my bike from back in the day

[lewis1641]

found these old pictures of my old bike.

My parents bought me a carrera krakatoa for christmas 1992. I promptly replaced just about everything on it and this was the result circa winter 1993. I think the only original compoent is the stem!

 

[lewis1641]

spec from what i can remember. please bear in mind this was a pocket money build!

Frame: 18" Merlin aluminium generic jobbie. head tube "custom machined" to accept my fork (a few mill cut off the top and bottom so i didnt have to buy a lower stack headset )

Fork: Tioga Strut with firm pace elastomers

Headset: stronglight
Stem: cro mo heavyweight from karakoram, replaced with a zoom
Handlebar: here, probably karakoram again. replaced with silver USE eventually
Grips: no idea, eventuually fitted some clear one onzas
Barends: specialized dirt rods. steel. loved them

Brakes: shimano dx
Brake Pads: used to run cool steps so assume thats what's in there
Brake Cables:
Cantilever cable hangers: tektro all the way
Brake Levers: tektro again

Shifters: gripshift (600 i think??)
Front Derailleur: xt baby
Rear Derailleur: dx with a carbon fibre back plate
Derailleur Cables:
Cassette: will have been something cheap
Chain: gold sedis. worth every penny
Cranks: stronglight
Crank Bolts: stronglight
Chainrings: stronglight
Chainring bolts: stronglight
Bottom Bracket: un52
Pedals: dx spd's

Hub Skewers: tektro
Rims: ritchey vantage comp
Hubs: dx
Nipples:
Spokes:
Tyres: smoke light on the rear, psycho up front (fitted wrong way round)
Tubes: specialized puncture resistant

Saddle: selle italia expedia. great piece of kit
Seatpost: selkof
Seatpost Binder: something cheap no doubt

 

[skolioza]

hi, could You write something more about fork?
Who made them for Tioga (Showa?) Any adjustments, damping?
Thanx

 

[lewis1641]

hi the fork was quite basic. elastomers with no adjustment at all, not even preload. they gave around an inch of travel.

i am not sure who made them but i have seen them badged as tange and tioga in the uk. i've not seen them branded at showa before.

the lowers were aluminium i assume and the uppers were welded and chromed steel. At the time of purchase (around 93) they were the lightest fork available and one of the cheapest.

they had nylon bushes that wore very quickly resulting in less than direct handling.

they were not great but i did think they were awesome at the time

 

[skolioza]

Thanx a lot, I know everything what I want

 

[kanerdog1x1]

game on, this is pretty much where i started too. pocket money builds are sometimes the best as they so the true trends of the day, and show what the punters want to buy rather than what the manufacturers want you to buy.