It’s officially in pieces now
Will post pictures once I’ve got it back in the daylight.
The BB is exceptionally stiff so is in need of a service of some kind, perhaps replacement once I’ve gotten it out.
I can see there are c-clips both sides, but can anyone direct me to or tell me the procedure for removal/installation for this type please?
So, it's a 91/92 frame with Suntour Grease Gard BB. You could easily have the year with the serial number .
For removing BB : remove circlips and just an hammer (with previously screwing a bolt for protecting the axle).
The axle is a 17mm diameter, the same used on Klein
Firstly the forks. My main aim is to get the Rock Shox up and running so that the bike can remain true to how I bought it, so I was on the look out for 1” Mag 20/21 crown, and with the help of @boy"O"boy I was able to purchase a suitable solution. I say help - as I only needed a crown, but in the end bought a complete pair fitted with a Bontrager crown - but I bought them on a “try before you buy” basis as the steerer length was marginal - turns out it was just long enough, so I kept them.
All was not straight forward however as it transpired that under compression, the back of the brace would foul the crown face, as was evidenced by a rubbed decal on the crown face.
Luckily as a bike part hoarder, I had a couple of other Mag 20 braces and it turns out that some of them have different profiles, so was able to fit a different one that cleared the crown comfortably.
The next challenge to overcome was the bottom bracket bearings.
I managed to extract the existing 6903 bearings which were well past their best…
But the more pressing problem (pun intended) was that I had no way of pressing in a new set of bearings with various sockets or other tools I had to hand. So I turned to the ever talented @danson67 who was able to fabricate me a pair of drifts specific to my size requirements.
Given that the fork is now complete, I had to hunt down a stem that suited, which meant I wanted something with minimal rise, and without a cable guide. Finally scored a Syncros Cattleprod on eBay for a competitive price.
So today I finally got to do a mock-up with the bike back on its wheels, including a fully intact fork.
I’ve still got to source a decal set, and I’m not sure which way to go seatpost wise as my USE Ti post just seems a tight fit with the ‘correct’ shim, and a loose fit with the next size down.
I’ve got a complete XT or XTR groupset to hand, with a little bit of cleaning to do, then just got to decide what to attach.
Any update on the seatpost? I'm having very similar trouble with mine. Ti seatpost measures near-as-dammit 25.4mm. Purchased 25.4 - 27.2 Cane Creek shim (which is much longer that the shim that came with the Merlin and so I thought will be healthier for the frame). Won't ruddy fit. Measure outside of shim whilst slid over the post - near-as-dammit 27.2mm. It seems the fractions are adding-up somewhere and the tolerance of the Merlin seat-tube is very intolerant! A regular 27.2 seatpost slips in as it should. I could use the old shim but it's not very long at all - from memory barely below the seat-stay junction
