street
Posted a lot
6.2 ft/lbs of talk
Posts: 4,662
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I was a bit surprised to see this poking out from under a pile of old wood and garage waste from a house that is being renovated:  (Extra cool points for the ghetto background!) I recognized the quirky head tube design straight away from my old MTB days as a DynaTech:   They are a peculiar design- Titanium top tube and down tube bonded into manganese lugs and a chromoly rear triangle if my memory serves me correctly!  Makes for a nice light frame but notoriously prone to the titanium tubes cracking after years of horsing it. I don't ride particularly hard off-road so I think it should be well suited to some cross country jaunts and street use    It has Shimano DX which I've always liked. It's very retro too since they dropped it from the range in '93.    The wheels were seized solid after what looks like years of being locked to a fence in the garden, but once I gave the wheels some encouragement the DX hubs cracked free and turn smoothly. I'll service them with new bearings though obviously. The rims are Rigida Laser 400's and they run true front and back. So I'm pretty pleased with it!! I've been looking for something to replace my '93 Rockhopper with that I had to sell last year, so this is a perfect retro replacement! Does anyone have any information it them? I can't find that much on line. What colour was it supposed to be? The lugs and rear triangle I think are in the original shade of siilver but the main tubes have been painted red with a can. My plans are to rig it out with some period parts (probably keep it all DX) and give it a paint job. Tentatively thinking black lugs and rear triangle with white main tubes as I seem to recall these coming out in that scheme? Anyway, will keep you posted! |
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Last Edit: Mar 14, 2010 21:45:43 GMT by street
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rysz
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,558
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WOW! IIRC, these where so cheap as they used Ti tubes that were not butted as such and were all sourced from military suppliers in Mother Russia!
That appears to be almost an entire DX groupset dude! What a find! Get some RC35's or Mag 21's for it!
Also, if memory serves me correctly, they never sold brilliantly because the geometry that was set by the lugs was quite out of date for what was considered good at the time and being cast lugs, was expensive to change!
USE seatpin and a Flite Ti saddle as well please Street! (Ringle bottle cage and a zefal pump?)
A VERY jealous Rysz.
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street
Posted a lot
6.2 ft/lbs of talk
Posts: 4,662
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WOW! IIRC, these where so cheap as they used Ti tubes that were not butted as such and were all sourced from military suppliers in Mother Russia! That appears to be almost an entire DX groupset dude! What a find! Get some RC35's or Mag 21's for it! Also, if memory serves me correctly, they never sold brilliantly because the geometry that was set by the lugs was quite out of date for what was considered good at the time and being cast lugs, was expensive to change! USE seatpin and a Flite Ti saddle as well please Street! (Ringle bottle cage and a zefal pump?) A VERY jealous Rysz. Cheers mate! Yeah I'd really like a nice USE seatpin and handlebars too, flite saddle etc etc... I'll just have to see what I've got in the workshop and what crops up on Ebay! Right I've done a bit of digging and amended the title accordingly as the frame number throws up that it's a 1990 vintage and that it's got the wrong seat stays to be a Diablo.... Haven't found one exactly the same yet on the internet so I'm still searching. Seem to have a pretty good following though so I'm looking forward to getting her built up and see how she rides!  |
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,790
Club RR Member Number: 34
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now thats a blast from the past!! quite rare too i recon, they were raleighs flagship model in the big mtb boom, but most people with that kind of money to spend would have bought from a 'proper' mtb brand like specialized or marin, so i bet they sold fcuk all of them. i always remember them having a light/bright blue colour on the tubes, with the rest the silver-grey.
if you ever want to sell or trade it let me know. one of these is on my want list along with one of crack black/dayglo marins- probably a muirwoods as they were green.
the Dx stuff is top quality gear, ive still got a shortcage Dx mech somewhere(and probly a few more retro mtb bits), cos it was miles better than the stuff that replaced it. i still ride a 98xt rear mech and shifter on my current jump bike!
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rysz
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,558
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the Dx stuff is top quality gear, ive still got a shortcage Dx mech somewhere(and probly a few more retro mtb bits), cos it was miles better than the stuff that replaced it. I still ride a 98xt rear mech and shifter on my current jump bike! My last Kona (Before it got nicked  ) ran Deore DX thumbshifters! Really the best shifters in the world! Rysz. |
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Nathan
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 5,650
Club RR Member Number: 1
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They produced these before hitting the M-Trax Full titanimum (When I say full I don't mean all of it LOL) if I remember correctly, they used to suffer from really bad flex when giving it some. I used to have one and was a frequent at Devils Drop in the Mid 90s.
My old 93 M-Trax still has all the DX setup, I only upgraded 2 years ago cus it was still that good. I went over to Orange as their line seems pretty cool and Raleigh seem to have lost their way over the years.
KONA Minimula classic bike!
