I'm the happy new owner of the bike spoken about in this thread. I was fairly confident that I was correct in my assumption that it was a real, early, 753 Zinn, and not a rebadged 531 before I bid. This is mainly due to the great work of members of this site sharing their knowledge in their build threads. You all have my gratitude, thanks. The main things I spotted from the auction pics were the distinctive headtube reinforcement, rear facing seat clamp and lack of mudguard/rack mounts.
I now have the bike in my hands, and I still think it's 753. It has the flat plate seat stay and chain stay bridges, and the seat tube doesn't step down under the top tube junction. It is older than I expected though, I thought it would be a '90, but the serial starts Z8900*, with the last digit being hard to read. I think it's a 6, but it could be an 8. Does this align with previous knowledge regarding 753 frames? I have sent Andy a message about it.
My initial idea was to leave the spec pretty much as is, except swap out the stem, bars, grips, tyres, and sort the cabling and set up. I know M900 is too new for the frame, but it's been like this for 25 years, so it seems a shame to change everything. My only little hang up is the frame is 130 spaced, so it's a bit of a faff putting the rear wheel in.
I'm going to strip, degrease and treat the frame at the weekend, before I make a decision regarding the rebuild. I won't be respraying it because the condition is decent, with no dents or corrosion issues, and as it's black it can be touched up fairly easily.
Also, I know it's a long shot, but if anyone has a lead on the correct stem and bars, I'd be forever grateful.
I'll post some pics when it's stripped and cleaned up, but for now here are a couple from the auction:
I now have the bike in my hands, and I still think it's 753. It has the flat plate seat stay and chain stay bridges, and the seat tube doesn't step down under the top tube junction. It is older than I expected though, I thought it would be a '90, but the serial starts Z8900*, with the last digit being hard to read. I think it's a 6, but it could be an 8. Does this align with previous knowledge regarding 753 frames? I have sent Andy a message about it.
My initial idea was to leave the spec pretty much as is, except swap out the stem, bars, grips, tyres, and sort the cabling and set up. I know M900 is too new for the frame, but it's been like this for 25 years, so it seems a shame to change everything. My only little hang up is the frame is 130 spaced, so it's a bit of a faff putting the rear wheel in.
I'm going to strip, degrease and treat the frame at the weekend, before I make a decision regarding the rebuild. I won't be respraying it because the condition is decent, with no dents or corrosion issues, and as it's black it can be touched up fairly easily.
Also, I know it's a long shot, but if anyone has a lead on the correct stem and bars, I'd be forever grateful.
I'll post some pics when it's stripped and cleaned up, but for now here are a couple from the auction: