94 Zaskar, the one that started it all

looks like my old frame....even the stickers! but we all had the same stickers bitd! can i borrow it?

The quill stem surprises me as the many GTs were sold with ahead forks from as early as 1993 - I cant stop looking at it. It disturbs me. I am therefore disturbed.

I need more crayons.

The stickers were applied when I built it up in 94/5, so I think they've stood the test of time.

As for the stem, I think it was just the one I liked best at the time and as I remember Ahead was still a little 'new fangled' and a bit of an unknown quantity. It may also have been that the Shocktech forks were only available with a quill stem, I really don't remember, but it is what it is.

Zetec, you can borrow it any time you like, I'll just need one kidney and one lung as a returnable deposit.

I know the Zaskar has always been a bit of a love / hate type of bike, but it was were I was at back then and it appears I still am.

About steel; I love my steel bikes too and they are all different to one another, each has a job it does very well, even if that's just being ridiculously easy to ride as the DOGS is, but the Zaskar is different again and is actually a pretty similar ride to my 2002 Yates 853 (DONKIS?).

So, if you want a stiffy... get a Zaskar.

Coomber, you must be far more sophisticated than the rest of us... and I understand completely. You'd LOVE the DOGS BOLX.

I love the look of the old Marzocchi MX series forks but you don't see that many of them about. How do they ride?

raidan73":3evpbbxk said:

How do they ride?

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They ride very well and always have done.

After the Hope hub cracking ride they needed a rebuild, as I also blew the seal in one leg... well, it is a Zaskar after all. Anyway, fresh seals and fresh oil have renewed them completely, and as damping is adjustable, and springing is provided by air pressure, you can tweak them to suit your riding style.

I can't say they really stand out as far as performance is concerned, but riding rocky downhills and trails that I have previously ridden on early Pace RC35's and rigid forks, you become aware they are doing their job very nicely thank you. They also track very true and I have never felt any kind of movement from them that gave me any concerns at all.

Thanks

I like the fact you have a 'test track' to pit your bikes against one another on. I read most of your build threads and feel I know the track quite well myself

It comes from the motor racing I did many (many) years ago, you can only judge if changes have had an effect when testing on the same circuit in the same or similar conditions.

Having built up a bit of a stable and being fortunate enough to have some woods within easy reach, where I have ridden every mtb I have ever owned, I thought it would be fun to put a route together that tested every aspect of the bikes. That has allowed me to compare one to the other. I'm glad you like it, I have certainly learnt a thing or two about each of my bikes, mostly with the Zaskar, I learnt that I knew nothing about gearing when I built it.

EDIT: Having checked the BCD of the cranks, it turns out the granny ring has a BCD of 74, which means the smallest chaining I can get has 24 teeth. Maybe my options were limited back then, I certainly wouldn't match a 26 tooth chainring with a 28 tooth 1st gear these days (no sense of adventure). So, chainring first, then possibly a 12-32 Sachs freewheel (NOS).

Nice, I have a 94 as well. Think mine must have come as a bike as it had the original
Tioga aheadset (and sadly not much else).

Mine is bare frame at the mo but I am planning to strip the Deore/XT off my Avalanche and build the Zaskar up while I sort out the paint.

NeilM":24co4kz6 said:

It comes from the motor racing I did many (many) years ago, you can only judge if changes have had an effect when testing on the same circuit in the same or similar conditions.

Having built up a bit of a stable and being fortunate enough to have some woods within easy reach, where I have ridden every mtb I have ever owned, I thought it would be fun to put a route together that tested every aspect of the bikes. That has allowed me to compare one to the other. I'm glad you like it, I have certainly learnt a thing or two about each of my bikes, mostly with the Zaskar, I learnt that I knew nothing about gearing when I built it.

EDIT: Having checked the BCD of the cranks, it turns out the granny ring has a BCD of 74, which means the smallest chaining I can get has 24 teeth. Maybe my options were limited back then, I certainly wouldn't match a 26 tooth chainring with a 28 tooth 1st gear these days (no sense of adventure). So, chainring first, then possibly a 12-32 Sachs freewheel (NOS).

Click to expand...

:? Dude what hubs were you using in 94 that required a block...?
And are you going to climb Mount Kilimanjaro...? Do you really need a 24 granny ring and a 32 top sprocket...? You would be climbing that hill all day surely...?

The Peaks 'Ride to the Mast' is a bit like Kilimanjaro...

2009 action photo of ededwards beating off competition: