1994ish KHS Descent Montana (Now Finished)

[jdcXheaknuL658S]

So, let's start with the basics. Yes, I am mad. I know.

Hope that you're all well, and congratulations on a bloody awesome forum.

My Story - I had a KHS Decent Montana purchased from the UK. It was my first "XC Race bike". I think it was from 1993 or 1994, and was/is a very nostalgic and personal item to me. It has meant enough for me to ship it to the other side of the world, and to now want to build & restore it back to its original glory. Just to state, the bike is ridable at the moment, as I fully serviced and whatnot before I put it in the garage loft about 15 years ago... that said, I want to make it into something that I use almost every day as my blatabout.

Some Pictures from this evening before I tore it down; https://imgur.com/a/QBJTk

Specification that I know/can determine;
TrueTemper Frame & Non-Suspension front fork
Weinmann/Bontrager Wheels BCX-3
LX Rear Hub
8Spd Rear Cassette - Shimano Hyperglide
Unknown front Hub
LX Rear Mech - RD 565
LX Front Mech - FD 563
Grip Shift - I had it replaced at some point, as the bodies broke - I have no idea why I didn't put triggers on at the time.
Diacomp PC7's & some funky Anodised Cantilever brakes
Crankset & Chainrings - Sugino (will have a look at gearing)
Zoom Headstem
My trusty Daves Chain Device
A Good old crud plugger
Other spec info might be here; https://bikepedia.com/QuickBike/BikeSpe ... na+Descent

Other stuff that I have purchased intending to fit to the bike;
BCX-1 built into LX hub
BCX-2 built into LX hub
New Old Stock BCX-2 if I need to build a new wheel

My Questions (extensive);
I am intending on buying/doing the following;

a) As good a chain, gear and derailleur set as possible - maybe XT/XTR Chainset, F&R Derailleurs, Cassette - but am not sure of;

b) What are the correct parts to actually get - how can I tell if my derailleur is a long throw or short throw - is there a requirement for one or tother? Is that what SGS is? What does it mean

c) The hub & cassette - I have specific questions - I have an 8 speed cassette on the standard LX hub at the moment, and think it is a 130mm (http://wheelsmfg.com/tech/PDF/hub/fh-m563.pdf) What's the maximum size rear cassette I can get on the 130mm LX hub - I am happy to buy a new one such as; http://www.whiteind.com/mi5 or https://chrisking.com/products/319 + https://chrisking.com/products/325 - but I would appreciate guidance as to what I need to get.

d) Other things that I have seen are things like the XT hubs on ebay, but I am easy - as long as I get a nice upgrade & some decent kit, I am happy.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Shimano-XT- ... Sw7OVakLD7

e) My research, and a protracted discussion with a friend has pointed me down the line of likely XT for all the below;
- 10 speed triple crank (three chainrings)
- English threaded bottom bracket
- 10 speed low clamp dual pull triple front derailleur
- 10 speed long cage rear derailleur
- Triple MTB 10 speed shifter set
- 11-36 or 11-32 10 speed cassette and 10 speed chain

but, the main question then comes back to point c) above.

f) The other bits
- Quill headset adaptor - anyone suggest any specific ones that will fit?
- Tange headset - again - any suggestions
- A-head stem - any suggestions
- Handlebar

I would be eternally grateful for any assistance on the specific points above, as after a few months of Googlising and reading ebay & forums, I am not in any real state of advancement from where I was.

I'll wander down to the basement and take some pictures of the beast now, and load them up.

 

[catf]

Re:

always cool to tart up and old favourite.

lx for 95 was m563, the rear hub was 135mm, so it unlikely the spacing is 130mm. any 135mm hub with an 8s freehub will also take a 9s or 10s cassette if thats the way you wanna go. weird bit is looks like the 96 montana decent went back to 7s. just a downgrade in the product range? well if it is 130mm you can either just spread the stays a bit and 135 will fit ok, or you could get a modern road hub. if you are modernising the rest of the kit, might as well get some newer wheels too, dt 240 hubs on mavic 717? well worth it.

the thing with sg and sgs, wouldnt worry about it, sg in nominally medium cage, sgs is long cage, ss is short cage. just stick to long cage. youre gonna need it for sure if you go 3x10 and 11-36, although with that cassette i wouldve though you could at least go 2x10 or really 1x10 depending where youre planning to ride it. if it was me id look for a magic ratio and go single speed. or mod the dcd for tensioning

main thing i would suggest is get some v brakes, and youd need new levers too. m950 xtr? i prefer m739 xt though, look nicer. ar any of the avid vs are good too. or something fancy like paul.

the forks are 1" so if you really want an ahead stem, you need a 1" to 1 1/8th" quill converter, fairly standard part. something like this
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Raleigh-Bicycl ... SwZFdaYPIH

or tbh you could probably find some decent 1" ahead forks, those are spinner, pretty common.

what stem and bars you get is up to you, spoiled for choice really. thomson is the boring default for most ppl. same with a new headset, any number of diff 1" threaded headsets. ppl seem to rate mavic 316 the best.


all that said i expect to be contradicted and corrected on every one of these points by more regular posters

 

[Lhatch4]

Re: 1994ish KHS Decent Montana (Lots Of Questions)

Congratulations on your first retro project. I decided to get back into mountain biking about two years ago. I just bought and road bikes that I was familiar with. I didn't realize that I had actually joined a cult until about a year after I started "retrobiking." In that time I have owned 10 bikes. I have 4 of them now. It's a bit of a disease. I always have a couple of bikes that I ride plus one that I'm building. Sometimes I find a deal on something that I can fix up and flip. Just be careful out there. This stuff is addictive. Also, I like your bike. It looks like it will be fun.

