1997 Litespeed Owl Hollow
- Thread starter RicoMack
- Start date
Well it's been a while since I've updated my progress, not that there has been a lot but here goes. I'm pretty pleased with how things are shaping up, but not with the speed of the progress. Seems like finding the right parts is either very expensive or impossible, but I do find deals periodically.
I started by de-anodizing the seat clamp and headset and then polishing both.
The Litespeed lettering on the seat clamp shows up nicely, but not so much in the picture.
And I wound up de-anodizing the gold part of the Chris King headset. Just didn't look right to me.
Also got the decals in from SSSinc and put them on the frame. Messed up one of the down tube decal and SSSinc sent me two more for free. Thank you very much! So after the application and purchasing an early Bontrager handle bar things are to look more like a bike than just a frame.
I don't really care much for the Manitou Markhor fork on this bike but I couldn't find a period SID that had the steering tube length I needed UNTIL this weekend. I found a 2000 SID XC with great working internals but definitely in need of a paint job. So the tear down will begin tomorrow and I'll probably paint them blue as that's what the catalogue pictures have. But in the meantime I've got the Markhor to use until the SID is ready. BTW the SID is an 80mm travel which is how I have the Markhor set up. I suspect the Markhor will be a nicer riding and handling fork, but we'll see.
Well that's it for now. Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.
I started by de-anodizing the seat clamp and headset and then polishing both.
The Litespeed lettering on the seat clamp shows up nicely, but not so much in the picture.
And I wound up de-anodizing the gold part of the Chris King headset. Just didn't look right to me.
Also got the decals in from SSSinc and put them on the frame. Messed up one of the down tube decal and SSSinc sent me two more for free. Thank you very much! So after the application and purchasing an early Bontrager handle bar things are to look more like a bike than just a frame.
I don't really care much for the Manitou Markhor fork on this bike but I couldn't find a period SID that had the steering tube length I needed UNTIL this weekend. I found a 2000 SID XC with great working internals but definitely in need of a paint job. So the tear down will begin tomorrow and I'll probably paint them blue as that's what the catalogue pictures have. But in the meantime I've got the Markhor to use until the SID is ready. BTW the SID is an 80mm travel which is how I have the Markhor set up. I suspect the Markhor will be a nicer riding and handling fork, but we'll see.
Well that's it for now. Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.
Prodigal Son
Senior Retro Guru
The silver approach is looking good so far. A silver bomber z2 would work and get along fine w/ the burly personality of this frame.
Prodigal Son
Senior Retro Guru
Frame is stiff. The stiffer the susp forks the better it will ride. The Manitou wins.
Vecioalpinn
GT Fan
Fantastic frame and base for a project... compliments.
I need one Litespeed in my collection but I don't undestund wich... I have only one shot.
I need one Litespeed in my collection but I don't undestund wich... I have only one shot.
Vecioalpinn":1ptsrybt said:
Is was a pretty easy decision for me, as it was for sale just up the freeway from my house and for a 23 year old frame it was in great shape. Getting the King headset was a bonus. The guy who sold it to me said he wanted the headset but couldn't get it out and thought it may have been epoxied in. I just smiled to myself knowing he probably had the headset removal tool on the Al insert that Litespeed uses in their head tubes. Fortunately he didn't knock the insert out because it has been known to happen.. :roll: Thanks for the compliments.
Prodigal Son":1mdieck6 said:
Frame is very stiff indeed that's for sure. Plus the Manitou is basically new. The Manitou is a nice fork albeit cheap as far as new forks are concerned, i.e. 200 USD. The downside of the Manitou is it is it is disk only and the frame is V-brake only. Been leaning towards mechanical disc in front and V in the back. I have some hydraulic discs I can try but have concerns about the overwhelming advantage of stopping power in front. Guess I won't know until I try it.
krakhaus":1cki38uo said:
Yeah it did stay on. I'm pretty sure the KING was laser etched on the cups and then painted white. You can't really see it that well in the photos mostly because I'm a lousy photographer. Don't get me wrong it's not as noticeable as before where you had white lettering on a red or black cup. But it is there, but perhaps more subtle than you might want.