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rysz
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,558
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KONA Minimula classic bike! Cindercone FTMFW - a full tange steel frame on Project 2's. So sweet to ride... Rysz. |
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street
Posted a lot
6.2 ft/lbs of talk
Posts: 4,662
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Cheers guys! Good to find out a bit of history here. Dez- Those early 90's Marins are on my wish list too! I used to know which colours were which model but it's all very hazy now! Nathan- Devils Drop sounds a bit familiar... Where abouts was that? Okay had chance to give it a proper look over and discovered it's not one of the titanium ones, it's steel No matter though really, as much as I'd like a Ti one the storys of them cracking and fatiguing over time was scary stuff and so I'm happy with steel. It's a very light frame still and the Reynolds 2070 was a high end butted steel tubeset from what I can read so it should build into a nice bike! The original colour under the red appears to be black, so this one would have been black main tubes with silver lugs and rear triangle. What model does that make it? Really struggling with info on line! |
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TS
Part of things
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Wow, what a find. I always wanted one of those.
Although I remember everyone used to joke about them being glued together!
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Why can I never find anything like this!!  I used to have one of these, wish I'd never sold it. They were rumoured to use aircraft titanium fuel lines for the tubing but sounds a bit far fetched to me..! Get a Girvin Flexstem for it! ;D www.bikepro.com/products/stems/girvin.html |
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Al.
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Tim
Posted a lot
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Cool. I remember those!
Give the bonds a good check over.
Oh..dx has come back as well as DXR :-)
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Nathan
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 5,650
Club RR Member Number: 1
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Cheers guys! Good to find out a bit of history here. Dez- Those early 90's Marins are on my wish list too! I used to know which colours were which model but it's all very hazy now! Nathan- Devils Drop sounds a bit familiar... Where abouts was that? Okay had chance to give it a proper look over and discovered it's not one of the titanium ones, it's steel No matter though really, as much as I'd like a Ti one the storys of them cracking and fatiguing over time was scary stuff and so I'm happy with steel. It's a very light frame still and the Reynolds 2070 was a high end butted steel tubeset from what I can read so it should build into a nice bike! The original colour under the red appears to be black, so this one would have been black main tubes with silver lugs and rear triangle. What model does that make it? Really struggling with info on line! Steve DD up at Bestwood lodge, the lame story goes that the whole site (one massive hole in the ground) was caused by a WWII bomb LOL yeah Right!!. Its still there now but the whole place is more for Horses so they felled most of the trees, there are still some good tracks though, Infact summer 08 I snapped my frame going down one (hit the chainstay on a tree LOL). I think with the opening of sherwood pines this killed it off, however for some nice tracks with amazing jumps the Quarry just off the lodge is a defo. If ya ever up for a blast fella give me a shout. |
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rysz
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,558
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Cheers guys! Good to find out a bit of history here. Dez- Those early 90's Marins are on my wish list too! I used to know which colours were which model but it's all very hazy now! Nathan- Devils Drop sounds a bit familiar... Where abouts was that? Okay had chance to give it a proper look over and discovered it's not one of the titanium ones, it's steel No matter though really, as much as I'd like a Ti one the storys of them cracking and fatiguing over time was scary stuff and so I'm happy with steel. It's a very light frame still and the Reynolds 2070 was a high end butted steel tubeset from what I can read so it should build into a nice bike! The original colour under the red appears to be black, so this one would have been black main tubes with silver lugs and rear triangle. What model does that make it? Really struggling with info on line! Steve DD up at Bestwood lodge, the lame story goes that the whole site (one massive hole in the ground) was caused by a WWII bomb LOL yeah Right!!. Its still there now but the whole place is more for Horses so they felled most of the trees, there are still some good tracks though, Infact summer 08 I snapped my frame going down one (hit the chainstay on a tree LOL). I think with the opening of sherwood pines this killed it off, however for some nice tracks with amazing jumps the Quarry just off the lodge is a defo. If ya ever up for a blast fella give me a shout. That is *just* behind my house - as soon as I have a bike, I will be more than up for a general ride round there! Tea and Biscuits at my place afterwards! Rysz. |
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Nathan
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 5,650
Club RR Member Number: 1
