one-eyed_jim
Old School Grand Master
Thought I might commemorate 1000 posts and one year on the forum (both last Friday) with my first Reader's Bikes entry.
I bought this 1992 Stumpjumper Comp in about 1999 from an ad in Loot. The guy's description was pretty vague, and I showed up at Hertford North station expecting something from the mid nineties in oversized steel. In fact it turned out to be a 1992 raspberry pink Comp, original but for the addition of a suspension seatpost. Having trekked halfway across the country, I wasn't about to go home empty handed, and the asking price was fair, so I bought.
She's been ridden a lot in different guises, from singlespeed roughstuff hack to commuter, including a period with drop bars and Campag, and a spell with mudguards and a hub dynamo. About five years ago I picked up a threadless Sycip fork from eBay and had the whole caboodle powdercoated pale grey since which time she's mostly been doing singlespeed duty.
The retro bug having bitten, I had to put the thumbshifters back on, and thumbshifters need derailleurs. The Mavic 840 just about clears the 32t big sprocket, and just about takes up enough slack to run a Ritchey 2x9 crankset.
The idea was to build the bike I wanted to ride, so nothing silly light or too exotic to risk breaking - just good, forged parts from mainstream manufacturers - Shimano, Mavic, Syncros, Ritchey, TA, WTB, Campag...
Here she is on her maiden extramural jaunt last month:
Still very much a work in progress. Some obvious things to finish, like getting up the courage to cut the steerer. I'm still not convinced about friction-shifting a 9-speed cassette with thumbies, and at some point the Phil rear wheel should go back on:
http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=43741
I've got an XC Pro front hub set aside for a new front wheel build when the current (and original) rim wears out. The only original parts currently on the bike are that front wheel, the rim tapes, and the crank dustcaps.
Aesthetically, I think maybe she takes understatement a little too far. The next powdercoat may be bubblegum pink or pistachio.
No apologies for leaving the canti hangers in place.
I bought this 1992 Stumpjumper Comp in about 1999 from an ad in Loot. The guy's description was pretty vague, and I showed up at Hertford North station expecting something from the mid nineties in oversized steel. In fact it turned out to be a 1992 raspberry pink Comp, original but for the addition of a suspension seatpost. Having trekked halfway across the country, I wasn't about to go home empty handed, and the asking price was fair, so I bought.
She's been ridden a lot in different guises, from singlespeed roughstuff hack to commuter, including a period with drop bars and Campag, and a spell with mudguards and a hub dynamo. About five years ago I picked up a threadless Sycip fork from eBay and had the whole caboodle powdercoated pale grey since which time she's mostly been doing singlespeed duty.
The retro bug having bitten, I had to put the thumbshifters back on, and thumbshifters need derailleurs. The Mavic 840 just about clears the 32t big sprocket, and just about takes up enough slack to run a Ritchey 2x9 crankset.
The idea was to build the bike I wanted to ride, so nothing silly light or too exotic to risk breaking - just good, forged parts from mainstream manufacturers - Shimano, Mavic, Syncros, Ritchey, TA, WTB, Campag...
Here she is on her maiden extramural jaunt last month:
Still very much a work in progress. Some obvious things to finish, like getting up the courage to cut the steerer. I'm still not convinced about friction-shifting a 9-speed cassette with thumbies, and at some point the Phil rear wheel should go back on:
http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=43741
I've got an XC Pro front hub set aside for a new front wheel build when the current (and original) rim wears out. The only original parts currently on the bike are that front wheel, the rim tapes, and the crank dustcaps.
Aesthetically, I think maybe she takes understatement a little too far. The next powdercoat may be bubblegum pink or pistachio.
No apologies for leaving the canti hangers in place.