 

[Once A Hero]

Re:

It’s a great base for whatever route you take

However, if you need to raise funds for any new parts, I’ll gladly take that BCX-2 off your hands! It’s needed for my KHS...

 

[jdcXheaknuL658S]

Re: Re:

Thanks Guys - will have a bit more of a dig about & will post an update.

It’s a great base for whatever route you take

However, if you need to raise funds for any new parts, I’ll gladly take that BCX-2 off your hands! It’s needed for my KHS...

https://cocosvariety.com/products/weinm ... -bcx-1-nos - BCX 1's you can get new old stock
eBay is your friend for BCX-2's however I ended up paying $50 USD for the wheels, and then about $300 in shipping from HopShopGo, so... it's a bit pricey when they send everything in big boxes. The new old stock BCX-2 I got from a bloke in Poland - http://stores.ebay.at/COLUMBUS-REX/RIMS ... 34.c0.m322

Having spent a few years looking for the BCX's they will not be leaving my sticky mitts in a hurry.

 

[Once A Hero]

Re: Re:

Thanks Guys - will have a bit more of a dig about & will post an update.

It’s a great base for whatever route you take

However, if you need to raise funds for any new parts, I’ll gladly take that BCX-2 off your hands! It’s needed for my KHS...

https://cocosvariety.com/products/weinm ... -bcx-1-nos - BCX 1's you can get new old stock
eBay is your friend for BCX-2's however I ended up paying $50 USD for the wheels, and then about $300 in shipping from HopShopGo, so... it's a bit pricey when they send everything in big boxes. The new old stock BCX-2 I got from a bloke in Poland - http://stores.ebay.at/COLUMBUS-REX/RIMS ... 34.c0.m322

Having spent a few years looking for the BCX's they will not be leaving my sticky mitts in a hurry.

Ha! Yep I know the pain of the search the BCX-2! Been searching for ages, but have only tracked down BCX-1's and 3's. I'll keeping looking

 

[jdcXheaknuL658S]

Re: 1994ish KHS Decent Montana (Lots Of Questions)

OK, a bit of an update;

I have been speaking to a local shop, with the intention of getting them to build up my wheels. The fella there has suggested that whilst the White Industry hubs are good, that he has seen the shaft wear quite poorly, and has recommended Industry Nine or Chris King Hubs instead - obviously I had considered Chris King, but have not heard of Industry Nine.

The second half of this, is that the local bike shop fella believes that I can get an 11Spd on the bike - everything that I have read, has said No I can't, and that 10Spd is probably the most - Is he correct?

I have spent a few hours over the weekend looking at drivetrain, and have been considering the full XT Chainsets from Chain Reaction;
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/au/e ... cat=direct
Both the 1x11 & 2x11;

Questions
- Industry Nine - are they decent hubs for this kind of wheel.
- Chris King (CK) - https://chrisking.com/products/319 & https://chrisking.com/products/325
vs. Industry Nine (IN) - https://industrynine.com/torch-classic- ... rlock-hubs
vs. White Industry (WI) - http://www.whiteind.com/mi5
- The Chris King looks to be heavily customisable, what spec should I be looking to for the kind of application that I want
- Can I get an 11-Spd into that space at 130mm hub of the (CK, IN or WI variety)
- am I going to have any issues with Crank clearances, and as such, how are cranks measured? BB Centre Point to Pedal Centre point?
- Is there a recommended crank length on my bike, if so, how do I measure it?
- Do you recommend speaking with Chris King directly.

Thank You! All your advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[jdcXheaknuL658S]

Re:

OK, so I wanted to give you all an update on this project. The chariot is "finished" in that it is ridable, but it's not "done".

I blasted and powder-coated the frame having stripped it, and did all of the soft parts install build myself, with getting LBS to cable it, and just make sure everything was fitted correctly, and that I wasn't a muppet, as there are some new technologies - eg Hollow-Tech that I'd not installed before.

High level:
- 1x10 w/ XT Mech and Zee Shifter
- 38T Zee Single Chainset w/ Hollow-Tech hub
- Novatech Hubs w/NoBS rims (Temp)
- Maxis Dominator Tyres
- Original Cups, and new bearings
- Quill Adapter
- A-Head Adapter
- Avid Single Digit V-Brakes w/ Avid levers
- Ritchey Carbon Bar
- Ego Grips
- Original Seat Post (Edit - now 400mm post, as I bent the 350mm)
- Cheap Seat (Temp)
- and the trusty DCD - as why the hell not!!!

Stuff left to do:

- A set of Ex Libor Karas Magura Raceline to put on it (in the post from the US at the moment)
- BCX1/2 to be build onto some Chris King Classic Hubs... BUT, I might need to change this, as I have only found 32h hubs 2nd hand. (Hubs are in the post)
- Recover the Selle Bassano seat - am just trying to get the right synthetic leather
- PACE RC35's - just off to PACE to get serviced and then need to send them back to me

 

[k-rod]

Re:

looking good

 

[CassidyAce]

Re:

I blasted and powder-coated the frame

Looks good! If you don't mind me asking, what paint colour did you use on that?