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Hello All. I've had this frame (my second Elite) kicking around for ages so having missed out on another possible project and having nothing else on the go it's time for a new build.
The frame came with a complete new decal set so I had thought I'd strip off the lacquer and polish it up before adding the new stickers (as I did with the last one) but for some reason I'm feeling far more love for original bikes that have not been stripped/repainted/refinished etc at the moment so decided to replace only the decals that were really tatty. One problem was that the originals had been lacquered over so I carefully removed the big orange on the headtube and the Power Stay decals on the chainstays with a sharp knife, trying to disturb as little lacquer as possible. These were then replaced with the new ones and I touched up some of the downtube stickers with black paint. I'm happy enough with the finish as I think I've improved the look with out losing too much originality. The frame itself is far from perfect with 19 years of scuffs and wear but is more then acceptable as a 'user'. I've tested an area with polish and renovator and think it will shine up well once finished.
Parts wise I'll be using the XT left over from my Clockwork with RC35's shimmed down to 1 1/8th. Managed to bag a nearly NOS set of Dia Compe 987's and XT levers from my mate beavis and had the Renthals in the spares box so will be going with a silver/black/blue theme. Think it'll look da bawls! The vgc grey 231's have been waiting for the right project so will see service here. The hubs are Suntour and had been thinking about a Suntour build so this may well happen in the future if something else that deserves the XT comes along. Check back for updates.
The frame came with a complete new decal set so I had thought I'd strip off the lacquer and polish it up before adding the new stickers (as I did with the last one) but for some reason I'm feeling far more love for original bikes that have not been stripped/repainted/refinished etc at the moment so decided to replace only the decals that were really tatty. One problem was that the originals had been lacquered over so I carefully removed the big orange on the headtube and the Power Stay decals on the chainstays with a sharp knife, trying to disturb as little lacquer as possible. These were then replaced with the new ones and I touched up some of the downtube stickers with black paint. I'm happy enough with the finish as I think I've improved the look with out losing too much originality. The frame itself is far from perfect with 19 years of scuffs and wear but is more then acceptable as a 'user'. I've tested an area with polish and renovator and think it will shine up well once finished.
Parts wise I'll be using the XT left over from my Clockwork with RC35's shimmed down to 1 1/8th. Managed to bag a nearly NOS set of Dia Compe 987's and XT levers from my mate beavis and had the Renthals in the spares box so will be going with a silver/black/blue theme. Think it'll look da bawls! The vgc grey 231's have been waiting for the right project so will see service here. The hubs are Suntour and had been thinking about a Suntour build so this may well happen in the future if something else that deserves the XT comes along. Check back for updates.