1991 Trek 990

Well, I didn't expect to find my dream cranks for this bike so soon! I was hunting on Marketplace, and I happened across this 96 Zaskar LE for $125, with a worn pair of Revolvers.

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It also came with mismatched wheels, the rear having a black M732 hub, so I'll eventually swap that over and take care of the drive side spokes at the same time, making a nice matching wheelset. There's some other good bits too, and it came with a Judy DH with a cracked arch. I'll be splitting the bike and selling the parts I don't want to fund other projects.

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Right now, I have the cranks in an ultrasonic, and I have the drive side pedal out. I'll have to take the other half to work tomorrow to use a vise. The cups are also stuck in the BB shell, and I don't have the right tools, so I'll take care of that a little later. The cinch bolt is also bent, and you'll notice the washer behind the bolt there on the end of the drive side crank arm is not the right one. It's just a flat washer with ridges on one side. If anyone has a replacement, or a suitable item that can be bought online, please let me know.
Fantastic! I thought I wouldn't ever find Revolvers for my Tioga build (my Richter 8.0) but someone got in touch on here to say they had a tatty pair. I've cleaned up the BB and have the arms powdercoated, but I haven't fitted them yet. I was waiting to find the correct size Tioga seatpost, but now that's fitted, so no excuses.
 
Awesome thread and great bike: love your patience, persistence and eye for detail..!
Thanks! I spend a lot of my free time staring and thinking about my bikes, trying to envision what they could look like. It's nice to actually make them real.
Very, very nice indeed. Excellent work. Lots of nice touches and good to see with the rigid fork.
Thank you! I'm lucky to have found a proper matching fork. Maybe in a few years, I'll upgrade to a black and orange decal RS-1, but for now, this Tange is great.
 
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Disassembled, cleaned, and sorted. I could not get the drive side cup out of the frame, it is fully seized in there. I still haven't tried heat yet, but that will come later. Even if I get it out, it will only be kept as a spare. I picked up a NOS Tioga Revolver BB cup set on eBay, as well as some new SS6903-2RS bearings from Japan.

I'm also talking with a friend of mine who has a lathe and some tube/bar stock, and he's going to work with me to recreate the collar, spacers, and the setting bolt washer. I'll ask for spares, and I suggested he make them available for sale as well. If he agrees, I'll post details here.

Does anyone have a lead on preproduction decals/transfers, or even a paint mask, for these? I've seen the question asked a few times, but never answered. I haven't asked Gil yet.
 
For the last drive side BB I couldn't get out with my normal big wrench/spanner, I bought the wrench with the cut out to fit over it exactly, then used a big bolt and washers to hold it tight to the cup. And then, after lots of penetrating fluid, a length of heavy hardwood to deliver dead weight blows to the end of the wrench. When it starts moving, more fluid and back and forth hammering. It came out ok without damage to cup, frame or tool. (I always have to remind myself to loosen it in a clockwise direction.)

This is a good guide:

https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/bottom-bracket-service-adjustable-cup-and-cone
 
For the last drive side BB I couldn't get out with my normal big wrench/spanner, I bought the wrench with the cut out to fit over it exactly, then used a big bolt and washers to hold it tight to the cup. And then, after lots of penetrating fluid, a length of heavy hardwood to deliver dead weight blows to the end of the wrench. When it starts moving, more fluid and back and forth hammering. It came out ok without damage to cup, frame or tool. (I always have to remind myself to loosen it in a clockwise direction.)

This is a good guide:

https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/bottom-bracket-service-adjustable-cup-and-cone
Yep, the one I need is a Park Tools HCW-4, and I'm also going to look for a BBT-7 for future lock ring adjustments. I don't want to tear up the metal like the last guy did when he installed these.
 
I fitted these tonight, in time for my weekly group ride on Friday night. The NOS cups and new bearings arrived, and were installed within the hour! 😂 Needless to say, I was eager to get these on the bike, and I love how they look. They are so easy to adjust, and I can take the cranks off in less than a minute, so chainring swaps, and the inevitable repaint will be nearly effortless.

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I noticed that the previous guy used an unnecessary 1.25 and 2.5mm spacer in the stack, so his cranks were not installed properly. Nice that I have them though, since I can now get them reproduced, along with the missing setting bolt washer.

Since I don't have a BBT-7 for the proper Revolver lock ring adjustment, I decided to use the one from the Tioga fully adjustable bottom bracket that I removed. They are nearly identical, except the Revolver one is smaller in diameter by a few millimeters. This makes all the difference when using a standard Park Tools HCW-5. Also, the water sheath from the old Tioga BB is identical to the one from the Revolver, in case you can't source one easily.

Lastly, here is a clean scan of the parts list, without annotations, curtesy of holden.

TiogaRevolver_parts.jpg
 
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