1995 Boulder Starship - FINISHED Page 4 - Picture Heavy

kerryn

Devout Dirtbag
Hello!

I'm new here and was pleasantly surprised to see other users with Boulders. I have a Starship of 1995(?) vintage with components ranging from 1995 XTRs to 1999 Pace forks and Hope disks.

I have not ridden the bike in over 6 years after ripping the granny gear off on a hill climb and going to road biking instead. I'm now resurrecting it, so I thought I would share my endeavors here.

This is not going to be some mega bucks restore. Alas since I owned this bike I have got married and had children so I can't spend like I used to. For now, I am simply replacing The shattered granny gear with a titanium ring, and overhauling the Hope master cylinders as the O ring had failed on one.

(Edit: Adding specs as I remember them)

Frame: Boulder Starship c.1995 with three bottle mounts and crud catcher mount.

Fork: 1999 Pace RC36 Evo II

Headset: 1997 Chris King
Stem: ControlTech
Handlebar: Easton CT2 Carbon
Grips: Scott
Barends: Icon 7000 long

Brakes: 1999 Hope Hydro DB101 disks
Brake Pads: EBC?
Brake Cables: 1999 Hope 6mm front, 2009 5 Hope mm rear
Brake Hose Guide: Alligator Grippers
Brake Levers: 1999 Hope Hydro DB101 Levers

Shifters: XT (not sure the year - probably 1995)
Front Derailleur: 1995 XTR FD-M901
Rear Derailleur: 1995 XTR RD-M910
Rear Derailleur Bolt: Middleburn breakaway bolt - red
Derailleur Cables: Gore Ride-on (2009)
Cassette: Shimano XT
Chain: IRD Black Lightning
Cranks: 1997 Middleburn RS3 - red
Crank Bolts: Middleburn titanium self extracting - red
Chainrings: 2002 Action Tec Titanium 24T, c.1999 Middleburn 36T, 46T
Chainring bolts: SRP Titanium
Bottom Bracket: Royce Titanium (early/mid 90's)
Pedals: 2009 Time ATAC XS Carbon <-- Not retro but very very good pedals!

Hub Skewers: Generic Shimano
Rims: 1999 Mavic X317
Hubs: 1999 Hope
Nipples: Unknown
Spokes: DT Swiss Double Butted
Tyres: IRC Mythos XC 1.95
Tubes: Ritchey Lightweight

Saddle: WTB SST'98
Seatpost: ControlTech (cut down in length)
Seatpost Binder: Unknown
Bottle Cage: 2 x Middleburn Metal Matrix (mid/late '90s)

Weight: To be determined.

Kerryn.
 

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Hello and welcome kerryn, another Boulder Starship owner here,

I noticed you’re in Illinois. I’ve bought 2 Boulders over the years from a bike shop in Chicago (reCycle bike shop) any chance that’s where you got yours too?

Also you have a disc mount on the swing arm, is that a standard one? I got one welded on by a local engineer a few years back, thankfully my swing arm is unpainted so I didn’t have to worry about the paint finish being ruined. Another difference is the brace on the swing arm, yours looks square where as my one is round. I got mine in ’97 (I think) but after I ordered it, it was a 9 month wait :shock: (I was told it was a problem with the Risse shocks).
 
Nice to see another Starship on here :)

Not common to see a USA bike with British bits on it either....even cooler :cool:
 
LQQK":35yy3z0g said:
I noticed you’re in Illinois. I’ve bought 2 Boulders over the years from a bike shop in Chicago (reCycle bike shop) any chance that’s where you got yours too?

Also you have a disc mount on the swing arm, is that a standard one? I got one welded on by a local engineer a few years back, thankfully my swing arm is unpainted so I didn’t have to worry about the paint finish being ruined. Another difference is the brace on the swing arm, yours looks square where as my one is round. I got mine in ’97 (I think) but after I ordered it, it was a 9 month wait :shock: (I was told it was a problem with the Risse shocks).

I used live in the UK until 2000 then I moved to the US. That's why there are a lot of British parts on the bike.

The bike and my ownership of it has an interesting history. In the early/mid 90's I had a fully tricked out Kona Hei Hei. That was a beautiful bike and it weighed a ridiculous 22lbs with Pace front suspension. Then I had a problem with the bottom bracket on that bike and Kona agreed to replace the frame. Well I was with no bike for a few on months (in 96) and I started to get withdrawal symptoms so I bought a Proflex Animal. From that day I started to get into the dilemma of which bike to ride. The hard tail Kona or the fully suspended Proflex. So I started looking for a cross country frame that was also a capable full suspension bike. I remember one of the UK bike mags raving about the Boulder Starship as being the best of both worlds...

