1990 MB Dronfield restomod build

[sjcprojects]

Having recently got back to riding my other MB Dronfield, I realised that I actually have enough 'spare' parts to put together a restomod build with my 1990 MB frame. As much as anything it's out of curiosity to see how the two will compare, seeing as the other one is an almost totally original spec 1994 bike. The 1994 MB is smaller (56cm vs 59cm), but that's probably the only functional difference, so it feels like a good candidate for a restomod.

Just like my other one, this 1990 bike was bought from someone in Dronfield, so it hadn't travelled far. It had a fairly unusal mix of parts rather than a whole groupset, so I would guess it was originally bought as a frame and forks rather than a full bike. Unlike the other one, this one has had a pretty hard life.




It had a mix of Shimano 600 and 105 parts, with a Suntour GPX crankset (possibly the last groupset the original Suntour made?), Modolo brakes and Sachs levers. The saddle is interesting, as firstly it has titanium rails and is seriously light at 215g, and secondly it is made by 'Velo' but had 'Kingfisher' branding on it, which I've not managed to find any reference to anywhere on the web. The saddle is pretty worn with a small hole on one side, but I might try restoring it at some point.

I am actually going to keep the original brakes as they have cleaned up well and they seem decent, so I suppose this will actually be a partial 'mod' build.



The frame has cleaned up okay, though it is fairly rough, in reality (it looks better in photos). I want to keep it as it is, though, seeing as the decals are all decent and it's only original once, after all. I've left the very rough white brush paint touch-ups that someone has done for now, but I might have to take another look at those before actually building it up. It's not visable in this photo, but the paint finish is a rather nice pearlescent one, rather than a flat white.

 

[sjcprojects]

Hopefully this is coming together okay so far. Of course I realised once I started that a theme of black components was coming together, so I've already had to break my spare parts only rule to buy a black 105 RD to go with the other parts – plus I'll probably take a matching black chainset off my winter bike to complete the theme. I already had a quill stem that I sprayed black for a project but never used in the end, so that's going on here.

I do have some fairly nice black alloy wheels, but I'm aiming to keep this as light as possible for now at least, so I'm using these carbon ones (plus this means technically this is not a full bike as it will share these wheels with my carbon bike...in case anyone happens to notice another bike appearing in the collection...ahem...).

 

[sjcprojects]

I finished building this up earlier this week, which for me is lightning speed, but the bad weather has meant I've not got a shake-down ride in until today. As expected, it's certainly a nice ride, the main difference between this and my other MB being that the larger size makes it more comfortable for me, but somewhat less exciting on descents, and perhaps in general. Time will tell with that, I suppose. With carbon wheels and the short wheel base, it accelerates very well. I will also try it out with the alloy wheels I have which are black-rimmed and more minimalist, and so will look better. I think the carbon wheels look okay on this, but I've never been a fan of large rim graphics, and although these ones are far from the worst offenders for that, they do detract from the overall look a bit. It'll also be interesting to see how it feels – no doubt I will miss the weight-saving on the climbs, but perhaps not too much.



It has a 10-speed set up with 105 chainset and derailleurs. The shifters are Tiagra, which I've subtly modified to get rid of those silly windows with the red gear indicators, which to my mind make them look rather cheap. The bars are some Deda Elementi ones with a Cinelli 1A stem, Fizik saddle...and a carbon bottle cage to save a vital 9g of weight .



It had to be done...



I suppose I should make the pilgrimage to Dronfield itself, really. Maybe next time.

 

[wafter]

Great work; I'm a sucker for a nice old steel frame with modern components.

It looks really nice and the black groupset / wheels / finishing kit don't look at all out of place as they sometimes do on a retro-modern build.

 

[sjcprojects]

Great work; I'm a sucker for a nice old steel frame with modern components.

It looks really nice and the black groupset / wheels / finishing kit don't look at all out of place as they sometimes do on a retro-modern build.

Appreciate that, thanks. I agree getting a retro-modern build to look right can be tricky, and it’s hard to tell if it’ll work until it’s built up. I’m pretty happy with how this came out.

I do prefer shifters with the gear cables hidden under the bar tape from an aesthetic perspective, but that could be a possible upgrade at some point.

 

[sjcprojects]

Here it is with the black alloy Shimano wheels, with the larger stickers removed. It definitely looks nicest like this. On the one hand the tyres don't match, but on the other, I have used yellow valve caps to match the frame . In the bright sunlight you can kind of see the pearlescent paint finish in this photo.

 

[wafter]

Appreciate that, thanks. I agree getting a retro-modern build to look right can be tricky, and it’s hard to tell if it’ll work until it’s built up. I’m pretty happy with how this came out.

I do prefer shifters with the gear cables hidden under the bar tape from an aesthetic perspective, but that could be a possible upgrade at some point.

No worries and yes; I'd be very happy with that too.

I agree about the shifters; IMO those Tiaga (4600) items aren't the best looking around either... you mention you're running 10sp, but aren't the shifters only 9?

I had Tiagra 4700 (10sp) on my old road bike and it was very nice; not sure how compatable the shifters would be with earlier stuff however as I think the cable pull ratio is different somewhere..

 

[ktuludays]

i do love an MB - managed to grab one myself a few years back having lived in dronfield for 13 years. they ride lovely and the shop confirmed for me that i was a 1982 model built for a local racer.

your colour scheme is lovely - something very different. i like it and good to see you using it on the peak district roads.

this is mine in V1 build - tiagra 10 speed - i don't like the bar tape or the stem angle - i have got a new one to go on at some point.

 

[sjcprojects]

No worries and yes; I'd be very happy with that too.

I agree about the shifters; IMO those Tiaga (4600) items aren't the best looking around either... you mention you're running 10sp, but aren't the shifters only 9?

I had Tiagra 4700 (10sp) on my old road bike and it was very nice; not sure how compatable the shifters would be with earlier stuff however as I think the cable pull ratio is different somewhere..

The shifters are the 4600 series ones, which is when they went to 10-speed, I guess, and 4700 is when they went to the concealed shifter cables. The 4700 ones are certainly nicer looking, but I already had the 4600 ones in the parts drawer...

 

[sjcprojects]

i do love an MB - managed to grab one myself a few years back having lived in dronfield for 13 years. they ride lovely and the shop confirmed for me that i was a 1982 model built for a local racer.

your colour scheme is lovely - something very different. i like it and good to see you using it on the peak district roads.

this is mine in V1 build - tiagra 10 speed - i don't like the bar tape or the stem angle - i have got a new one to go on at some point.

Always nice to see another MB. I know they built quite a few bikes for riders in local clubs like the Chesterfield Coureurs, and I knew someone who rode for Rutland CC here in Sheffield who used to ride one in the early 90s. From the unusual mix parts that were on it when I bought it, I wouldn't be surprised if this one belonged to a club rider at some point.

Yours has a nice colour fade going on, too. I'm not actually the biggest fan of the yellow and white combination on mine, but it is something a bit different from the other bikes in my collection, which is no bad thing.