Kirk Revolution I refurbed last year (my first retro refurb)

[greencat]

I had one back in day. They were always somewhat flexy and heavy (even for the time). I didn't care because they looked great and climbed well. They attracted a lot of attention as they superficially resembled the Boardman bike which was roughly contemporary. I came back to mine parked on the high st one day to find a dozen people looking at it.

The main issue, as others have indicated, was frame failure. I had two replaced and then gave up on it. The second failure saw the bonded in rear drop out on the right hand side snap off while riding down a hill at speed. I rode home with concussion and having to lean over to one side to hold the back wheel onto the frame. Once I had that one replaced, I sold it on as I figured it was untrustworthy for real mountain biking.

Spoke to someone in a bike shop a few years later, and he reckoned they were now replacing them with Dawes Edge frames. Should have held onto it!

 

[FluffyChicken]

I love a good Kirk, you only buy them now for the quirkiness.
I will say the hubs and skewers are worth probably what you sold the bike for. (maybe more ?)
While risers would not been seen on this bike (wrong time period) it goes really well, you'd probably want a stiffer bit of rubber in the flexstem though. BUT they actually go really well.

Technical details.
The rear mech outer is way to short, it'll be pulling on the mech spring and causing a lot of friction, likely see the outer casing cracking at some point. A longer smoother loop here, these are not shadow rear mechs.

The top rear and front middle gear outers (on seattube), a little bit extra off to get a the best curve, but that's being anal as a bit of dirt and mud is soon worse.

I honestly really like it.
The pedals though, they some funny old road pedal abomination (like a PD-A550), you'd not see them on an MTB.

 

[Rebikecumbria]

I love a good Kirk, you only buy them now for the quirkiness.
I will say the hubs and skewers are worth probably what you sold the bike for. (maybe more ?)
While risers would not been seen on this bike (wrong time period) it goes really well, you'd probably want a stiffer bit of rubber in the flexstem though. BUT they actually go really well.

Technical details.
The rear mech outer is way to short, it'll be pulling on the mech spring and causing a lot of friction, likely see the outer casing cracking at some point. A longer smoother loop here, these are not shadow rear mechs.

The top rear and front middle gear outers (on seattube), a little bit extra off to get a the best curve, but that's being anal as a bit of dirt and mud is soon worse.

I honestly really like it.
The pedals though, they some funny old road pedal abomination (like a PD-A550), you'd not see them on an MTB.

thanks for the constructive : )

yeh i was aware of the ringles i was surprised to find them in the back of the warehouse tbh and did think twice about putting them on but was the only trick matching wheelset from the era i could find to finish the bike without pulling apart and wheel building - i did warn the manager about the price of them too so the new owner certainly got an overall bargain - we do like to keep things as reasonable as possible here

yeh i thought the bars were a bit later 90s as i remember club roost stuff from being a little kid back then - i went with those purely for the neon vibes and thought they were close enough ie same decade ahaha but yeh agreed if it was an original spec or close to build i understand they would probably be a no no

tell me more about the mech as i went from the original low end gs to the one i put on and i think the cage was the same length - would i have been better going with a longer cage version ? chain length seemed to be fine in all gears and it did ride smoothly (obviously something i check on all bikes) but i am used to going as short as possible without any components straining - is this something i should back off doing on older bikes to save components and friction as you mentioned

yeh pedals were probably a wild card ahaha i didnt like them just again something i found and manager said they were an early 90s pair so just went with them

thanks again for your info and constructive crit' its always useful and interesting to hear : )

 

[FluffyChicken]

Ah, not the chain/cage.*
I'm talking about the gear cable outer casing, from the seatstay to the mech cable tension adjuster bolt, the loops need to be longer, they look naffer but work better. Style always makes people cut them short (been there done that and sometime still do.).
It's why they invented all sort of wheels and add on pullies in the mid 90s (and the M951 mech and SRAM started it thing)

 

[Rebikecumbria]

I had one back in day. They were always somewhat flexy and heavy (even for the time). I didn't care because they looked great and climbed well. They attracted a lot of attention as they superficially resembled the Boardman bike which was roughly contemporary. I came back to mine parked on the high st one day to find a dozen people looking at it.

The main issue, as others have indicated, was frame failure. I had two replaced and then gave up on it. The second failure saw the bonded in rear drop out on the right hand side snap off while riding down a hill at speed. I rode home with concussion and having to lean over to one side to hold the back wheel onto the frame. Once I had that one replaced, I sold it on as I figured it was untrustworthy for real mountain biking.

Spoke to someone in a bike shop a few years later, and he reckoned they were now replacing them with Dawes Edge frames. Should have held onto it!

yeh i certainly wouldnt want to take one off road without some life insurance though maybe the flex might get round the tight trees and switchbacks with ease ahaha but i wouldve have been quite scared going over 20mph or off a small drop - def a bike to just pootle about on and they certainly get a lot of attention we had lots of admiration and a gaggle of tyre kickers when we put it out for sale : )

 

[FluffyChicken]

I hear (I did ride one back then, not mine, and they were not as flexy as people say) at least compared to other bikes, the flex may be age creating into the determination of the metal alloy over 30 years.

I have no proof though and cannot remember where that came from.

The E-stay style bike in general, not just these, flexed a bit more at the BB anyway.

 

[Rebikecumbria]

Ah, not the chain/cage.*
I'm talking about the gear cable outer casing, from the seatstay to the mech cable tension adjuster bolt, the loops need to be longer, they look naffer but work better. Style always makes people cut them short (been there done that and sometime still do.).
It's why they invented all sort of wheels and add on pullies in the mid 90s (and the M951 mech and SRAM started it thing)

Ah yeh I see what u mean now : ) yeh I am just used to keeping them short and out the way on more modern stuff sometimes even route behind the stay to stop snaggles on rocks/roots/brush
But good point I ll remember that when I am working on older stuff thanks