1991 (ish) Border Cycles Frontiera

Here's my latest little project to hang a few parts onto! It might end up being a little small for me, but was too nice to turn down.

Some may have already seen this as it's been listed on here as both a complete bike and then frame. It's passed through a couple of hands and by good fortune ended up with me, courtesy of a certain Rod_Saetan

There's already a bit of history about these in other threads and a couple of very nice examples already on here. This one is a little different as it has top tube cable routing and a more traditional rear end which to me seems more of a nod to M Steels being involved in the build.

Anyway, here is is as it stands so far, it's going to be pretty much M73* XT all round with little a bit of DX/MT-60 thrown in. The thumb shifters I had planned to use aren't as good as I would like for this build, so I'm taking a chance on some XT STI's for a change (gulp). In an ideal world I would like black chainrings also, but I'm trying to sweep up the parts off the floor instead of buying too much else :facepalm:

I've a couple of nice wheel options to add on, the ones pictured were just thrown on in order for me to move it around. I just need to decide what look best - more on those later...

I like that a lot, good start

the XT STI's are actually surprisingly robust, as long as they are kept clean and well lubricated (inside the ratchet mechanism). Apparently, however, the 095's (push/pull) were a bit more durable than their 092 (push/push) predecessors.

Looks great Joe!

Noice!

Sweet, looks great. Paint looks good

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Thanks for the comments so far people

Bit of an update!

Wheel choice is now sorted after a bit of swapping around between bikes, it's now wearing a lovely pair of Dave Hinde wheels on Mavic 531 hubs.

Tyres are currently Conti Cross Country which suit the skinny tubes well. I've also scrubbed up and fitted a decent enough M735 rear mech. I'll pop the chain on tonight as well.

All the remaining parts are in the post, including a 26.4 seat post which turns out to be the size I need, after I was convinced 26.6 was the correct size.

I've some brakes to refurb a little and then its almost cabling up time..

EDIT: Forgive the bad pictures! Light outside was fading fast....

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Another update..

The STI's are now cabled up, lubed and working nicely and a nicely bedded in Turbo has been fitted. Seatpost is a fairly generic job in the end but it looks the part.

The pedals are my battered old M737's that I use for shakedown rides, but I have a better looking pair of M525 ones incoming. I also have a pair of MT60 pedals at hand should I want to go down that route.

I've been polishing up some M734 cantis this morning - just need to fit them and it's ready to ride

Rad! I have a spare one of those tyres in good nick if you want it Joe, I'll never use it...