1989 Muddy Fox Pathfinder
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Once A Hero
Old School Grand Master
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Love this bike, and with the accessories - including the wheel disc! 
It's not an '89 though - it's one up from my Adventurer in the 1990 line up
It's not an '89 though - it's one up from my Adventurer in the 1990 line up
Yes, that's a 1990 XC-T groupset. Too late, but with SunTour Accushift Plus (1990-1991) there are two ways to keep the old components and get the index to work:
1 - Keep the Accushift cogs and use exclusively a SunTour Accushift Plus chain. any other chain will not be picked up by the cogs upon downshifting. Accushift Plus was about the flaring at the outer liks of the chain, the cog teeth just have a bit of a chamfering on the inborard face to clutch on that flaring.
2- If an AP chain can't be used, get a shimano compatible rear hub and use a 7S HG cassette. It will be a bit off in the two smaller cogs (SunTour had a 3,3 mm spacer between the 2nd and 3rd) but it will shift fine nonetheless.
Of course the shifters have to be 7 S SunTour. AP was a bigger pull ratio (tallest in the industry) that made the lateral movement or teh rear mech very fast but was very sensitive to any misallignment or cable rub.
Hope that helps
1 - Keep the Accushift cogs and use exclusively a SunTour Accushift Plus chain. any other chain will not be picked up by the cogs upon downshifting. Accushift Plus was about the flaring at the outer liks of the chain, the cog teeth just have a bit of a chamfering on the inborard face to clutch on that flaring.
2- If an AP chain can't be used, get a shimano compatible rear hub and use a 7S HG cassette. It will be a bit off in the two smaller cogs (SunTour had a 3,3 mm spacer between the 2nd and 3rd) but it will shift fine nonetheless.
Of course the shifters have to be 7 S SunTour. AP was a bigger pull ratio (tallest in the industry) that made the lateral movement or teh rear mech very fast but was very sensitive to any misallignment or cable rub.
Hope that helps
Scott-S
Kona Fan
The paint job is awesome as is but the accessories just set it apart right into a different league.
An incredible bike and sadly a journey and a half for you, I wish you many happy and safe miles on it
The bike is a real eye-catcher. The paintjob is simply awesome. Is the wheeldisc loud when riding and how is it in crosswinds?
Your parcel services are really the worst, I would have gone out and burnt down their headquarters at night by now. It hurts just reading about it.
Your parcel services are really the worst, I would have gone out and burnt down their headquarters at night by now. It hurts just reading about it.
fennec
Retro Guru
Just as a follow up, as this thread has gotten some recent attention
This is going back to stock. I found someone who could unbend the bars and I got some new shifters for the original drivetrain
Stand by as I wait for a 24mm crank puller to remove the M560’s
Crosswinds aren’t too bad actually, it’s definitely there but far less than I expected.
This is going back to stock. I found someone who could unbend the bars and I got some new shifters for the original drivetrain
Stand by as I wait for a 24mm crank puller to remove the M560’s
It’s fairly quiet unless you start hitting bumps. But even on light gravel or rough pavement you don’t hear it much. But when it is audible it is very, very audible.
Crosswinds aren’t too bad actually, it’s definitely there but far less than I expected.
Thanks, I have only tested such discs on a 20" bike so far and it was quite loud from time to time.
But it always looks great. I also like the tires.
I guess they are great on dry and hard packed surfaces but not so much on mud, right?
fennec
Retro Guru
Alright so back to stock
The shifters I found are a problem, they’re suntour X-press shifters in the American 3x7 orientation. This bike being immensely British is 7x3, so I got around that by just crossing the cables on the downtube stretch.
Problem there is, the 3x shifter is for a top pull derailleur which makes for some janky cable setup.
And then aforementioned janky cable setup really only kinda works, and both shifters have destroyed clutch plates in them anyway so it doesn’t matter, they both shift awfully.
