1992 British Eagle Zigzag - mediocre alert!

XCDave

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Hello there,
Not had a retro mtb for some time, but I've finally got one that I've been searching for for some time. It's not a particularly great one, but some back story might help explain.

Back in 1992 I had a Grifter. It was my first bike. Dad used to take me out on the disused railway line behind our house. I rode, he jogged. Then he had to run. Then he had to sprint. Then he got tired of trying to keep up and decided to buy a bike. He bought a British Eagle Zigzag - cheap spec, Reynolds 500 tubing. Nothing fancy but it did the job.
He joined a local MTB club and started to ride an awful lot, upgrading bits as they inevitably wore out. Very quickly, the questionable lilac paint scheme earned the Zigzag the nickname 'The Purple People Eater.' Soon, no original parts remained.
In 1995 dad upgraded significantly to a GT Xizang and mum used the People Eater occasionally. It languished at the back of the shed until I went to university and didn't want to take my own Zaskar, so it was dragged out and put back into action on a daily basis. After university I used it as my daily commuter. It had been through no end of spec upgrades and changes, from classic early nineties through to single speed mtb, fixed gear commuter, etc. Dad had already put a few thousand miles on this frameset, and I put a few more on - when the bottom bracket shell disintegrated we got together and added it up at somewhere over 10,000 miles.
I stripped it down, stored the parts and thought to keep an eye out for another.

So here it is. A lucky spot on eBay and fairly local pickup left me a meagre £16 poorer but a very happy chappy!
 
Spec is 100% original, including the water bottle!
I've got everything bar the tyres ready to put straight onto this, so will strip it down completely, clean it up and get building. The spec I'm putting on will be a strange mis-mash but will reflect where the original bike was once it finally gave up the ghost - some quality early/mid nineties mtb parts from dad, some slightly newer mtb parts from the early noughties when I was at uni and some new stuff like grips and tyres.
I remember this thing riding very nicely, despite what you might think! Can't wait to get on it.
 
Re:

Woe! I'm amazed you managed to find another and even more amazed at the condition it appears to be in. Nice back story but just one question......




.......where's the Xizang? :LOL:
 
Re:

And here is the glitter! All parts are used, some were on it before, some are a new direction.

These STX cranks with Pace adapter and chainrings were given to me by my boss. Great freebie! He assures me this set up is lighter than XTR M900 but I'm not really bothered about weight. Should look nice:

This Zefal bottle cage was something dad put on the bike early on. The original got transplanted to other bikes until the bike it was on got stolen. Been searching for this for years, and my wife must've got fed up of me harping on about it because it was her who got me this as a gift earlier this year:

Original Crud Catcher:
 
Pedals were dad's first pair of SPDs, still going strong despite the knocks! DX front and rear mechs were another of dad's early upgrades but instead of the rapidfire shifters he went with, I've gone for some DX thumbies. Stem and handlebar will be a Kalloy Uno and Kalloy flat respectively, braking will be taken care of by Dia Compe PC7 levers and some Shimano Altus cantis - all of these were on the bike from about 1994 onwards.
For wheels, I've decided to use some 2003 Hope Mono XC hubs laced to Mavic XM317 rims. This will be a recreation of the wheels I was using at university. They don't look too modern, are reliable and easy to service and help to maintain the 'bike in continuous use and upkeep' vibe that I want.
Saddle, seatpost and tyres will be modern. Grips will be my current favourites, Lizard Skins Charger - maybe until the new Onza Ules are released.
 
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