Mod retro conversion....the ultimate 80s trackie.

[Tootyred]

Its also good as every bit came out if boxes in the shed...so at least they are now being used, rather than sitting doing nothing.

Its a far more attractive storage solution!

 

[winjohn]

Looking good, what size is it? It looks the same size as mine at 58cm

Loving the XC pro cockpit, was that NOS...looks pristine. I'm sure it will be a sweet ride.

Final question, what size tyres are you using.

 

[winjohn]

You'd think with my modern build that parts would be easy to source but I am now completely stymied for the lack of two brake pad retainer screws that seem to be a specific spec that is impossible to find and not listed in the SRAM catalogue!

 

[Tootyred]

Its xl 60cm. The tyres are 40c nanos. They measure up at 41mm.

The xc pro is just some bits from the shed, the levers dont actually have the correct barrel adjusters...

The shifter was built out of my xc pro shifter spares box...over the years ive gained loads of them as scrap. I normally get the bodies, clamps and tops cerakoted then rebuild the guts from bits of others.

Great shifters and genuinely do 8 speed (they switch between 7 and 8 which is a great help. Plus suntours spacing was more akin to shimano 8 speed for both 7 and 8...so oddly they do 8 speed shimano, better than 7!

 

[Tootyred]

Bit of an update.

The carbon forks must DIE. Evil must be eradicated wherever you find it...and I'm sorry to say that includes those carbon forks. The amount of bow flex was doing my head in...to a point of not being able to ride without the feeling of imminent death and disfigurement . Its probably just me, but, well not for me shall we say.

In there place I've bolted a trusty pair of surly crosscheck forks....steel is very much real. Ok they weight 300g more, but tbh, they are much faster as im not in a blind panic at anything over 10 mph with these .

In this form its been ridden a fair bit including a 70+ mile blob around suffolk yesterday.

 

[widowmaker]

I like this, hopefully it will up for sale one day in the future

 

[Tootyred]

One other issue was the gearing, whilst i can get away with 36 front and 11-28 8 speed on the rear on the road, off road i ran out of gears......once on a type2 horse trail, it was so loose and uphill, i had to get off, as without the bail-out afforded by the 26 granny, I was stuck.

The answer was to shove an 11-34 9 speed cassette on and flick to friction on the xc pro shifters. That then solved the issue, but left me in 1970 with no indexing.

Ive now shoved a 9 speed XT m770 rapid fire shifter on, its against my "retro ethos", but im kinda out of options, as a front derailleur won't fit unless i drop to a sub 35mm tyre or go for a very modern direct pull jobbie.....yuck.

The issue with the 11-34 is the jumps between gears are a bit too big for me these days. The 11-28 has manageable jumps (god knows how people ride an 11 speed 11-52 cassette..).

Ideally 10 speed is tje answer! 11-34 offers the exact 8 speed 11-28 ratios...PLUS the 2 bailouts i need at the top. However, pull on the shifters wont work with my xt m735 rear mech.

Time to investigate some tiagra shifters?

Or possibly 10 speed thumbies....although are they road or mtb pull?

Nobody said it would be easy..

 

[Tootyred]

I like this, hopefully it will up for sale one day in the future

More than likely .

I will keep you posted.

 

[winjohn]

Nice update. I'm still stymied on mine, I'm waiting for a single screw before I can ride it and it is taking forever.

 

[winjohn]

The issue with the 11-34 is the jumps between gears are a bit too big for me these days. The 11-28 has manageable jumps (god knows how people ride an 11 speed 11-52 cassette..).

Wish me luck with my 11 speed 11-46 dinner plate then. I am a newbie when it comes to 1X so this could be interesting.