I need to find outright different shifters because these are just thrashed, I could not get them working right at all even rebuilding them. And I learned in research for these parts that such a thing is extremely common and chances are I just need to get used to my upshifts skipping a few gears.
And the 3x just straight doesn’t work. It has no ratcheting points, it might as well be a friction shifter even if it was set up with a top pull derailleur.
Side note, the BB is still my favorite original part
Even if I’m bad at setting it up.
Gonna be honest, this is probably gonna be put together and then shelved for a while. I don’t have the time or money to sink into this bike anymore, and I’m honestly just kind of tired of messing with it. I started replacing parts when I got this to work around the issues of worn out 35 year old parts, but I’m now using those original parts and having to fix problems with them and I’m just not about that right now.
If I ever find good shifters I might try again. But as of right now the brake pads aren’t even set up right because I don’t have a deep enough 10mm socket and I don’t even care that much to go get a deeper socket.
The shifters I found are a problem, they’re suntour X-press shifters in the American 3x7 orientation. This bike being immensely British is 7x3, so I got around that by just crossing the cables on the downtube stretch.
Problem there is, the 3x shifter is for a top pull derailleur which makes for some janky cable setup.
And then aforementioned janky cable setup really only kinda works, and both shifters have destroyed clutch plates in them anyway so it doesn’t matter, they both shift awfully.
I need to find outright different shifters because these are just thrashed, I could not get them working right at all even rebuilding them. And I learned in research for these parts that such a thing is extremely common and chances are I just need to get used to my upshifts skipping a few gears.
And the 3x just straight doesn’t work. It has no ratcheting points, it might as well be a friction shifter even if it was set up with a top pull derailleur.
Side note, the BB is still my favorite original part
Even if I’m bad at setting it up.
Gonna be honest, this is probably gonna be put together and then shelved for a while. I don’t have the time or money to sink into this bike anymore, and I’m honestly just kind of tired of messing with it. I started replacing parts when I got this to work around the issues of worn out 35 year old parts, but I’m now using those original parts and having to fix problems with them and I’m just not about that right now.
If I ever find good shifters I might try again. But as of right now the brake pads aren’t even set up right because I don’t have a deep enough 10mm socket and I don’t even care that much to go get a deeper socket.
https://www.ebay.it/itm/14607351495...cVZ3uBXZ9KOb4XtJvLEhNvZ5U=|tkp:Bk9SR-z_46HlZA
That´'s a fresh set of X-Press there. But top tip, there are better as they are the 1991 model for the top tier groupsets, with the problems found in the 1990 version corrected.
https://www.ebay.it/itm/12654085636...ILiss2pAoW0ArhdPjWy/iG1wc=|tkp:Bk9SR-z_46HlZA
That´'s a fresh set of X-Press there. But top tip, there are better as they are the 1991 model for the top tier groupsets, with the problems found in the 1990 version corrected.
https://www.ebay.it/itm/12654085636...ILiss2pAoW0ArhdPjWy/iG1wc=|tkp:Bk9SR-z_46HlZA
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fennec
Retro Guru
And now for something, completely different
Mixed shimano everything, deore LX cranks and cassette, mountain lx rear and soon to be front derailleur, modern Altus shifters, lx calipers and slx levers
It took me forever to clean this 30 year old cassette but it’s looking good
This was just the path of least resistance, I don’t want to fight old suntour stuff
Even if it get it all original, the cranks were still riveted, the rear hub was still wobbly, the brake levers were crumbling apart
The original parts can sit in a box for posterities sake, i want to actually ride this at some point so mixed shimano it is
Mixed shimano everything, deore LX cranks and cassette, mountain lx rear and soon to be front derailleur, modern Altus shifters, lx calipers and slx levers
It took me forever to clean this 30 year old cassette but it’s looking good
This was just the path of least resistance, I don’t want to fight old suntour stuff
Even if it get it all original, the cranks were still riveted, the rear hub was still wobbly, the brake levers were crumbling apart
The original parts can sit in a box for posterities sake, i want to actually ride this at some point so mixed shimano it is
