nstarmore
Retro Guru
So it's about time I started a thread on this little project as I think it has potential to come out rather special (to me at least).
This is my uncles former race bike, I remember going to the odd race with my nan when I was kid to watch him and after giving me his Alpinestars jacket one Christmas I wore it everywhere (that was a statement even back then!). Since then I've been drawn to the Alpinestars bikes and have not so subtly hinted at prising the Al-Mega out of his hands several times.
Fast forward 20 years or so and after seeing some of bikes I've been playing with and building over the last couple of years he dropped into conversation that he still had said Al-Mega and it was taking up space in the garage. It has a cracked head tube (hands up who was waiting for that bit), which he'd planned to get repaired but life got in the way and it never happened. He said it was mine if I could do something with it.
I had no real memory of the spec of the bike from when I was younger and I had been warned that it'd been upgraded it a fair bit but he couldn't remember what was on it other than carbon spokes and a repaint to purple, so I little clue what I was going to end up with.
Collection day came nearly another year later and I was more than a little excited to dig it out of the garage from beneath the assortment of garden machinery, kids toys and BSO's.
This is what I ended up with (apologies for the sh*te pictures, kids and mid winter don't make for much in the way of daylight photography):
Frame & Fork: 1991 Al-Mega DX 17.5"
Stem: Ringle Zooka
Handlebar: X-Lite 540 Pro Titanium
Grips: Odi Yeti
Barends: X-Lite
Brakes: XTR M900
Brake Pads: XTR M900
Cantilever cable hangers: XTR M900
Brake Levers: XTR M900
Shifters: XTR M900
Front Derailleur: DX M650
Rear Derailleur: XTR M900
Cassette: XTR M900
Cranks: XTR M900 175mm
Pedals: XT SPD M737
Hub Skewers: XTR
Rims: Mavic 117 Cermic 32fr 26 rr
Hubs: Ringle fr XTR M900 rr
Nipples: Fiber Flight
Spokes: Fiber Flight
Tyres: Random fr Ritchey MegaBite 2.1 rr
Saddle: Selle Italia SLR Titanium
Seatpost: Post Modern 31.6
Seatpost Binder: Alpinestars
Weight: Don't care enough to check
As far as plans are concerned, I've already sourced a matching Ritchey tyre to go with the rear one since these were original equipment. Otherwise the main focus is going to be around the frame. It will be on it's way to Danson before too long to have a new head tube welded in and, when funds allow, will be off to Argos for a full repaint in a tweaked version or the original colour scheme.
The rest will be cleaned up and put back on as it was, apart from the wheels. I've already removed the dicey spokes and will rebuild them with something more traditional.
Updates as I get them...
This is my uncles former race bike, I remember going to the odd race with my nan when I was kid to watch him and after giving me his Alpinestars jacket one Christmas I wore it everywhere (that was a statement even back then!). Since then I've been drawn to the Alpinestars bikes and have not so subtly hinted at prising the Al-Mega out of his hands several times.
Fast forward 20 years or so and after seeing some of bikes I've been playing with and building over the last couple of years he dropped into conversation that he still had said Al-Mega and it was taking up space in the garage. It has a cracked head tube (hands up who was waiting for that bit), which he'd planned to get repaired but life got in the way and it never happened. He said it was mine if I could do something with it.
I had no real memory of the spec of the bike from when I was younger and I had been warned that it'd been upgraded it a fair bit but he couldn't remember what was on it other than carbon spokes and a repaint to purple, so I little clue what I was going to end up with.
Collection day came nearly another year later and I was more than a little excited to dig it out of the garage from beneath the assortment of garden machinery, kids toys and BSO's.
This is what I ended up with (apologies for the sh*te pictures, kids and mid winter don't make for much in the way of daylight photography):
Frame & Fork: 1991 Al-Mega DX 17.5"
Stem: Ringle Zooka
Handlebar: X-Lite 540 Pro Titanium
Grips: Odi Yeti
Barends: X-Lite
Brakes: XTR M900
Brake Pads: XTR M900
Cantilever cable hangers: XTR M900
Brake Levers: XTR M900
Shifters: XTR M900
Front Derailleur: DX M650
Rear Derailleur: XTR M900
Cassette: XTR M900
Cranks: XTR M900 175mm
Pedals: XT SPD M737
Hub Skewers: XTR
Rims: Mavic 117 Cermic 32fr 26 rr
Hubs: Ringle fr XTR M900 rr
Nipples: Fiber Flight
Spokes: Fiber Flight
Tyres: Random fr Ritchey MegaBite 2.1 rr
Saddle: Selle Italia SLR Titanium
Seatpost: Post Modern 31.6
Seatpost Binder: Alpinestars
Weight: Don't care enough to check
As far as plans are concerned, I've already sourced a matching Ritchey tyre to go with the rear one since these were original equipment. Otherwise the main focus is going to be around the frame. It will be on it's way to Danson before too long to have a new head tube welded in and, when funds allow, will be off to Argos for a full repaint in a tweaked version or the original colour scheme.
The rest will be cleaned up and put back on as it was, apart from the wheels. I've already removed the dicey spokes and will rebuild them with something more traditional.
Updates as I get them...
