1993 Giant Cadex CFM-2

[Captain Stupido]

Re: Re:

It'll be a nice, light and responsive bike pretty much any way you decide to go
I went with full later model XT on my CFM-3 (link to it in my signature), if you want some more inspiration.

Cool, tidy build - and glad to hear you like it! Spec isn't dissimilar to what I had in mind... but mine will be scruffier. At least I won't feel bad about riding it...

 

[Captain Stupido]

Re: Giant Cadex CFM-2

Just built this front wheel for my slowly going nowhere Dawes Escape build... couldn’t resist the temptation to see how it looks in the Cadex though... this bike is going to be a looker, I think.

 

[malt]

Re: Giant Cadex CFM-2

Gotta love a good Cadex

 

[Captain Stupido]

Slow progress... lots of projects vying for attention... Rescued the front hub (36 hole deore XT) from the knackered campag rim. Cleaned up and polished it. Cones unsurprisingly are well worn but fingers crossed it’ll be smooth enough with fresh grease and new balls. Would be good to re-use it if possible.

Tomorrow I’ll put the hub back together and measure up for some spokes. Found a good DX rear hub in the parts bin in matching 36 hole flavour to make a set and have ordered some brand new cheap, black Mach 1 rims off ebay.

On closer inspection the 1” stem it came with was fitted using a shim. I’ve got a few 1 1/8” quill stems here so should be able to find a suitable replacement.

Next up is to check out the headset i suppose...

 

[Captain Stupido]

Headset is an STX with cartridge bearings which have seen better days. Presume it’s not original... For now I’ve given the bearings a good soak/clean and will try to squeeze some fresh grease in them once they’ve dried thoroughly.

 

[Captain Stupido]

Packed some fresh grease in to the bearings, which actually seemed to work ok...unfortunately though once all back together it’s obvious they are well worn.

For now I’ve decided to put this on the back burner. I put a new screw in the garage wall to hang it on. Don’t exactly need another bike to ride at the moment, and don’t have a shortage of projects happening either. I could do with not spending money on anything I’m not going to ride, so I’m going to try not to even think about this one....for a while...

 

[jimo746]

Re:

Awww.... surely you can find some time to spend on the poor Cadex??
I've the road version (CFR) and have to say I quite like it

 

[Captain Stupido]

Re: Re:

Awww.... surely you can find some time to spend on the poor Cadex??
I've the road version (CFR) and have to say I quite like it

Ah, don’t worry, I’ve not given up on it... it’s just gone to the back of the queue... for now...

 

[Captain Stupido]

Re:

All right then... glass of cider and jungle on the radio... fresh grease and balls in the original front hub. Despite the obvious wear it’s actually come out pretty smooth - unlike the headset... gotta love vintage XT.





And, as it happens the rims arrived today. Don’t look too shabby for £15 brand new... and there’s the earmarked DX hub... I suppose it would be OK to shell out for some spokes now...

 

[Captain Stupido]

Saw a guy riding one of these (very quickly) a couple of days ago so decided to get it built. Might just fill a niche in the collection as a light, fast and go-anywhere rider. The blue clockwork can be the more trail focussed bike.

Decided to follow the path of least resistance i.e. use bits I’ve got no real use for and not really worry too much about getting it period perfect. Frame is pretty rough anyway so there’s no point in aiming for a BOTM build. As such I decided to retain the LX V-brakes it came with to save some bother.

It’s coming together nice, I think. Will be very light. Unfortunately though I failed to notice quite how badly bent the gear hanger is. Fortunately as this is a bolt-on part it should be solvable one way or another, but the technique I would use with a steel part (i.e. hit it with a hammer to flatten it out) seems not to be doing much. I went easy, sandwiching it between two bits of wood, but bashing it didn’t do much, if anything.

Any thoughts on how best to attempt straightening? Not sure whether heat would help, and whether bending it (e.g. using a vice and gripping it with an adjustable spanner) or hitting it is the way forward... could try hitting it without the wood on a harder surface - not too bothered about the paint but would be nice not to ruin it completely...