I was wandering through the barn one day......
- Thread starter stevebe
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My mate has a set and his still work too, but once he heard about the recall he didn't want to use them again. I'm sure the frame deserves something nicer.
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It would be 1992 not 1990 if I have my assumptions right.
The '2' in the code is the model year.
260 being the top model at £1200 RRP coming with browning fork as standard and an XT/XTR mix.
Thoug no doubt you could buy it with other stuff.
A 7000 series frame.
Square section stays ?
What's the first part of the serial number ?
The '2' in the code is the model year.
260 being the top model at £1200 RRP coming with browning fork as standard and an XT/XTR mix.
Thoug no doubt you could buy it with other stuff.
A 7000 series frame.
Square section stays ?
What's the first part of the serial number ?
Just dug out the dog eared receipt - yep late December 1991 or 2 (bit faded) from Kingston Cycles serial 8260007 and Browning suspension. I paid £976.00, odd thing is I remember getting quids of the price as it had been around for a while. Maybe it was a sampler or something like that. The rear stays are decaled 'oversize' with square section chain stays. The frame is marked up as bilateral series 7005 alu. There's no xtr though.
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I don't even remember seeing the bike or Fusion in Kingston Cycles
I spoke to the owner (small guy 50 -60 now) last year I think when I was looking to get a wheel rebuilt for the Klein and much to my surprise he remembered selling it to me. It was in the window when I bought it, he even let me do a test ride - hows that for service. I guess he only had the one and like I said I haven't seen one again. Looking more like a worthwhile resurrection as I seem to recall it was a nice ride off road.
Re: I was wandering through the barn one day - continued
As I get bored really easy I thought I would resurect the old girl. As a challenge I wanted to do the job for next to nothing so I kept an eye on the usual sources - ebay, Gumtree and the local rag - even a boot sale or two. Upshot was I spent the following.
NOS Conti's £8.00
Misordered paint £10
Handlebar/stem £8.00
XT Brakes new £18
Cables £8.00
Forks (got excited) £70
BB press bearings £8.00
Cassette/chain £12.00
The rest was cleaned/rebuilt from the original and some leftovers from the shed. Still a few things need improving, and I think I got the fork colour wrong perhaps yellow Judys would have been better. I gave up polishing it as it proved difficult to get an even burnish over the whole frame. It looked ok until the Sun showed every flaw. The paint is two pack metallic with three coats colour and three coats clear, cured in a home-made oven.
As I said before, the geometry was very similar to my Adroit and the ride, well I can't tell the difference. It's a tiny bit heavier, but doesn't make you cry if you drop it. I will probably get hammered for this, but I filled and smoothed every weld for that faux Klein look. Probably pointless but I think it looks great, and it gave me something to do on rainy days. One thing did surprise me, despite the mechs being 20 years old the gear change is precise and quiet. So in summary, a bike that might have been thrown out has been made useful again for a reasonable amount of money. Probably not to everyones taste but I had fun building it.
As I get bored really easy I thought I would resurect the old girl. As a challenge I wanted to do the job for next to nothing so I kept an eye on the usual sources - ebay, Gumtree and the local rag - even a boot sale or two. Upshot was I spent the following.
NOS Conti's £8.00
Misordered paint £10
Handlebar/stem £8.00
XT Brakes new £18
Cables £8.00
Forks (got excited) £70
BB press bearings £8.00
Cassette/chain £12.00
The rest was cleaned/rebuilt from the original and some leftovers from the shed. Still a few things need improving, and I think I got the fork colour wrong perhaps yellow Judys would have been better. I gave up polishing it as it proved difficult to get an even burnish over the whole frame. It looked ok until the Sun showed every flaw. The paint is two pack metallic with three coats colour and three coats clear, cured in a home-made oven.
As I said before, the geometry was very similar to my Adroit and the ride, well I can't tell the difference. It's a tiny bit heavier, but doesn't make you cry if you drop it. I will probably get hammered for this, but I filled and smoothed every weld for that faux Klein look. Probably pointless but I think it looks great, and it gave me something to do on rainy days. One thing did surprise me, despite the mechs being 20 years old the gear change is precise and quiet. So in summary, a bike that might have been thrown out has been made useful again for a reasonable amount of money. Probably not to everyones taste but I had fun building it.
