A large box of Shimano goodness has arrived from Merlin cycles. Ok – I cracked and went for a new groupset. The thought of used components didn’t really thrill me with confidence, and it seemed to make more sense to have everything new at the same time, and know that it’s all compatible. I’m looking forward to the build proper starting!
A very quick update – the purchase of three components has enabled the first assembly step to take place, which feels like quite a big step. I have received an order of a headset, spacers and a stem, which means that I’ve been able to attach the fork to the frame, and the bars to the stem.
Another couple of small but important parts are adaptors for the front hub to allow for the 15mm thru axle and a new axle and adaptors for the rear hub to convert it to a 12mm maxle.
This means that things are (slowly) starting to take shape:
The wheels I won on eBay have arrived, and I have to say I am rather pleased with them. They’re Hope Hoops, which incidentally means that I won’t have to try to remove the sticker from the frame – evidently it’s previous owner had a pair as well! The bearings feel super smooth and the rims (Mavic XC 717) are in good condition. I need to get adaptors to change the axle types – at the moment, they are both 9mm QR – I need to change that to 15mm through axle for the front and 12mm Maxle for the rear. Since the hubs are Hope Pro 2s, that seems to be fairly straight forward.
The hubs have Hope Hoops branding on them, rather than the more normal model label, but the seller assures me they are indeed Pro 2s – this only makes a difference for the rear axle that I need to change – the front adaptors are the same as the Pro 2 Evo.
The free hub body looks a little chewed up – hopefully I can still get a cassette on there, but if not, they are replaceable (at a fairly steep £60 – but at least it’s possible).
I’ve also won an auction for a pair of Crank Brothers eggbeater 3 pedals. They were a good price, but they are pretty tired – the bearings on one are knackered which isn’t too much of a problem as rebuild kits are available. The bigger problem is that the springs seem worn, causing a lot of movement in the wings – I am not sure if this is easy to rectify or not. I may try and see if I can get replacement parts from Crank Brothers.
A short update on the eBay bike project. Bits have been arriving in the post, the most important of which is the fork. I picked up a Fox float 32R for £151, recently serviced and with the stanchions in A1 condition. The steerer is plenty long enough for my needs and the travel (140mm) matches that of the rear-end.
I have also secured a seat post and bars, both commencal OE items, which is quite pleasing for consistency’s sake. They seem to be pretty light too.
I have just won an auction on some wheels – should be arriving in the next couple of days. More on that when they do.
My ’94 Marin Indian Fire trail has served me faithfully for over 20 years now and the time has come to put it out to pasture. It’s getting hard to find bits for it, and in particular the Manitou II forks are very much past their sell by date as the lower bushes have gone. This being the case, I have decided to build myself something a bit more up to date. I’ve never actually ridden a full suspension XC bike, and I have to confess that I’ve been feeling a bit left out!
To set myself a bit of a challenge (and because I am on a budget), I’ve decided to source as much as I can from eBay, and build it myself. There’s a lot to learn as so much has changed from when I built the Marin all those years ago. I am in a new world of threadless headsets and maxels and things!
I have started with the most important bit – the frame. I’ve acquired a (very green) 2009 Commencal meta 5.5 for the princely sum of £170, complete with a Fox float R shock. The shock looks to be in good shape, but I will service it anyway. The frame is visually shabby with lots of stone chips and rubs, but functionally sound. Some of the linkage bearings are feeling a bit gritty, so I will change those out too. A commencal seat post (£12) and bars (£5) are on their way too. As I get bits and pieces, I’ll update here with progress and pictures.
