1991 Alpinestars Al-Mega DX

[gtturbo]

Thought I would start a build thread for this one. Here's a 1991 Al-Mega DX I got a while back. I had a 92 Al-Mega XT for a while but for some reason wasn't overly excited by that and sold it. However I think the colours and graphics of this 91 are far nicer and I like this one so time to get building.

Good and bad news with the frame. As we know these are prone to crack. The good news is this doesn't appear to have any, the only fault I can find is one rivnut is loose. The bad news is that kind of makes me not want to ride it when done as I don't want my fat ass breaking it so we shall see. It's amazing how vibrant the original paint and graphics are after all these years. I got a set of fluro Marin forks of a similar age recently and to say they were faded is a understatement. For the time being I just intend to touch up the paint as it seems far to good to warrant a full respray.

Since I got into mtb's in 1989 I've been a serial component upgrader. I think the last standard bike I had was literally my Marin BV in 89. Since then everything has been custom builds with lots of bling or pretty much upgraded beyond recognition. However since I gave my 91 GT Krakoram a bit of a once over recently (separate thread on that) I kind of now have an appreciation for OE builds. So originally I thought lets put this back to factory spec, but then I have a RC100 and 1990 Team Marin also to build which will be getting that treatment. I also still have some of my old components from the 90's in the spares box and nothing to hang them on so sod it let's bling this up a bit as I probably would have had it setup in the 90's. Just a shame I sold my Sugino tension disk a few years back but hey ho you live and learn.

First out the spares box is these Kooka forged cranks. Probably late 90's from memory but it's the correct decade so that's good enough for me. These have had a good few years of use so first up some polishing is on the cards. Here's the before pic for comparison at a later date once I've finished cleaning them up.

 

[netgio]

Love this - I had a 90 Cro-Mega LX (non e-stay) and lusted after these when they came out - never ridden one, but I bet they climb like hell with that short rear. Definitely prefer the white/neon to later colours.

Is the white the same pearlescent effect as on the 90 bikes?.. it was lush.

 

[gtturbo]

Love this - I had a 90 Cro-Mega LX (non e-stay) and lusted after these when they came out - never ridden one, but I bet they climb like hell with that short rear. Definitely prefer the white/neon to later colours.

Is the white the same pearlescent effect as on the 90 bikes?.. it was lush.

I must admit I haven't seen a 1990 in the flesh in many years so cant say for sure if the paint is the same. It is however very similar to the pearlescent paint on my Renault 5, hence my username.

 

[gtturbo]

First crack at polishing the cranks. A long way to go yet but looking better already. Now I can see the areas needing particular attention it's time to break out the wet and dry. Downside of being an e-stay is you see the back of the crank arms more than you perhaps would on a regular frame so those are going to need more work than normal.

 

[Retro Spud]

That’s has to be the best colour way Alpinestars came up with

If I owned one ....it would in these colours

 

[gtturbo]

Been a while since I last updated this. To be honest I have been really busy at work and other stuff at home but thought I would spend the day on the Alpinestars. That was quickly interrupted as before I had even got the bike home I had a call from my son who had come off his road bike. Still he's OK and I managed to get a couple of hours in.

Still more polishing to be done but you get the idea. Toying with getting the arms anodised in purple ?.

Couldn't help throwing a few bits on just to see what it looked like. Think that stems going to have to go purple to match everything else. Luckily Acorn plating are just round the corner so might have to drop some bits off in the new year. Original forks removed ready for some Mag21's to go on. All the original bits will be kept so if I ever want to go back to stock then I have that option.

 

[gtturbo]

Some NOS Control Tech canti's fitted to the rear for even more purple'ness. Got these for a great price as the packaging was damp so the pad fixings have corrosion, still we can sort that.

That's it for today now. Want to try and get the forks and wheels sorted tomorrow but this storm we are due overnight may put plans to that, we will see. Still quite pleased with how it's looking so far.

 

[gtturbo]

Wheels and tyres more or less sorted for now. I have some purple Velocity deep V's that will no doubt go on here at some stage but they need rebuilding with some appropriate hubs. For the time being a pair of old DX hubs on Specialized BX-23 rims. Cleaned up quite nice. Normally I'm not a fan of coloured tyres but I had these lying about and they actually look quite good. Might try some tan walls at a later date.

Next up is refurbing the Mag 20's but the weather the last couple of days hasn't suited any painting outside. Hopefully it will be a bit warmer and dryer come the weekend. Decided to do something a bit one off with a tatty old pair of Mag 20's rather than just bolt on the nice condition 21's I have.

 

[gtturbo]

Finally some better weather so I could get the Mag20's resprayed.

Starting with an pair of Mag20 legs I got off Facebook a while back. It is fair to say the paint job was well worn, still that means I didnt feel bad about trying something different colour wise.

As the DX is not exactly a subtle bike let's go full on 90's neon !.

The Rust-oleum paint, from Homebase by the way, actually worked quite well. It seem quite powdery when applying but dries nice. Then a couple of coats of lacquer applied to get a gloss finish. Not my best paintjob ever but will do for now.

Next up to get the brace painted and then the forks refitted so I can get this bike more or less finished up, aside from some bits that I need to get reanodised. I'm dying to get started on the Roberts and the Browning but I am discipling myself that this one needs to be done before I start the next.

 

[Deleted member 68825]

Re:

More ....I need more , next instalments please