Oops, I did it again. Red 1993 Sbike 503 - Finished

[Raging_Bulls]

Thanks B.

The paint is showing some signs of fading in some places, but a good cleaning really made it shine.
It's a difficult color to photograph though, as it can be pale when you look at it from one angle and bright red or even dark red when you move 10" to the right or left.

I was actually considering entering it in BotM sometime in the near future, but I think most voters won't appreciate the one thing that makes this one stand out IMO (the faulty decal).

 

[stumpjumper1990]

I think you should enter it. Allthough I think most voters won't appreciate the Altus A10 groupset... :cry: A lot off people only like the high end groupsets. I think a nice A10 groupset is very rare these days!

And that decal makes it even more rare!

 

[Raging_Bulls]

Slight update here. I have acquired NOS Altus A10 brake levers+shifters, a NOS A10 rear mech and a NOS A10 crankset. I just might get the rest of the components and do a full restoration after the winter.
I also got my hands on a karma Altus A20 rear mech (thanks for that, Racin' snake), which has been put on to replace that hideous Acera.

It has done around 30 miles now (lack of time to ride it), and so far I have only one real complaint. It has almost no stopping power. I need a firm squeeze in both levers to get the rear to lock up.
Not sure if it has bad brake pads (brand new Shimano Msystem) or if the cantilevers were really that horrible BITD.


I just put it on a scale, and it weighs in at 13.3 kg (29.3 lbs). Not quite the weight weenie bike, but not as bad as I had guessed. I was thinking it'd be close to 15kg (33 lbs).

 

[Raging_Bulls]

I adjusted the saddle (it was too far back), binned the riser bar and inserted the flat Tioga one that came with my first Bulls.
Due to the smaller and lower handlebar, I also shortened the cables and took the opportunity to route them the correct way.





IMO it looks much better now. I really regret having ruined its BotM chances by entering it twice already.
Oh well, perhaps I'll just build another one.

 

[mikee]

needs DIRT tyres xav

 

[Raging_Bulls]

Great, I get rid of the riser bar, and people start complaining about the tyres.





Joking aside, it looks a lot more menacing with these.
Besides, it gets ridden on the road 99% of the time. I kept the dirt tyres for when I intend to go offroad, but that won't be too often.

 

[Raging_Bulls]

Re:

needs DIRT tyres xav

Happy now?

I've been looking at new off-road tyres for little while, but never really found anything I liked.
Modern rubber was not an option, Smoke and Dart just look wrong on the little Sbike and I'm not a fan of the Timbuk2's looks either.
Ideally I'd have gone for something like the Tioga Comp III, but those were on eBay only in 20" and 24".

Eventually I gave up and decided to just get some Timbuk2s from Mombat.
Imagine my surprise when I went to their site and found just the Comp III's I had been looking for for over a month.
They were Duro rather than Tioga, but I can live with that.

Long story short : with shipping and import taxes and all I'm 150 EUR (around £125) poorer, but at least the bike is finally on knobblies.
Maybe it's not what others would put on their bike because it's aimed more at '80s MTBs, but IMO it suits this one just fine.

Weirdly enough, these 2.125" tires are 48mm (1.89") wide, which makes them 3mm thinner than the 1.95" Schwalbes (2.01") it used to wear on the same rims. Go figure.

Anyway, full pics :





I still haven't got round to sorting the upside-down decal. Maybe next winter when it's going in for a respray.