Barneyballbags
Old School Grand Master
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I thought I'd start a thread for this, as I'm just waiting for it to arrive
Bought a 1997 X Lite Titanium Pro off Gumtree from a guy in N.Ireland. Looks to be a very tidy bike with a fairly decent build, but I'll be changing a few bits (namely mechs, brakes, wheels, cranks).
I'll be going for XTR M95x for the mechs, brakes and shifters, Hope for the hubs and Middleburn for the cranks.
The bars and seatpost are X Lite Ti units, so they'll be staying.. As will the gorgeous forks
Definitely a keeper, this one.. Don't expect to see it split and advertised in the For Sale forum any time soon
A few very helpful forum members have managed to give me a bit of background info on the frame - I believe that it's a Raleigh Special Products frame, which was manufactured in Nottingham for X Lite. As far as I can gather it's very similar to the Torus frames of the same era.
Claimed frame weight of 1500g and a fork weight of 910g, so I'm expecting this to be a nice lively bike, but as I want it to be a rider and not a garage queen, I'm building it with functional, reliable bits rather than venturing off down the weight weenie route. Well, not too much anyway! I'm aware of a few reports of cracks with regard to the forks, so I've made sure that the seller gave them a good check, and sent me an email to confirm that they're not cracked or damaged in any way (frame too).. That way I have something to fall back on if I receive it and find anything wrong.. "Better safe than sorry" and all that, and after my previous experience buying an "uncracked and NOS" Al-Mega, and it turning out to be anything but, I'm not taking any chances this time!
I'm planning to get the Hope-hubbed wheels first, and then colour-matching the rest of the build around it with regard to the bolts etc.
I'll be reserving the next post for picture updates as the build progresses. But the photo below is how it'll be coming to me, and this is how it'll be staying for the next month or so while I try to sort out the kit to re-build it with.
Can't wait. Did I mention that this is my first foray into Titanium? Nothing like jumping in with both feet
Bought a 1997 X Lite Titanium Pro off Gumtree from a guy in N.Ireland. Looks to be a very tidy bike with a fairly decent build, but I'll be changing a few bits (namely mechs, brakes, wheels, cranks).
I'll be going for XTR M95x for the mechs, brakes and shifters, Hope for the hubs and Middleburn for the cranks.
The bars and seatpost are X Lite Ti units, so they'll be staying.. As will the gorgeous forks
Definitely a keeper, this one.. Don't expect to see it split and advertised in the For Sale forum any time soon
A few very helpful forum members have managed to give me a bit of background info on the frame - I believe that it's a Raleigh Special Products frame, which was manufactured in Nottingham for X Lite. As far as I can gather it's very similar to the Torus frames of the same era.
Claimed frame weight of 1500g and a fork weight of 910g, so I'm expecting this to be a nice lively bike, but as I want it to be a rider and not a garage queen, I'm building it with functional, reliable bits rather than venturing off down the weight weenie route. Well, not too much anyway! I'm aware of a few reports of cracks with regard to the forks, so I've made sure that the seller gave them a good check, and sent me an email to confirm that they're not cracked or damaged in any way (frame too).. That way I have something to fall back on if I receive it and find anything wrong.. "Better safe than sorry" and all that, and after my previous experience buying an "uncracked and NOS" Al-Mega, and it turning out to be anything but, I'm not taking any chances this time!
I'm planning to get the Hope-hubbed wheels first, and then colour-matching the rest of the build around it with regard to the bolts etc.
I'll be reserving the next post for picture updates as the build progresses. But the photo below is how it'll be coming to me, and this is how it'll be staying for the next month or so while I try to sort out the kit to re-build it with.
Can't wait. Did I mention that this is my first foray into Titanium? Nothing like jumping in with both feet