This is a sweet collection of parts you got there. Hope you like the feeling of the bike.
Please apply some decals. Its a must on Brodies i think.
I really like that you didnt choose any syncros part.
That was what i planed on my final one as well, it didnt worked out. Unfortunatly.
Cheers Kay
It's looking great Phil.
Paul put this up on YouTube this morning, thought it would be a nice addition to the thread, he really does seem like an awesome person and I hope he pulls through his health problems.
Hopefully one day I will own one of these beauty's.
This is a sweet collection of parts you got there. Hope you like the feeling of the bike.
Please apply some decals. Its a must on Brodies i think.
I really like that you didnt choose any syncros part.
That was what i planed on my final one as well, it didnt worked out. Unfortunatly.
Cheers Kay
I love how it feels, both to look out and, more importantly, to ride. The fork in combination with a wider Ti bar, just feels so direct and supple on the trail. It really absorbs a lot of the rougher stuff for a fully rigid steel bike.
I should also probably put something other than the Paul on the front eventually, just because it's the only non-period part.
Thing is, I really love that brake. How it looks and performs. So much so that I've put a few of them on other bikes now, too! And I'm struggling to think of a nice, period, silver cantilever that could work well in its place. Ritchey Logic, perhaps? I've just never loved the look of those. I do have a single, original WTB Speedmaster floating around. Which would suit the heritage and backstory of the bike...
Food for thought, anyway.
As for Syncros: it was never going to get anywhere near this bike!
Decals... Well, they're going on, but I'm going non-traditional with them, so we'll have to see how I feel about that once they're on. I guess I just wanted it to be a little different from all the others out there.
I've been second-guessing the Turbo the last few days, too. It came to me with a modern WTB saddle, and I liked the idea of keeping something that harkened back to its original state. I also thought the profile of the SST suited the bike really well.
Anyway, that's an easy change if I ever decide to go back!
Still have a few things to do to this one, but the WTB saddle is back on, along with some new tires (trying the Ultradynamico MARS tire for the first time, seeing as how the Sovereign has plenty of clearance for them front and rear).
And a new rear mech has been sourced:
Choices, choices...
The previous one was a Frankensteined XT M735; a short cage RD with the long cage from the original broken one grafted on by my mechanic friend. It worked, but there was a fair bit of play and it struggled to make all the jumps through that non-ramped beast of a Sachs freewheel.
Which I really need to replace with something else...
Anyone got any recommendations for a nice 7spd freewheel? Ideally modern and ramped.
Those exist, surely!?
A side note: does anyone make a modern 9-11spd wide range freewheel? Would be a niche product, but a cool way to keep older hubs and wheelsets in use. Not for this bike, but in general.
Anyway, until I source a replacement freewheel to run an XT RD, my half-assed logic is that maybe the 9spd longcage M953 might find the rampless jumps a little easier, due to, well, being a bit newer and meant for more gears!
It may also struggle with the snaggle-toothed savageness as much if not more than the XT, of course. But I figure it's worth trying.
In other news, I may also have a new stem option to try soon, courtesy of @raidan73, although we'll see how I feel about losing the silly purple Ibis. I have grown very fond of it!
Oh, and I still need to order decals...
Bike is getting ridden plenty tho, and I'm considering taking it to ride at Keyesville this year.
Not the best picture, but I'll take some others soon, once I've faffed around with mech options and maybe even Adrian's stem...
For ramped freewheels up to 10 speed look at Sunrace.
Shimano do 7 speed that will probably have the smoothest shifting but they have a cheap and nasty look to them.
IRD do (or have done) freewheels but they don't look ramped to me.
For ramped freewheels up to 10 speed look at Sunrace.
Shimano do 7 speed that will probably have the smoothest shifting but they have a cheap and nasty look to them.
IRD do (or have done) freewheels but they don't look ramped to me.
But I love these two photos. The first just because it kind of captures everything I love about how this bike looks and feels, and the second because it captures how it rides.
Plus it's just an amazing photo!
A 30-year-old bike leading the charge ahead of all that modern gear - what's not to love?
Anyway, I figured I'd leave them both here as I mentioned this one was still getting ridden regularly and it's nice to be able to show the proof:
