Guinessisgoodforyou
rBotM Winner
I tell my wife everything, shes still here. I Think it will bite you in the arse if you're deceptive imo.
1992 Roberts Black Leopard
- Thread starter Tsundere
- Start date
Replacing the XTR was never going to be easy, without spending £££££'s it will inevitably end up being something of a downgrade, the aim is to try and keep it as nice as possible in terms of practicality, functionality and aesthetics.
I still have some of the original components, the XT seatpost and pedals are in amazing condition and will remain, as will the minty black ITM 'Super Alloy Ultralight' bar. And so with all that black and XT going on the braking system is an easy shout. The bike came with a Rohloff S-L-T 99 chain which I sold with the XTR, however I managed to snag a NOS one for a very reasonable price a few months ago. I also have a silky smooth UN-73 BB.
The drive train and wheelset will also conform to the black theme.
I still have some of the original components, the XT seatpost and pedals are in amazing condition and will remain, as will the minty black ITM 'Super Alloy Ultralight' bar. And so with all that black and XT going on the braking system is an easy shout. The bike came with a Rohloff S-L-T 99 chain which I sold with the XTR, however I managed to snag a NOS one for a very reasonable price a few months ago. I also have a silky smooth UN-73 BB.
The drive train and wheelset will also conform to the black theme.
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Guinessisgoodforyou
rBotM Winner
This is going to look really nice.
I hope so.
I toyed with dirt drops, and the final decision was only made this morning. However, as all the bits I had left from the original build (except the awful saddle) were in such great condition, including the handlebar, and with another candidate bike perhaps better suited to drop bars, I thought I'd keep it as original as possible. The only good part I'm not reusing is the Girvin stem as it's really not my cup of tea and wouldn't suit the finished build.
Guinessisgoodforyou
rBotM Winner
I have never tried one, in theory a nice idea. In practice no idea
I've had two now, I can see why some people like them, but it's a lot of extra weight for a little extra comfort, plus you lose a little bit of the feedback from the trail.I have never tried one, in theory a nice idea. In practice no idea
Wheelset is ready.
Tyres are NOS and they have that white excretion thing going on, I'd like to try the oven thing however we have an old Aga and getting a stable and even 90 degrees is pretty much impossible
The drive train will be Mavic Gao Dakar too, bought originally with this bike in mind, then almost used on another build but really not suited to it, I think it's going to go perfectly on the Roberts and will certainly help to banish the memory of the XTR.
The Mavic rims, hubs, headset, derailleurs and chainrings are all fantastic and ideal for the build both aesthetically and in terms of reliability and serviceability. Still 50/50 on the shifters though, I have some lovely M732 XT thumbies and M735 brifters, either would suit the rest of the build, the XT thumbies are my favourite shifters from that period, with the brifters being a decent plan B. As far as the Mavic shifters are concerned I've found several reviews and reports during my research that put me off, it seems they were cheaply made compared to the rest of the group and prone to sticking or even breaking, so as interesting as they look it might not be wise to use them.
I'm also not completely sold on the Mavic crank arms, not only would any decent black pair look better in my opinion, these Mavic crank arms according to some reports are prone to bending, one RBer described them as being made of cheese, this bike is going to be a rider, specifically intended for some off road bike-packing tours I've got planned for next year, so reliability far outweighs the superficial bonus matching rings and cranks might offer.
I'd be interested in any thoughts re the cranks, maybe I'm fixating on a couple of scare stories
Tyres are NOS and they have that white excretion thing going on, I'd like to try the oven thing however we have an old Aga and getting a stable and even 90 degrees is pretty much impossible
The drive train will be Mavic Gao Dakar too, bought originally with this bike in mind, then almost used on another build but really not suited to it, I think it's going to go perfectly on the Roberts and will certainly help to banish the memory of the XTR.
The Mavic rims, hubs, headset, derailleurs and chainrings are all fantastic and ideal for the build both aesthetically and in terms of reliability and serviceability. Still 50/50 on the shifters though, I have some lovely M732 XT thumbies and M735 brifters, either would suit the rest of the build, the XT thumbies are my favourite shifters from that period, with the brifters being a decent plan B. As far as the Mavic shifters are concerned I've found several reviews and reports during my research that put me off, it seems they were cheaply made compared to the rest of the group and prone to sticking or even breaking, so as interesting as they look it might not be wise to use them.
I'm also not completely sold on the Mavic crank arms, not only would any decent black pair look better in my opinion, these Mavic crank arms according to some reports are prone to bending, one RBer described them as being made of cheese, this bike is going to be a rider, specifically intended for some off road bike-packing tours I've got planned for next year, so reliability far outweighs the superficial bonus matching rings and cranks might offer.
I'd be interested in any thoughts re the cranks, maybe I'm fixating on a couple of scare stories
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27motorhead
Old School Grand Master
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Some very tasty bits here! 
Far more interesting than the lovely, but a bit vanilla XTR group you had!
Good luck with the oven treatment of them tyres!!! Surely the temp in your big cast-iron Aga lump can't vary that much? The temp of our fan assisted Bosch is all over the shop...
Far more interesting than the lovely, but a bit vanilla XTR group you had!Good luck with the oven treatment of them tyres!!! Surely the temp in your big cast-iron Aga lump can't vary that much? The temp of our fan assisted Bosch is all over the shop...
Mod-Master
Cannondale Fan
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What will you do with the xtr?
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