Aluminium Dean '98 Oscar?

After a stable of early marins, road bikes, plus a single speed hack, all 1992 or before, and all steel, I was tempted by the idea of something aluminium, looked at Trek 8000 and was also tempted by the composites, then saw this on ebay. It was listed as a '97 but I think it's a '98 given the colour. So in the 98- section even though probably more "pre" in spirit with possible issues and components (but that debate is well worn and here it is).

A bit of research showed not much as Dean pretty small outfit and mainly titanium, but bikepedia did include three Dean aluminium bikes, being Oscars. http://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/Bike ... ZAXRs9wYcA

while NONE of the components are original, paint seemed original but more of that later, on the basis the BB shell is 73mm, it's not the elite. The big issue is the obvious paint loss and corrosion of aluminium above and beyond the normal dulling which is the layer of aluminium oxide that is always present unless prevented. As the owner of two old ex military land rovers I am very familiar with the issue of aluminium corrosion particularly where galvanic (as series landies have ali panels and steel chassis, bolts etc), and some positive comments on here, decided to take the risk, did the break up calcs etc and we know what ebay is like.


Well, picked the bike up in London on Wednesday and cycled the short way from Euston to Camden where car parked, nice and responsive although the single speed ratio of 42x16 was a bit higher than the 36x16 on mine. Back to Hampshire to see what I'd got.





so close exam showed the chain ring quite worn but life left and rest ok but a bit of a mix and match. Still very undecided what components to put on re drive train and gears etc, 8 speed as it would have been means buying whole lot or using older 7 speed means lots of bits already. Even this more retro is probably better than wheels it has ?? any thoughts anyone. However all this is very dependent on the frame being sound and the corrosion under control...............which will be in the next instalment (after I upload some more photos).

The strip down was all pretty easy until the non drive side crank, the bolt was corroded but came out after a bit of a struggle but that was the prelude to the crank refusing to budge. The crank set is Shimano M569 Deore LX c1998 so not worth that much, particularly as set up as a single speed and needs 2 new rings. Key issue was not to damage aluminium frame so after much deliberation re violence, heat, etc decided in the end had to cut off the crank with the angle grinder. Then it just came to the BB. The standard sealed shimano unit but some sort of compound had been used in threads as these were a nightmare but a 3ft breaker bar helps.

Close examination of the frame showed the white corrosion of aluminium oxide pretty evenly over the exposed frame and also that large parts of the paint could be just pealed off by hand, bit like pealing hard boiled egg. This to me suggests a problem when painted or coating ? However the good news was that a little rub with wet n dry was very soon down to metal so initial prognosis good news. Having got 2/3 paint off, resorted to the paint stripper, all came off pretty easy.






so frame is sound it seems, ,certainly all the welds look good and indeed many seem to have escaped the painting issue completely.............and some polishing to do.

Ah it was you who won, did you see the eBay watchlist thread? Paint was shocking but looks good now stripped back.

coomber":3igycp62 said:

Ah it was you who won, did you see the eBay watchlist thread? Paint was shocking but looks good now stripped back.

Click to expand...

yes, assuming you mean this one, viewtopic.php?f=4&t=254035&p=1907094&hilit=Dean#p1907094, and to save anyone looking it up, paid more than I really wanted to, but didn't have to go to Cambridge as seller kindly brought to London, just hope I can flog some of the bits for a bit of cash. I think there was definitely something wrong when last painted, it came off so easily hard to believe not a respray, but did look like it came from the factory and just missing something as "corrosion" had got under paint. I know corrosion is the wrong description as Aluminium has a thin layer of oxide almost inevitably but not where bit powdery.

Some of it can still see stamp on Easton tubing and I do like nice clean tig welding



.........and it is very light (compared to the old steel things I'm used to)

I thought it was a good price. Looking forward to more updates.

Re: Aluminium Dean '98 Oscar - Chainset ideas ?

been polishing and looking at components. Will put a list up of what it had, bit of a mixed bag, but need to sort out what I'm doing for a chainset.

This is the newest bike I've had by some 6 years. Current chainset is Deore LX M569 set up as a single speed, bit pointy and had to cut non drive crank off so given cost of crank plus rings then really no compelling case to stay with an M569, since probably cheaper to replace all rather than just bits (approx. £20 from what I've seen).



so the question is what to use instead, should I stay with 1997/8 era, alternatively have an old Deore from Marin project from early 1990s or Stronglight MTB, or any other ideas, budget needs to be sensible, less than £50 all in, ideally a lot less. Bikepedia suggests originally had a Rhino racing set (if got model correct etc) but that's probably hen's teath and £££. All suggestions welcome.

Old deore five arm would be fine and look good.

Are you after an LX non drive crank arm?

I was but managed to get one off ebay, thanks, there was someone looking for an XT equivalent one as well