So I was at one of the national bike shows in the UK in 97, and the importer for Boulder had a demo bike there that was fully built up with good (but not quite choice components) and he mentioned that that particular bike was also up for sale. So after some riding on the test track I bought it. Now I tell this story, I seem to think that my frame may actually be a 1995 frame (being an ex demo that I got in early 97), though I am not totally positive (but it rings a bell!)

I then rebuilt it using the best parts from my Kona and the Boulder. Eventually I sold of the Proflex in 1998 (when I realized the Boulder descended down hills better than the Proflex and also the Hei Hei in 1999 as it had become a commuter bike and I needed some money for my last major upgrade to the bike - putting on the Hope disk, new wheelset and Pace RC36 forks.

To this day I kind of regret getting rid of the Kona. It was one of the greatest bikes I had ever ridden. Stupidly, where I now life which tends to be smoother singletrack, it would be an awesome frame to have, but oh well. As I wrote about the Kona on MTBR back in '97...

If you are into hard tails then this is one awesome frame. You can abuse it, crash it, do whatever you like to it and the frame just shrugs it off. Not as quick to sprint as say a Kona AA, but it will by far more comfy on those long epic rides, and a don't know another hard tail that descends like it. The frame warrants a 48x11 top gear - and you still won't find the limits of the frame.I built up the bike using Pace MXCD forks, Mavic 217 rims on Hope hubs with Richie spokes, and Richie Z-Max tyres. Royce BB, Cooks RSR cranks, Richie Ti pedals spinning Pace rings. XTR with GS completed the transmission. XTR cantis (this is pre-V brake) with X-Lite chicken Stix stopped the thing. A Flite Saddle on a Ringle Moby post, and a Control Tech stem with Pace bars provided the contact areas. SRP Ti bolts help the weight down to 22lb.With this package the bike was very nimble indeed. Single track was a blast, and climbing was impressive, but rooty climbs will still beat it. I don't tend to ride it much these days (I now play on a full bounce Boulder Starship..) but it still has qualities which are hard to find it other bikes. These days I use it as a commuter bike, with slick tires. Testament to its design, it is supremely comfortable, and can hack it with the cars, along with the best road bike. One awesome all round machine...."

As for the the disk brake mount on the rear, well that was put on by Boulder themselves. I actually broke the swingarm as one of the welds cracked on it near the pivot (I think this was in '98 ). So Boulder did a warranty repair on the swingarm (though it still cost a fortune and lots of time to ship it back to CO from the UK) and at the same time I had them add an ISO standard brake mount as I had intentions of upgrading from XT V brakes to Hope disks. Its interesting that you mention the design on the rear. I had forgotten but yes my swingarm had a round brace on it but when it came back it had a square one so Boulder obviously changed this from 97 to 98/99.
 
I have the wrong year in the title. Is it possible to change the title to 1995(?) Boulder Starship

Thanks.
Kerryn
 
kerryn":3jt9ig9t said:
I have the wrong year in the title. Is it possible to change the title to 1995(?) Boulder Starship

Thanks.
Kerryn

If you 'edit' your first post you put anything you like in there :)
 
Okay, I have overhauled the faulty brake lever. I have to say, that reinstalling the master piston was a nightmare. Hope have changed the secondary seal design from '99 to '08 and it has a stronger spring (or mine weakened over the years).

You have to insert the piston pressing against the force of the spring until the second seal jams. Then while pushing against the spring to stop the piston popping out, you need to help seat the seal (I used a fine screwdriver) which allows you to push the piston all the way in. Next you have to push the washer all the way down into base of the cylinder (you did put the washer on right? No, then you have to do this all again...)
Next, you have to get the spring clip in, and seat this with spring clip pliers all the time while holding down the piston to stop the spring from popping it out.

Suffice to say, I could have done with 2 pairs of hands working in a space of about 1 sq.cm. I think it took me about 10 goes but I finally got it together.

I was going to overhaul the other one lever as well, but that works for now, so perhaps I won't given how difficult it was to get this one back together.

Does anyone have tips for inserting a master piston into a closed hope lever that is easier than the method I did?
 

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I got the tripod out tonight and I took some better quality photos.
 

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This weekend, I intend to strip and clean up the Pace Forks. I'm gonna gradually get this thing cleaner...

The forks by the way were converted down from 100mm to 80mm travel to fit the geometry of the Boulder.
 

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