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Steve DD up at Bestwood lodge, the lame story goes that the whole site (one massive hole in the ground) was caused by a WWII bomb LOL yeah Right!!. Its still there now but the whole place is more for Horses so they felled most of the trees, there are still some good tracks though, Infact summer 08 I snapped my frame going down one (hit the chainstay on a tree LOL). I think with the opening of sherwood pines this killed it off, however for some nice tracks with amazing jumps the Quarry just off the lodge is a defo. If ya ever up for a blast fella give me a shout. That is *just* behind my house - as soon as I have a bike, I will be more than up for a general ride round there! Tea and Biscuits at my place afterwards! Rysz. I used to live In Redhill (Near the Waggon pub) so it was a stone throw up the alley for me. Yeah sure fella will probs leave my car at yours then as I am in Ravenshead so a bit of a ride if I just went on the bike LOL. |
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street
Posted a lot
6.2 ft/lbs of talk
Posts: 4,662
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Mar 14, 2010 21:44:49 GMT
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Cheers guys! Yeah I was going to go for a Girvin Flexstem, but I just can't quite get on with them these days somehow! I think something low and light instead for this bike Ahh Bestwood lodge, of course! I've gone down that hill a very long time ago, it was damn steep as I remember! Okay I've made some progress. First I took some parts off the rig to refurb:    The DX Biopace chainset came up a treat after some time polishing. The oval rings are all serviceable too so it's good to go again. The chainring bolts are letting the side down temporarily but I might go for some anodised ones maybe.  ^ The rear mech got a dose of the polishing too. It needs new jockey wheels after someone tried running that chain on it I suspect, but that's in hand as is the missing adjuster    ^ Time to strip the paint in readiness for a new colour scheme. It would be easy to douse it in Nitromors and watch it all bubble away, but the trouble is these Dyna's are bonded and I can't be sure how well the chemicals will react with the joins. Likewise for shot blasting, I just can't be sure it wouldn't affect the bonds so I opted for the slower, safer (and not forgetting cheaper!) option of sanding the old girl down by hand.   ^ Hard going! I used a wire wheel in places but even this I was (probably overly) cautious with because I didn't want to get too much heat around those bonded lugs. It.s getting there though, soon it will b completely bare metal and I can begin with repainting her Also, some parts started arriving. The first is the saddle:  ^ A retro Flite Titanium in red ;D I had one of these on my dream bike when I was about 17 and that got stolen. It's such an iconic saddle I really wanted it on this build but thought I wouldn't be able to afford it (I am NOT supposed to be spending money on bikes right now!) but I was very happy to have won this one on Ebay for just £4.20 Sure it needs some work but it's not ripped or anything so it's cool. I'm going to see about restoring the red leather or maybe making it black instead....... I don't know I'm going to pretty it up somehow anyway I also have the seatpost I always wanted in the colour I always wanted, but I managed to miss the post on Saturday so it's going to be Wednesday before I get it now. I'll post up pics when I do though! |
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Mar 15, 2010 10:58:24 GMT
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Looking forward to seeing this finished.
I've a soft spot for 1990s MTBs. Got an old Saracen Killi Racer with elevated chainstays that I'm gonna start on soon. I'm thinking purple anodised bits & snowflake wheels with smokes & darts..
Proper mid 90s flavour :-)
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Al.
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street
Posted a lot
6.2 ft/lbs of talk
Posts: 4,662
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Mar 15, 2010 13:25:32 GMT
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Ooh Kili Racer! I love those elevated stay Saracens  Yeah this era is pretty much my favourite for MTB's, the designs were just so pure and elegant with a lot of the geometry all tried and tested in the previous decades. That said I really want a very early Gary Fisher, Cannondale or Specialized at some point |
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Mar 15, 2010 13:49:22 GMT
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Ive got some retro MTB parts you might be interested in.  Kalloy Uno alloy stem red anodised. 25.4mm diameter quill. 130mm extension. I got it NOS from ebay.  Dia compe 986 cantilever brake. Purple anodised  Classic tube style canti brake. Its sealed in the packet.  Tektro tube style cantilever brake. These are unused, but have miss matched springs.  Tektro levers that are designed for use with bar ends Ive got other parts too. All low prices. |
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Apr 29, 2010 17:25:07 GMT
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Hey this is great! I have one of these, bought it new in 1991, £574 reduced from £699! I was the fookin daddy with that bike for quite a while. I was still using it daily till about 5 years ago, when the chaintay cracked. I'd already had it welded a few times after busting bits of the frame and this time i decided that it must have rusted out from the inside like a Morris 1800 sill panel and that it was beyond welding.
I'll get some pics tonight, its still got the original paint, stickers and so on.
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1974 Lancia Beta Saloon
1975 Mazda 929 Coupé
1986 Mazda 929 Wagon
1979 Mazda 929 Hardtop
1982 Fiat Argenta 2.0 iniezione elettronica
1977 Toyota Carina TA14
1989 Subaru 1800 Wagon
1982 Hyundai Pony 1200TL 2-dr
1985 Hyundai Pony 1200 GL
1986 Maserati 425 Biturbo
1992 Rover 214 SEi 5-dr
2000 Rover 45 V6 Club
1994 Peugeot 205 'Junior' Diesel
1988 Volvo 760 Turbodiesel Saloon
1992 Talbot Express Autosleeper Rambler
2003 Renault Laguna SPEARS OR REAPERS
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) ran Deore DX thumbshifters! Really the best shifters in the world!
