A few weeks ago an ad popped up on the US Facebook group for an XS 15"1992 Al Mega DX frameset with all the gubbins (little fittings/ferrules etc) but in need of some attention and at a bit of a premium plus the dreaded shipping. I balked at it but after seeing my comments, MattB messaged me offering a very battered one - he was totally honest that it was a pig's ear from the get-go - but crucially for me, in the same 15" size I wanted to build up for my lady friend 
Matt offered it at a tidy price so we did a deal and I thought I'd give it a shot.
I had intended on getting Argos in Bristol to repair the busted and poorly re-welded front mech hanger, a bent rear mech hanger and a stuck bottle cage bolt and repaint in original Alpinestars Cobalt Blue. It was a fair bit of work and Argos agreed to take it on. I left it with them a fortnight ago with it due back second week in June. I'd also contacted Gil to knock up some decals.
Here's the frame from Matt (also included original Cro-Mo 'ODS' forks) pictured when I left it at Argos:
So that was the plan, repair, repaint and rebuild it, staying on the rigid forks, with a mix of XT & DX, until about 9pm last night when an email alerted me to a new eBay listing for the same 15" 1992 Al Mega DX in VGC: full bike, mostly original, one owner, everything there and working, minus tyres! :shock: Ten minutes later the seller ended the auction for me. :mrgreen:
Plan promptly changed...
I was in the car at 10am this morning headed to Sheffield to collect it! Cancelled the work at Argos on the phone en route, who in fairness, were not unhappy with me cancelling because they were dubious at the chances of getting their aluminium welder (not an in-house guy) to successfully make up a new (strangely-shaped) Alpinestars front mech hanger anyway. No hard feelings, we're both happy!
So, here she is, as it landed after an 8-hour road trip today. Seller threw in a spare set of forks too!:
What a mental 24 hours!
New plan:
• strip, degrease, polish
• replace stem with a NOS Alpinestars Easton 7005 shorty-ass 115mm stem I got from Ian (aka racer-x) last week:
• swap bars for either some 94-spec pewter/ice blue Alpinestars (also from Ian) or more likely some neon pink TaperLites I've had lying around (she loves the pink and it's gonna be influenced as much by her as me)
• replace the gritty OE headset with a NOS Tange 1¼" threaded I got a while ago
• replace the OE BB with a NOS UN51 68/122.5 (wanted a 70-series but couldn't find a decent one in this size, but it's a good unit
• replace chainset with identical MT60 170mm 24/36/46 SG rings I got off Attila (hunspecialized) and polished to perfection with Autosol a few weeks ago:
• swap mechs for XT M735 rear AND front mechs, I've already polished up the RD:
• swap STIs for MT62 Thumbshifters from Adrian (raidan73), 4-finger MT60 levers (eBay) (she wanted thumbies and 4-finger levers, the thumbies are absolutely mint condition, cheers Adrian, levers need a polish but the silver wil compliment the rest of the silver really nicely):
• swap the cantis for XT cantis off my AM XT I've also polished to perfection with NOS XTR brakeblocks I've saved for this:
• swap the pedals for XT M735 pedals with neon yellow Tioga toeclips (from Lee retrobikeguy who responded to my wanted ad - cheers fella and neon pink straps with neon green Tioga end caps (also from Ian) which are gonna look cool as feck, exactly like the Tioga catalogue picture, and all three colours will match the colours in the decals on the frame
Like this but on XTs:
• swap seatpost for an original Alpinestars one I've also polished up!
•add some tyres - either NOS blackwall Onza Porcs2 I've had stashed for a while or red-bead Kevlar bluewall Pana XC Fire Pro (not 90s exactly but nice)
•and for the pièce de resistance, I'm gonna bling the feck out of it for her with lots of purple ano en route from Spain from Pascual pas125, and even add NOS Bullseye jockeys (she loves purple ano! )
I'm really excited by this project, now that it's in my hands and should come together quite quickly! And the fact it's not for me to ride is really cool as this is a first for me in my relatively short RB history!
More updates and pics to come in the next few days
Matt offered it at a tidy price so we did a deal and I thought I'd give it a shot. I had intended on getting Argos in Bristol to repair the busted and poorly re-welded front mech hanger, a bent rear mech hanger and a stuck bottle cage bolt and repaint in original Alpinestars Cobalt Blue. It was a fair bit of work and Argos agreed to take it on. I left it with them a fortnight ago with it due back second week in June. I'd also contacted Gil to knock up some decals.
Here's the frame from Matt (also included original Cro-Mo 'ODS' forks) pictured when I left it at Argos:
So that was the plan, repair, repaint and rebuild it, staying on the rigid forks, with a mix of XT & DX, until about 9pm last night when an email alerted me to a new eBay listing for the same 15" 1992 Al Mega DX in VGC: full bike, mostly original, one owner, everything there and working, minus tyres! :shock:
Ten minutes later the seller ended the auction for me. :mrgreen: Plan promptly changed...
I was in the car at 10am this morning headed to Sheffield to collect it! Cancelled the work at Argos on the phone en route, who in fairness, were not unhappy with me cancelling because they were dubious at the chances of getting their aluminium welder (not an in-house guy) to successfully make up a new (strangely-shaped) Alpinestars front mech hanger anyway. No hard feelings, we're both happy!
So, here she is, as it landed after an 8-hour road trip today. Seller threw in a spare set of forks too!:
What a mental 24 hours!
New plan:
• strip, degrease, polish
• replace stem with a NOS Alpinestars Easton 7005 shorty-ass 115mm stem I got from Ian (aka racer-x) last week:
• swap bars for either some 94-spec pewter/ice blue Alpinestars (also from Ian) or more likely some neon pink TaperLites I've had lying around (she loves the pink and it's gonna be influenced as much by her as me)
• replace the gritty OE headset with a NOS Tange 1¼" threaded I got a while ago
• replace the OE BB with a NOS UN51 68/122.5 (wanted a 70-series but couldn't find a decent one in this size, but it's a good unit
• replace chainset with identical MT60 170mm 24/36/46 SG rings I got off Attila (hunspecialized) and polished to perfection with Autosol a few weeks ago:
• swap mechs for XT M735 rear AND front mechs, I've already polished up the RD:
• swap STIs for MT62 Thumbshifters from Adrian (raidan73), 4-finger MT60 levers (eBay) (she wanted thumbies and 4-finger levers, the thumbies are absolutely mint condition, cheers Adrian, levers need a polish but the silver wil compliment the rest of the silver really nicely):
• swap the cantis for XT cantis off my AM XT I've also polished to perfection with NOS XTR brakeblocks I've saved for this:
• swap the pedals for XT M735 pedals with neon yellow Tioga toeclips (from Lee retrobikeguy who responded to my wanted ad - cheers fella
and neon pink straps with neon green Tioga end caps (also from Ian) which are gonna look cool as feck, exactly like the Tioga catalogue picture, and all three colours will match the colours in the decals on the frame Like this but on XTs:
• swap seatpost for an original Alpinestars one I've also polished up!
•add some tyres - either NOS blackwall Onza Porcs2 I've had stashed for a while or red-bead Kevlar bluewall Pana XC Fire Pro (not 90s exactly but nice)
•and for the pièce de resistance, I'm gonna bling the feck out of it for her with lots of purple ano en route from Spain from Pascual pas125, and even add NOS Bullseye jockeys
(she loves purple ano! )
I'm really excited by this project, now that it's in my hands and should come together quite quickly! And the fact it's not for me to ride is really cool as this is a first for me in my relatively short RB history!
More updates and pics to come in the next few days
