got this a while ago off "the kracken" it came with a USE titanium seatpost and a royce titanium bottom bracket, a good buy i think!

the first thing i did was clean and polish it and measure the b/b to see what cranks will fit without having to change the axle!! turns out it's perfect for 92ish xt cranks and convieniently i just got some of those!

originally i had decided to build this with m900 xtr but i decided that i'd go for xt as i haven't actually got a bike with xt, got dx, got xtr, got lx so i think this would be nice, also frankly xt will hopefully cost less and will be easier to come by.

i fitted my rc35 forks from my aluminium O, they never rode right in that bike anyway but having looked at the frames they should be ok in this, i fitted a new headset that the local bike shop had tucked away in a corner, princely sum of £10! it's only a YST but in all honesty it looks exactly like an old XT other than the lack of writing!

i have some wheels turning up sometime next week, hope hubs on 217 rims, i know they're 8 speed and i'm planning building a 7speed but i might do the old 7speed xt shifter silent click or use a spacer on the hub. we'll see!

anyway, here's some pics

...mmmm,nice.....i used to have one of those.....great bike!!!

That frame has come up very nice

looking good and a great colour

Nice, thats the goldy-coloured one is it?

Looking good Jonnyboy.

What size is that one?... most were polished ( like mine ) so the gold anodising is more of a rarity. Christiankaye has a gold elite too ( hope he doesn't mind me posting a pic!? ) The decals seem later than the polished ones though?... '93 perhaps?

My '92 'elite' with full XT and rigid Ali fork weighs in about 23.5lbs. Looking forward to seeing this one built up.... I think I need an E3 next to keep up with your collection of Aluminium Oranges!

Perhaps we need a show us your 'elite' thread? ( Hawki?)

Cheers,
boy"O"boy

Here she is, been looking forward to seeing this little beauty. Looking good so far and registering my interest for updates

Excellent frame... As an orange lover I shall be watching with a keen eye...

update as of today

first of all thanks to everyone who has helped with parts, sithlord, sic_nick, goldeneraMTB, madcowkev, there were others but i can't remember the wheels and the rear mech came from here aswel so if you recognise your old bits, thanks!!

the idea of this build has changed a little since i started getting bits, basically the first idea was to go 21 speed xt, but the wheels being 8speed made me think go 24speed using a pair of xt thumbies with the silent click. then i remembered that last time i used xt thumbies as 8 speed they didn't quite feel right. so, i then remembered that kona used to mix and match in 93 with suntour and shimano so i decided to do a bit of a bitza bike but themed-ish.

some bits still might change, for example, it has at the moment hope wheels but i have some m900/fir orange wheels i'm building at the mo, also i have an m900 xtr headset, and an m900 front mech that fits, so i might end up going for an xt/xtr build with the suntour thumbies.

also you will notice the cranks have gone, those got put on my aluminim O cos i nicked the middleburns off that for my E3, but i do have some more xt cranks coming from sithlord, can't wait for them coz then i can get the chain on and set up the gears.

we'll see.

here's some pics so far

a couple more

Thats looking super Lush .. maybe the nicest Orange I have seen in a while....well apart from the ones at marks and spencers...

Oh yes Jon, coming together beautifully. I was thinking skinwalls but tbh the modern Panaracer tyres don't look bad at all and i'm also guessing it will be a rider .

yeah i'm really pleased with how it is coming along at the mo

as far as tyres go i'm happy to ride newer tyres, on all my builds, i know that might seem like an anti retro statement but they are better, they puncture less, they are easier to find and coz they haven't been sat in a cupboard for 20 years they haven't perished!! also the prices shouldn't be stupid like for example white porcs etc. it's the same with rims, if i can't find brand new old rims i'll use the nearest modern equivalent, otherwise things like that hold up a build, and if i do find something old but used you can't gaurantee their condition, i'd hate to be out riding when an old rim peels away its sidewall.

i'll post some more pics of the m900/fir orange wheels and see what you guys think of those for this build when they are done. the hopes can always goin the kona.

Thanks for bumping this as saves me searching.
If you didn't think the Shimano thumbies as 8 speed felt right, then you may be disappointed with suntour thumbies, they're err, well Kona didn't continue with it. Not really designed for the job

Shim it, to 7 speed, and pull the 13 or 14 tooth out of a 12-28 8 speed spidered cassette. Hope hubs came with a 7 speed spacer from what I've seen in all the pictures.


Or pull the indexing plate out of the Suntour and make a new one with the correct indexing positions (I have no idea where these would be).

Or since Suntour doesn't have a true friction shift (well unless they are worn), it is a semi friction position which is still indexed but allows intermediate friction positions. You may like that.

the suntour thumbie thing is more just to try it really, if it doesn't work very well i'll try somethingelse, so many options but i'd never used this one so i was curious really. it might end being a full xtr gearset, we'll see.