corpuschain
Dirt Disciple
After a couple of other recent bike projects, my Dad found my old DMR Trailstar sitting in his shed. I engaged in some careful thought and decided to respray it and rebuild it.
The plan was to get creative with the paintjob, doing something I'd not done before, and then building it up primarily with components I already had.
This is what it looked like in 2001, after I'd just bought the frame.
and this is it in around 2002/3, after I'd swapped the wheels to 24inch (this was actually a terrible idea, as it ruined the handling!). I also removed the decals, which was something I regretted years later.
The best thing about the frame was the excellent geometry and the wonderful "black chrome" paintjob, which aged in a strange way, and was part of the reason I wanted to strip and repaint the frame. It was also difficult to strip and took many weeks of rubbing it bit by bit.
Eventually the bike was done, and I went for a Klein-esque fade between yellow and orange. The decals are 2001 originals, believe it or not. I contacted the distributor, who said they had a couple of leftover sets of original decals and they sent them to me! What absolute stars. I always remember they were a good company, as my brothers and I stumbled across their HQ at an industrial estate in Sussex while we were on holiday, and they welcomed us and gave us some free stickers. That kind of thing really sticks with you, and I've been pretty brand loyal to DMR since then.
So here's the bike now:
Some of the parts are as follows:
Truvativ cranks
DMR V12 pedals (c. 2003)
Tioga DH saddle (my favourite saddle of the era)
Crud Catcher (c.199
Marzocchi Dirt Jumper 3 fork
KX rear wheel, Shimano/Alex front wheel
DMR singlespeed conversion (c.2003)
DMR seatpost (c.2012)
Gusset chain tensioner
Clarks hydraulic rear disc brake.
Now I've built it, my goal is to build up the jump and trick skills I have lost over the years and film a short edit of my repertoire of tricks. I was never the greatest dirt/street rider, but I had a few interesting tricks in my locker that have never been recorded. So this bike and the video are my homage to my younger self and all the hours I spent on the streets, doing weird stuff on my bike!
Thanks for reading.
Some other pictures:
The plan was to get creative with the paintjob, doing something I'd not done before, and then building it up primarily with components I already had.
This is what it looked like in 2001, after I'd just bought the frame.
and this is it in around 2002/3, after I'd swapped the wheels to 24inch (this was actually a terrible idea, as it ruined the handling!). I also removed the decals, which was something I regretted years later.
The best thing about the frame was the excellent geometry and the wonderful "black chrome" paintjob, which aged in a strange way, and was part of the reason I wanted to strip and repaint the frame. It was also difficult to strip and took many weeks of rubbing it bit by bit.
Eventually the bike was done, and I went for a Klein-esque fade between yellow and orange. The decals are 2001 originals, believe it or not. I contacted the distributor, who said they had a couple of leftover sets of original decals and they sent them to me! What absolute stars. I always remember they were a good company, as my brothers and I stumbled across their HQ at an industrial estate in Sussex while we were on holiday, and they welcomed us and gave us some free stickers. That kind of thing really sticks with you, and I've been pretty brand loyal to DMR since then.
So here's the bike now:
Some of the parts are as follows:
Truvativ cranks
DMR V12 pedals (c. 2003)
Tioga DH saddle (my favourite saddle of the era)
Crud Catcher (c.199
Marzocchi Dirt Jumper 3 fork
KX rear wheel, Shimano/Alex front wheel
DMR singlespeed conversion (c.2003)
DMR seatpost (c.2012)
Gusset chain tensioner
Clarks hydraulic rear disc brake.
Now I've built it, my goal is to build up the jump and trick skills I have lost over the years and film a short edit of my repertoire of tricks. I was never the greatest dirt/street rider, but I had a few interesting tricks in my locker that have never been recorded. So this bike and the video are my homage to my younger self and all the hours I spent on the streets, doing weird stuff on my bike!
Thanks for reading.
Some other pictures:
