So, a good few months back I was passing Martin's (HarryCrumb) house and popped in for a cuppa and a catch up. It's always a bit surreal when you're in a tight space with him and 50+ bikes - I mean, there's just so much to take in. Sometimes I end up in there for over an hour and miss whole bikes that have snuck their way in since I was last there. Anyway, as I was leaving, I noticed a new addition hanging up high on the wall, and my initial reaction was two fold - firstly, it was a Concorde with Starfish cranks, and secondly, it was my size and not Martin's. I think they were actually my comments at the time too. Martin acknowledged my interest, and my reference to it being my size (I must add here that we've known each other a long time, and that one sentence would have been enough to decide the fate of that bike. All we needed to do was sort the deal.), and the rest is a deal involving XTR M950 wheels and shifters. He also mentioned that it came from Colin who's also a forum member on here.
As I was in a rush to get back, I asked Martin to send me a picture, and delay on letting me take delivery as I wasn't expecting another bike, and room was an issue. Here's the picture he sent...
Not bad, but needed some work to get it rideable. He'd already cleaned the rims and greased the hubs. He'd also cleaned the mechs up, but the rest was still pretty tired. I wasn't looking for a full resto job here, but more a gentle makeover respecting it's patina and identity. That involved a late night with some touch up paints, T-cut, and car polish. I even retained the original outer cables, and sourced some really good vinyl bar tape to Retain the 'right' feel. The saddle is my old one from way back when, and the tyres, chain, and pedals (spd and allows me to use my usual shoes) were bought especially for the occasion. I'll let the pictures do the talking, but it's exactly how I wanted it to turn out, and I can't wait for a dry day on the club run. Honest, interesting, unusual, and clean!
As I was in a rush to get back, I asked Martin to send me a picture, and delay on letting me take delivery as I wasn't expecting another bike, and room was an issue. Here's the picture he sent...
Not bad, but needed some work to get it rideable. He'd already cleaned the rims and greased the hubs. He'd also cleaned the mechs up, but the rest was still pretty tired. I wasn't looking for a full resto job here, but more a gentle makeover respecting it's patina and identity. That involved a late night with some touch up paints, T-cut, and car polish. I even retained the original outer cables, and sourced some really good vinyl bar tape to Retain the 'right' feel. The saddle is my old one from way back when, and the tyres, chain, and pedals (spd and allows me to use my usual shoes) were bought especially for the occasion. I'll let the pictures do the talking, but it's exactly how I wanted it to turn out, and I can't wait for a dry day on the club run. Honest, interesting, unusual, and clean!
