I always wanted one of these! RC200 F3

RickTheUncivil

Old School Grand Master
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Dropped off today. Another wild ebay punt came back to bite me in the wallet.
This time I'm genuinely chuffed to pieces. I just hope its not a case of 'never meet your heroes'.
Ad wasn't too great on the details, just said XT group, no size, no detailed pics, and so I went in fairly blind but optimistic.







Spec looks good, Rentall 130 bars, Judy XC forks (never had these before), XT mechs, cranks, rear hub and cantis, dia compe levers, gripshift. front wheel is Hope hub and Mavic 230 TIB, rear is XT with X517. Serial is partially obscured but looks like it fits nicely in F3 territory on the register, starts 19RC08... something, I will update the register when I get it stripped down.

Anyway, now the refresh plan:
Full strip down and clean;
Rear XT hub is growling, so strip that and hope for the best;
Forks don't bounce, hopefully just need a pump. Otherwise I might end up with old pace forks on there.
Frame needs a damn good polish. Its not too bad really, the photos look worse than the reality. Its dull surface rather than fluffy alloy so hoping it will buff out and shine up. Not sure the best way but i guess its elbow grease.

Resisting the temptation for a Mint Sauce sticker somewhere.
 

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Well done.
Time passes as it does and that large outlay with be absorbed ;)

Any idea as yet if it will be a complete build , ie finishing the group set as complete or go0ing the hope route ?
 
When i get everything stripped back and see how it looks i will decide. I'm currently leaning towards: the components look in good order so keep them as they are for now, unless I find anything nasty (rear hub possibly and I'm half expecting the forks to need work). Not planned any upgrade or change yet, apart from the half-plan of forks.

I'm in no rush for this one, I have a reasonable fleet now so no shortage of fun. I plan to take my time and do it nice.

My biggest concern is the size, i need to make it rideable and take it for a good spin to see if it works for me. I fear it may be too large for me. Time will tell, and fingers crossed.
 
Re:

Forks are not air but crumbled, broken to bit elastomers.
You might to fitting pace.
Or fit springs and check the damper is fine.

Have fun, personally don't find mine the best but it nice to have. Might strip mine of it paint this summer (read maybe next year in winter ;-))

Get them rims matching!
 
Cheers Fluffy. Elastomer eh? Oil damper? I guess I will find out when I pull them apart.
I assume thats fairly easy to replace as long as i can get the parts. Any advice on how to work out what year/model the forks are to get the right parts?

As for the rims, i see what you are saying. I had thought the same and will see how the parts look when i start stripping it down and decide if either or both are worth keeping.
 
Those are first gen Judys with screwed fork legs and brace. Should be around '96. I have a few of these.

Here is a manual: http://www.mtb-kataloge.de/Bikekataloge ... judyxc.pdf

The seals of the oil dampener might be leaking. The very early Judys had a dampener cartridge made from plastics. They are prone to crack. If you have one of those try to find a replacement with aluminium body. As a replacement for the leaking seals I used AS-10-22-07 standard rotary seals. They are not 100% the same (tighter fit so the fork is a bit less responsive) but better than leaking oil.

The elastomeres will be shot for sure. I always swap them for springs. Those cost around 10 Euros in good used condition around here.
 
If your keeping the Judys do an eBay search for 'Kronos Springs' I have them in 3 sets of Judy SL's and an FSX, work so much better than the original elastomers.

If you do go down the PACE route which would be great with the frame, it'll really suit :)
 
Thias: great info, thanks. Big help having the manual!

Minifreak: again, big help, thank you.
My 'spare' pace forks are RC36 Evo3, so a bit newer than the frame but should be smart.
Unfortunately the frame looks to be 1" steerer and my forks are 1 1/8", which might be a problem.
 
I may have a pair of PACE RC35's or MXCD's with 1" crown/ steerer come up for sale in the next month or so. PM me if interested.
 
Yep it is a 1" headset/steerer.

I'f you're heavy or really light I may have some new original rockshox springs.

forks are 1995/1996 depending on travel and if there is a skewer under the top caps, but pretty much the same fork.
MAny catalogues and manuals in here, looking at 97/8 manuals can help as they are a bit clearer, though some part don't work between them.
http://www.retrobike.co.uk/gallery2/v/M ... x+Archive/
 
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