1990ish Haro Impulse Comp e-stay restoration NZ

It hasn't taken long for the old retro bikes to start piling up in my new place in New Zealand. This old Haro is in a bit of a state, but luckily I a) volunteer in a community bike workshop and b) work for a MTB distributor/retailer, so I shouldn't run into any problems with components or mechanics.



The Good: Chromo frame and fork, Exage 7sp STI groupset in good condition, very handsome Haro chromo stem/bars/seatpost... 1 1/8 headtube means it should be easier to find a short-travel fork if I so choose.
The Bad: Advertised as 'large' but actually a 17.5... with the saddle up there's a couple inches drop to the bars... I'll see how it goes, but this might become my partner's bike as she's 5'8". STI units have plastic brake levers!
The Ugly: The forks are bloody rusty... they'll possibly need replacing if it's structural. All the decals are flaking off and I'm not sure if replacements are available.

Not entirely decided on what I'm going to do with it. The Exage groupset is nothing fancy but should give good reliable service. On the other hand, I might just singlespeed it to build strength and skill.

The strip down will start on Wednesday so watch this space!

Taking my time on this one...

Unfortunately the paint was unsalvageable - so off it went to the powdercoaters. Take one powdercoated frame:


Add two tins of Humbrol enamel modelling paint:

(Handy having a proper workshop underneath your office...)

Not factory but very retro. Decals aren't available so I had a little play in Illustrator to get a quote - $80 or £40 for cut vinyl which is only marginally more expensive than NOS or repro decals anyway. I will re-do the artwork properly when I find the time, but this is what I produced in my lunch hour just using stock fonts:


Sadly the forks had quite a bit of rust around the crown so they went in the scrap metal bin - but happily the mechanic downstairs had these old Manitou forks, converted to spring/oil, which he gifted me. They are threadless so no chance to use that ultra-cool Haro Wing Strut stem though...

They were used with hydraulic rim brakes so no spring plates on the canti mounts - I couldn't find any so I made these up out of some washers one evening. I found some canti studs with an extra-long threaded section as they are quite thick.


I acquired an old XTR rear mech which I rebuilt - the jockey wheels have the smallest bearings I've ever seen:


I have been on the lookout for gumwall tyres but sadly I can't find anything. Annoyingly I sold these just before I left the UK - they pushed my luggage overweight, but when I got to the airport I found out that I had an additional 10kg... argh!


Next up: wheels, cranks, controls, finishing kit - then the build.

nice looking forward to seeing this done

impressive!

like it!
nice paintwork You have done, but why You didn'r remove headset parts before painting?

I always half-install some old headset and BB cups, and bolts in all threaded holes, because I don't trust cheap powdercoaters to mask things properly. All these will be removed and replaced when it is built up.

Understtod
Headsed cups looks as they're just in their place (not like BB cups ) so I was thinking You will use them in this bike

Looking good.

Welcome to NZ - where abouts are you?

Splashbacks are available in NZ.

Dunedin... who sells them? I must be being thick as I can't find them for sale anywhere. I will phone the importer on Tuesday, actually.

I'd be interested in a set of splash backs too if you find out

Great job on the Haro by the way

Rich