Lovely build. I had a 9800 in black back in 93. Fantastic ride but I found they had a tendency to crack on the drive side chainstays. Went through 3 frames in under a year before swapping to a GT Psyclone instead.
Well, almost. After finishing it a few days before teh first Iconoclassic, i did ride it, once, for a VERY short ride. I'd never really fully set it up ready to ride, but I was totally NOT prepared for just how awful the brakes were. The MRC cantilevers were a bitch to set up, and the levers were shockingly flexible. I guess none of that should be a surprise, as these are super-lightweight parts, but the lack of any stopping ability was horrific. I can set up canti's for power, but not these.
So, I very quickly picked up a set of NOS kooka Levers, while the MRC D-cells and the Teclite levers were sold. I had the rest of the brake parts I needed lying around.
The NOS-ness of the levers was never in question - they're immaculate. What was less than expected was one of the bolts stripping completely the moment I undid them. I suspect that in 20 years, the stainless and the Alu reacted, and the teeny-weenie threads gave up.
I sulked for 5 years.
The bike literally hung in the garage all that time. I'd lost the Mojo for it, and more than a few times, nearly stripped it for parts. Whilst figuring out what to ride at mountain mayhem, it occurred to me that I had an essentially 'new' race bike sat forlorn and dusty in the garage.
Well, almost. After finishing it a few days before teh first Iconoclassic, i did ride it, once, for a VERY short ride. I'd never really fully set it up ready to ride, but I was totally NOT prepared for just how awful the brakes were. The MRC cantilevers were a bitch to set up, and the levers were shockingly flexible. I guess none of that should be a surprise, as these are super-lightweight parts, but the lack of any stopping ability was horrific. I can set up canti's for power, but not these.
So, I very quickly picked up a set of NOS kooka Levers, while the MRC D-cells and the Teclite levers were sold. I had the rest of the brake parts I needed lying around.
The NOS-ness of the levers was never in question - they're immaculate. What was less than expected was one of the bolts stripping completely the moment I undid them. I suspect that in 20 years, the stainless and the Alu reacted, and the teeny-weenie threads gave up.
I sulked for 5 years.
The bike literally hung in the garage all that time. I'd lost the Mojo for it, and more than a few times, nearly stripped it for parts. Whilst figuring out what to ride at mountain mayhem, it occurred to me that I had an essentially 'new' race bike sat forlorn and dusty in the garage.
But the m4 grub screw (for bleeding) stripped, and I couldn't figure out how to fix. There's not enough meat around the grub screw for a helicoil, nor upping to m5.
Fortunately, they weren't tapped too deeply, and last weekend, I finally built up the courage to drill them a bit deeper and extend the thread further into the lever body. It worked!
The bike now stops as it should. Damn, I love maguras
So, Knowing (from my last ride 5 years ago) that the derailleur hanger was squiffy, This morning I took a ride down to my Friendly local bike emporium. Jons Bike repair http://www.jonsbikerepair.co.uk/
Jon is a top bloke (take an offering of Jaffa Cakes!) Who tweaked the derailleur hanger back in a matter of seconds.
Now, bearing in mind that this is a weight weenie project, and My original aims were;
- sub 20lb
- front suspension
- 24 speed
- period correct
- no drillium/shonky parts (parts most people would happily ride)
Maguras were never part of the equation...
So I'm pretty happy with 1% over my aim, WITH maguras!!
Proof;
Sadly, what I put down to the hanger, has turned out to be a worn cassette, so I'm back on the hunt for either another Tioga/SRP cassette, or a tidy 737/m900 cassette, as the weight difference is practically nothing.