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Spa Cycles also sells Exal SP19 rims which are about the same profile and weight as Sputniks but I found them nicer to build with, maybe the angle of the spoke hole drilling. Also they look nice and are £15 each.

I think Mongoose frames were built by Merida. Some at least. This is a handy page for serial numbers "Asian Serial Number Guide - Bike Forums" https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vintage/1042901-asian-serial-number-guide.html And this one (for BMX) references Merida too "Vintage mongoose: Serial...

The higher end Giant bikes of this era are massively under-rated (in my opinion). Triple butted cro-mo, well built, good components... Excellent find and save. The head badge and paint schemes are cool too.

Great Bike. Great pictures. 👍

An unexpected joy when visiting Turin last weekend was bumping into Fabio, his buddy Marco (whose BMX features in one of the photos), and Fabio's fantastic bike. I had about 60 seconds to grab a few pictures and point him towards this thread on Retrobike. So many nice details, the pictures...

PS recommissioning childhood bikes, very satisfying in my experience 👍👍

I'd have a double check of the limit screws, tension (cable and B) screws and chain length, per Sheldon. If after that it's the hanger and / or the mech' you'll have eliminated those variables: "Derailer Adjustment" https://www.sheldonbrown.com/derailer-adjustment.html

If 1) the profile of the front mech cage is a good match for the chainrings (number of rings and for the ring sizes), and 2) the bottom of cage is clearing the top of the big ring just enough, then 3) I'd look at the cage sides being parallel to the rings - a small rotation out of line can mess...

Okay, 3mm was a slight exaggeration. Taking the fork out and putting it on a flat surface with some straight lines, right angles, metal ruler and digital callipers shows that the LH fork leg is pushed back about 1mm relative to the RH one, and there is 1mm more distance between crown and drop...

I'm not sure whether this is too mainstream for the thread, though I think it is a bit funky and occasionally sweaty! But maybe it fits mostly because of the sheer jumble of parts that have come together to make what may be my most comfortable bike: 1986 Specialized Rockhopper frame and forks...

And now a quick update on DQ2, summarising work to date - This could be a 'spot the difference' competition, comparing today's photo to the bike as it arrived. It would not be a very exciting one, however, so I'll just tell you what I've done: 1. Stripped and cleaned it all, though not to the...

Looks like a great buy. Happy to have played a minor role with encouragement! Look forward to hearing about first ride and plans.

Go!

Good luck! You're doing a great job with this bike. Absolutely iconic machine and I love your attention to detail. (Rear derailleurs though, whenever I've messed with the tension I've always wished I've had about four hands to get it all back together!)

100% agree, some gold dust information in the posts above. Getting to know your bike is something not often written but really important and helps you choose which (small, light) tools to take. Having a decent choice of hand positions helps a lot: drops, butterfly bars, bar ends... Being...

Thanks. Yes, I like to have a couple of lower gears available 'just in case'. Getting to bottom gear too soon is alarming if your approach to hills is winching up them. I'm definitely a tortoise rather than a hare.

And here it is out and about. I am definitely going to fit the triple chainset and do something about mudguards but other than that I like everything about this bike with the drop bars: comfortable, smooth, responsive. Feels like you could go a long way on it at decent pace, which was the idea.

Drop bars fitted (Deda RHM01 bars, short Brand X stem, Tektro levers and Dura Ace 9spd shifters), cables sorted, ready for a test ride.

Thank you PP. I'm very pleased with how it's turning out. You're dead right: absolute quality, very comfortable and definitely not lightweight. It feels more of an all-road tourer than pure MTB in this guise. For any longish trip I like to take a change of clothes, tools, food and more fluid...

The evolution continues. The Nitto B136 bars stay (I like them a lot) but the stem was actually a bit too tall so I've replaced it with an HL stem with a removable faceplate. This is just right for height and reach and I like the facility to swap bars easily. And the Tubus Duo rack is on. It...