The mother of legends: MS Racing Pro Comp XT

[Obi-Juan]

Funny it has 4 finger XT brake levers fitted. What was the saddle that was fitted when you bought it as they were own branded? The original seatposts were Strong Japan branded. Looks in great condition. The original tyres I think were MS Racing branded and are crazy rare.

Last Tuesday I was thinking the seatpost was in really bad shape and I wasn't going to use it, but I couldn't sell it because it was in such bad shape... So I could only throw it in the trash.
Well, if I was going to throw it away, why not try polishing it a little to see how it looked? It couldn't have been worse anyway.

And the first surprise is that it's Kalloy!!!
With a VERY old logo.

The size has appeared!! 26.0 (although I had already found that out), and the minimum insertion level also appeared: 65 mm.

 

[Obi-Juan]

The second surprise is that although it is very bad, the aluminum is very soft and equalizes quite quickly.

 

[Obi-Juan]

So the result is looking great.
Of course, logically, such deep scratches, when removed, have also reduced the gap by 2/10ths, as I feared from the start.
Now the seatpost measures 25.8 instead of 26.0.

Although there are still some marks, I'm not going to continue polishing or I'll stick with a 25 seatpost.

 

[27motorhead]

Nice work! Some seatposts are never the size they are, but for sure it certainly does look like it's dropped below the 26mm DIA it once was.

You might be able to shim it slightly to prevent overstetching the seat tube clamp or use carbon paste to help the seatpost stay in place.

That Kalloy may have come with the bike. Mine and others have had the Strong Japan seatpost (also has Strong Japan bars), but manufacturers didn't always stick to catalogue specs and sometimes the specs in catalogues never aligned with what was sold. From memory the original MS Racing catalogue had the bikes with chainstay mounted U-brakes.

 

[Obi-Juan]

Nice work! Some seatposts are never the size they are, but for sure it certainly does look like it's dropped below the 26mm DIA it once was.

You might be able to shim it slightly to prevent overstetching the seat tube clamp or use carbon paste to help the seatpost stay in place.

That Kalloy may have come with the bike. Mine and others have had the Strong Japan seatpost (also has Strong Japan bars), but manufacturers didn't always stick to catalogue specs and sometimes the specs in catalogues never aligned with what was sold. From memory the original MS Racing catalogue had the bikes with chainstay mounted U-brakes.

That situation was very common back then.
Especially with "metallic" materials. Nowadays, you make a mold, put it in an autoclave, and out come 15 million identical carbon parts.

Specifications decades ago sometimes varied, and since they could never offer a quality lower than what was advertised in the catalog, if you were lucky, you got a better part... or at least of identical quality, but from a different manufacturer.
As a curiosity, Yakboy has presented an MS like mine (in The MS Racing/alpinestars story thread.), but the rear cable hanger is VERY different. On the Foromtb Spain, there's another MS Racing Pro Comp XT with the same system... is mine special? I suppose there's some change in the manufacturing line.

The Marin Monocoque I have is also curious: the cable guides aren't in the same place as in the catalog. But there's also another one on the MTB forum, and they also have some guides elsewhere... 3 versions of guides in just one year? Incredible, it was the '90s

 

[Obi-Juan]

Actually, as you say, it won't be 2/10ths, maybe it's 25.84, but my eyesight can't see that far anymore
But I've also gone over the entire inside of the downtube; it's clear there's something scratching it.
So I've probably already lost those 2/10ths.
The idea is perhaps to powder coat it and gain around 1/10th, maybe a little more. That should make it fit properly.

On the other hand, it's true that the polishing has given the aluminum a nicer color than I expected, but I honestly think the black stem with a black seatpost is more uniform.

Oh! I've disassembled and stripped the stem. I'm glad; quite a bit of corrosion has appeared under the paint that wasn't visible. I've already prepared it for painting.

 

[Obi-Juan]

I've also decided to repair a classic chain leak.
In the end, the bike is in very good condition, but giving it some TLC will help make the MS more comfortable around me.

 

[Obi-Juan]

Parts are arriving to complete the bike.

 

[Obi-Juan]

I also picked up the powder-coated stem and seatpost.
I think the idea of leaving the seatpost head in its natural color turned out well.
And seeing it, I remembered why I wanted to paint it that way (it was something that was in my subconscious and I couldn't identify before): it reminds me of the Mavic seatpost.

 

[JCS]

From memory the original MS Racing catalogue had the bikes with chainstay mounted U-brakes.

One of my absolute dream bikes is a Pro Comp XT with a u-brake, like in the 1989 catalogue. Alas I think this was catalogue spec only and by the time the bikes were shipped to dealers they all had cantilevers.
So one day I’d like to build my own version