aguycalled80
Retro Guru
I finally had all the parts, and the time, for this project, which I intend to use as a commuter. It's a little unusual, but this bike has had a hard life, and I believe it deserves a dignified retirement.
I picked this up for a song two summers ago. It was supposed to be a song that is, until the seller decided to ask for two songs given how much interest he was getting in it. Luckily he honoured my place in line and I had myself a Dekerf.
As purchased. I don't know that it had ever been cleaned. The fork was covered with oil, the front wheel covered with an oil/dirt mix (that will not come off), the wheels were done, something in the back end was squeaking, oh and I discovered later that the fork crown was cracked.
When you see a vintage bike that's really cheap, sometimes there's a very good reason.
Anyway, none of that mattered to me, because I've always got parts.
I had to choose between a set of silver/polished bits, and a set of black bits. I went with black because I figured the 40T chainring I had on this black RaceFace crank would be good with the 1x9 setup I wanted to run. Plus the seatpost was black.
Up front that's a Rock Shox SID who's age I don't know, a RaceFace Thermo SP headset, On One Mary bar, Brooks leather disc grips, and SRAM composite brake levers.
RaceFace 180mm cranks, a 40T Envy chainring, 9speed Shimano cassette, Sram derailleur and shifter. Also a Selle Italia Turbo Special that has a very cool cracked leather finish.
And finally, it was supposed to have an XTR/Mavic 717 wheelset, but I've just been too lazy to go get spokes. But I've been stockpiling quality wheelsets, so I went with the Hugi/Ritchey Rock 440 wheels that came on my recently acquired Altitude.
I rolled around on it for about an hour tonight, and it's as if it was built for me - the fit is perfect. The Hugi rear hub makes such a racket that a bell is unnecessary, but it's smooth. The front is a little stiff, but I don't see how to adjust it. The fork and the spring out back really just soften up the ride and that's all I really need.
The only issue I had is the chain will drop off the chainring if I have it on the largest cog in back. But, I can't put the chainring on the inside of the crank spider because it'll hit the frame, so, not sure how to solve that yet.
I'm really amazed that just throwing together some parts in an afternoon has resulted in such a fantastic ride. On the other hand, maybe I know what I'm doing after all these years.
I picked this up for a song two summers ago. It was supposed to be a song that is, until the seller decided to ask for two songs given how much interest he was getting in it. Luckily he honoured my place in line and I had myself a Dekerf.
As purchased. I don't know that it had ever been cleaned. The fork was covered with oil, the front wheel covered with an oil/dirt mix (that will not come off), the wheels were done, something in the back end was squeaking, oh and I discovered later that the fork crown was cracked.
When you see a vintage bike that's really cheap, sometimes there's a very good reason.
Anyway, none of that mattered to me, because I've always got parts.
I had to choose between a set of silver/polished bits, and a set of black bits. I went with black because I figured the 40T chainring I had on this black RaceFace crank would be good with the 1x9 setup I wanted to run. Plus the seatpost was black.
Up front that's a Rock Shox SID who's age I don't know, a RaceFace Thermo SP headset, On One Mary bar, Brooks leather disc grips, and SRAM composite brake levers.
RaceFace 180mm cranks, a 40T Envy chainring, 9speed Shimano cassette, Sram derailleur and shifter. Also a Selle Italia Turbo Special that has a very cool cracked leather finish.
And finally, it was supposed to have an XTR/Mavic 717 wheelset, but I've just been too lazy to go get spokes. But I've been stockpiling quality wheelsets, so I went with the Hugi/Ritchey Rock 440 wheels that came on my recently acquired Altitude.
I rolled around on it for about an hour tonight, and it's as if it was built for me - the fit is perfect. The Hugi rear hub makes such a racket that a bell is unnecessary, but it's smooth. The front is a little stiff, but I don't see how to adjust it. The fork and the spring out back really just soften up the ride and that's all I really need.
The only issue I had is the chain will drop off the chainring if I have it on the largest cog in back. But, I can't put the chainring on the inside of the crank spider because it'll hit the frame, so, not sure how to solve that yet.
I'm really amazed that just throwing together some parts in an afternoon has resulted in such a fantastic ride. On the other hand, maybe I know what I'm doing after all these years.
