Dekerf Mountain 95-96ish (Gone)

secret_squirrel

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See the ebay thread here.

Saw the ebay thread and had to take a punt as it was literally 10 mins up the road from me. Thought its was a more than reasonable price so went straight in with the asking price. Having met the seller Im glad I did as he came across as really genuine and felt slightly guilty at the price.

If you look at the ad, you'll see its badly listed - to the point of it being described as a road bike. When speaking to the seller - he seemed really concerned that I might take it for some serious off roading!! Eh up I though mentally preparing myself for the worst - cracked chain stay or something equally iffy.

Got there and met the seller nice bloke in his mid fifties nursing a fractured wrist from a footy game. First thing he does if is show me his humoungus shed - which only contains the key to his bike shed :shock:

Turns out he has 4 more sheds dotted around the garden - including a sound proof one that doubles as a recording studio :shock: Major Shed Envy :oops:

Anyhoo the 2nd shed contains the DeKerf along with a Cannondale SL5. A quick check over reveals it is as listed and my heart is beating a little faster, a couple of small scuffs, forks a tad soft but all in all pretty damn nice.

Some chit chat reveals that he just doesn't have confidence in the bike compared to his daily riders - he struggles with the brakes and thinks it won't handle his usual stuff. Bearing in mind this is the Chilterns not a black run down a trail centre Im a tad puzzled. The thought of him on a retro bike like my spaghetti tubed Prestige with iffy hope cable disks amuses.

Opening Shed number 3 he shows me his older and current daily riders. Current daily rider is a Pace RC305 dripping with kit, and older rider is a Alu Gary Fisher thats lost some of its decals but seemed to a be a Summit???. Both have honking great oversize tubes and high end discs. Turns out it was just the feel of V's on a steel frame he was not comfortable with. Still one mans meat is another mans poison. turns out he had a cheeky offer of £425 for the bike at first - glad I trumpeted it coz he was a nice guy.

Now onto the bike. Sold as a 19" actual sizes are Seat Tube - C-T 20", C-C 18" Top Tube 23" C-C. A tad big for my usual so time will tell. Anyone up for a swap? :)

Kit is a mix of XTR and SLX 9 speed stuff. XTR Shifters and V's, SLX Mechs. Full Mavic crossmax wheelset. Dont recognise the lairy pedals - only bit of the bike I dont like - still something clip less will be added. Cranks and rings are lovely Middleburns, possibly under those cranks is a Ti Spindled BB of some description - we shall have to see on that bit. Seller did mention he had the BB apart so some investigation is warranted.

Forks are a set of RC38's - as said a little soft - they may need a visit to Tim @ Fork English.

A picture apparently says a thousand words - so here we go. thanks for reading this far ;)

Scrape 1 - seat stay

Scrape 2 - Top tube


RS7's? and rings

Front End



Serial No.
 
Re:

You got a bargain there. Worth the asking price and then some. Bet the person who put in the £425 offer is kicking themselves.
 
Re:

Looks great with some interesting features.

The black tops to the seat stays only came in in 97 according to the Dekerf site.

The decals are the modern ones so its either newer or had a respray / new decals.

The seat tube looks the same as the one on my Team SL with the same fillet brazing at the seat tube / Top Tube, same seat clamp etc . . . . .

I don't get the drop outs though, the Ritchey ones on my Team SL look different.

And I can't remember seeing a Team SL with the polished gussets under the down tube. Maybe they were used on the later frames?

Just drop Dekerf an email, he got back to me after a few weeks when I sent him my serial num, really helpful. Regardless of its age / tube type you did very well, if it doesn't fit I'm sure you will get your money back and more!
 
Re:

Apparently they dropped the stainless gusset with the change to 853. Maybe one of the first SL's when they were still making the transition from the Team to the Team SL?
 
Re:

You could be right, the drop outs and cable routing are very much like the 1996 Mountain which Im guessing is the Ritchey tubing mentioned before?

Im sure Reuben may have some more info, he's had a few of these i think!
 
Re:

I think it has been resprayed at some point. It's not a typically Dekerf colour, and the decals are later Dekerf, 1999/2000 on, so they would suggest it has been resprayed. They are exactly the same as sent out to me when I titivated my '94 Mountain.
I'm not sure when the seatstays got bunged up, so it's either a '95 Mountain or '96 Team.

Early decals as used up to 1999
DK09.jpg

DK02.jpg
 
Re: Dekerf Team SL 96?

i just noticed something odd about your frame. it has no canti cable stop at the rear, AND your cable stops all run along the drive side.

if you look at my Generation with canti cable stop, the cable stops all run along the drive side. my ST that has no canti cable stop, and meant to run Vs, and have the cable stops running on the non-drive side to allow for clean rear v-brake cable run.
 
Re: Dekerf Team SL 96?

Curiouser and curiouser. I'll mail the seller later and ask if he has any history. Also I'll mail Chris Dekerf with the serial no. Does anyone know if its just the standard contact details on the site?
 

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