199? (LA Cycles) Lee Cooper

[DaiP]

Hi, I’ve just bought this Lee Cooper steel mountain bike frame that I’m about to start building up using early 90s components wherever possible. I’ve got a set of Pace RC35 forks ready to go in once I’ve got a suitable 1 inch threaded headset. I’m not sure of the exact year of the frame but guessing around 91-93. I’ve been in touch with Lee Cooper to see if he can provide any more details as I believe from the guy I bought the frame from that Lee built this for himself. Fingers crossed he gets back to me to fill in some blanks. In terms of components it’s a bit of a blank page at the moment. I’m thinking Deore DX or early 90s XT in terms of groupset but it’ll largely depend on what I can acquire and condition over the coming months. It’ll be nice to do a mountain bike project for a change as I’ve done several motorbike restorations over the last few years. At least this won’t knackered electrics or need an engine rebuild.

 

[raidan73]

Nice project

 

[DaiP]

A few more photos of the early days of this build. RC35 forks slaved in place, in need of a headset.
Hope Ti hubs that I intend lacing to a pair of Mavic 217 or similar rims.
One odd thing on this frame that I’ve never seen on any other frame is what appears to be 2 bottle cage mounts on the upper side of the down tube.

 

[raidan73]

Not massively uncommon to have two sets on a downtube. I just noticed the crud guard mounts on the underside too

 

[DaiP]

First time I’ve seen it to be honest. And yes even though I’m not a massive fan of Crud Catchers, I now feel obliged to fit one just because the mount is there.