Newbie at restoring bycycle - assistand needed

[bjorn_agust1]

Greetings,

Great to find this forum!

My name is Bjorn and I am from Iceland, my new found hobby is to restore a bike.
I came accross a Muddy fox courier Mega and wanted to update it with some good quality parts, I will probably only be using the frame, rim and fork.

I have seen alot of youtube videos and read about how to fix bycycles but there are little information on that specific bike and since I am new I don´t know what is good quality for the money and what parts fits the bike.

I saw a list on Retrobike about parts of the bike and would need the following:
(would need good quality but on a budget around 500$).

Headset:
Stem:
Stem Cap:
Handlebar:
Grips:
Barends:

Brakes:
Brake Pads:
Brake Cables:
Cantilever cable hangers:
Brake Levers:

Shifters:
Front Derailleur:
Rear Derailleur:
Derailleur Cables:
Cassette:
Chain:
Cranks:
Crank Bolts:
Chainrings:
Chainring bolts:
Bottom Bracket:

Tyres:
Tubes:

Saddle:

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated

Kind regards,
Bjorn Magnusson

 

[Double-E F]

Hi Bjorn, and welcome to the forum..!

That looks like a nice project to start your hobby with .
You could check whether a Muddy Fox catalogue is available in the 'Archive and Gallery' Section; this could help to determine whether the current parts are the original ones.

When it comes to restoring, it is all about personal taste and budget: you could go all XTR on it, or keep it modest and use, let's say, Deore DX, for example. It's up to you!
What ever you decide to do, you'll find the parts and advice around here .

Enjoy (just like I enjoyed visiting Iceland last year for a 3-week roundtrip: it is a truly astonishing country! What part do you live in?)!

O, and congrats with qualifying for the World Champoinship Soccer!

 

[t wild]

Hi and welcome. As for your question it depends on your personal preference as to weather you want to go resto mod or period correct. The current kit on your bike looks like 200gs and shimano sir brakes. I have the same setup on my marin muirwoods I'm currently rebuilding and I know this kit weighs a ton. For a cost effective resto mod I would go for xt 750-770 kit. Good quality and a dam sight lighter. And a lighter crank as the biopace one you have looks like mine and when I picked it up the other day I was contemplating using an engine hoist to install it. The rest is down to personal preference and what you like the look and feel of. Good luck with the bike and don't be surprised if you have a couple more old bikes in a few weeks.

 

[bjorn_agust1]

Re:

Hi guys,

Thank you so much for the warm welcome and the advice.

I live in Reykjavík and great to hear that you (Double-E F) visited Iceland!

I checked out the Archive and Gallery' Section but the scan for Muddy fox courier mega was so low quality it was unreadable, also I contacted Muddy fox company but they do not keep records of bikes they are not selling anymore, also my search on the internet was unsuccessful.

My main concern is that there is so much of parts available and I don´t know which one will fit my Mega...

I am now in the process of cleaning, sanding, priming and painting the parts I will be using and it is very rewarding to see the part look good again.

I will probably have another bike in a few weeks time (t wild)

I like the xt 750-770 set and will probably go with that.

I have also picked up a few accessories that I now will fit.

I want to go resto mode, and use better than original parts.

If you guys have any pointers on how I can pick out parts or know where I can find information that will lead me, I appreciate it.

Cheers!
Bjorn Magnusson

 

[Splatter Paint]

Re:

If you want to upgrade, when you take the bike apart, weigh everything and then go to http://weightweenies.starbike.com/listings.php

and compare your components to those listed. Then you can see examples of how much weight you'd save by changing one part for another. Easy upgrades would be tyres. <500g each is good!

I'd stick with M735 series or M737/738/738/739/740 series Deore XT on your rebuild. The more modern stuff might look out of place on an old frame. I rebuilt a 1995 bike with M760 series stuff and modern forks, it looked OK but not great. I sold all that and bought M737 and it looked a lot better this is RetroBIKE after all!

Important points:

Front derailleur size - probably 28.6mm on your bike.
Front derailleur type, top-pull, bottom-pull, dual pull, high-band, low band, and direct mount. Yours is a band-type, high band, low swing bottom-pull at the moment.
Seat post size - what is the current one?
Bottom bracket shell width - 68mm or 73mm?
Bottom bracket axle length - changes depending on type of chainset used.
Bottom bracket axle type: Square taper, ISIS, Octalink (V1 & V1) Hollowtec - yours is currently square taper.
Bottom bracket type: yours is threaded (conventional) BB.
Chain- if you change to 9 or 10 speed, you'll need a matching chain.
Wheels - you'll need a new rear hub if you go 8/9/10 speed as yours is only designed to work with 7 speeds.

RetroBIKE classifieds, eBay is a good place for used components.


SP

 

[xxnick1975]

Re:

I’d strip it and keep most of it as it looks like 400lx which is fine

I would change the shifters to deore thumbies and brake levers

Then new chain, tyres, pads, bottom bracket and cables.

New cassette and rings if needed, done

Less than 100 if you are lucky