CBoardman at £999 t was heavier than my latest build which cost £265 including the bike itself

RetroBiking is for the win

And cool slippers!

I'm sipping back a guinness right now

That bike of yours will be awesome with trick parts on it

I'm gonna stay tuned to this one

Well spotted folks they are indeed Guinness slippers, Santa very kindly left them for me.
Still stripping the frame, the primer is a bitch to get rid of, one more coat of nitromors and if it doesn't lift off I'm gonna have to rub the rest off.
I appear to have a BB that doesn't want to come out, will pick up a drive bar tomorrow with a bit more leverage to see if that helps, and my seat post is refusing to budge too. I've sprayed it over the last week with wd40 but its still going nowhere.
Will post a couple of pics once the frame is stripped, hopefully tonight, but will have to get cracking again.

walshy69":37c22vpe said:

Well spotted folks they are indeed Guinness slippers, Santa very kindly left them for me.
Still stripping the frame, the primer is a bitch to get rid of, one more coat of nitromors and if it doesn't lift off I'm gonna have to rub the rest off.
I appear to have a BB that doesn't want to come out, will pick up a drive bar tomorrow with a bit more leverage to see if that helps, and my seat post is refusing to budge too. I've sprayed it over the last week with wd40 but its still going nowhere.
Will post a couple of pics once the frame is stripped, hopefully tonight, but will have to get cracking again.

Click to expand...

About your stuck parts

Check that the slot at the top (where the QR/binder goes) isn't simply closed, you can wiggle a screw driver in there to see if it opens up OK and try to twist the post, having the saddle on will help you get some grip/leverage

It can be hard to shift stuck parts when your bike is stripped cos there is nothing to stop the frame moving about all over!

In the past I have clamped a BB remover in a vice and unscrewed the frame from the BB - That's if its a splined, sealed cartridge BB - If not you can clamp the flats of the cups...

Same plan works with stuck seat posts take all the the seat mounting hardware off and chances are you'll have a flat surface you can catch in a vice and wiggle the frame off

If you don't have access to a workbench you could try visiting your local garage