1992 Rocky Mountain Cirrus

[franx]

Picked this one up a couple of weeks ago. Always wanted a Cirrus and this one had potential for a fun restoration project. Since I'll probably never be able to put my hands on an affordable Yeti Ultimate, I think this is the next best thing in my heart as far as vintage e-stays go, because hey, I'm canadian...

The paint/clear coat or whatever was laid upon the frame originally is in really poor shape, so that is being stripped off. Will be only keeping the rear XT derailleur, possibly the chainrings and the Wolber/Shimano wheels, which I think are original. This won't be a catalog restoration with the Syncros parts and Rock Shox Mag 30. I already have a Manitou 4 in cleaning process that will go on it. Thinking of a black-turquoise-natural alu theme for this one.

 

[zonoskar]

I had the same reasoning for getting a Cirrus as you did (except I'm not Canadian). The Yeti's are unobtainium. Manitou 4's would look cool.

 

[vtwinvince]

These aluminum RM's were prone to corrosion if not stored properly. How does the seat tube look from a cracking point of view?

 

[franx]

@zonoskar; really lovely build with the red straight bladed fork and the Spinergy's!
@vtwinvince; appart from the coat desintegrating, the frame itself is in top condition. No cracks or even dings, only a few scuffs here and there. I'm aiming for a brushed or dull aluminium finish, not mirror polish. The latter is pretty easy to do with cutter paste, but I'm not sure yet how I will achieve the dull finish. Any suggestion welcome...

Here's the frame before coat stripping :

​

 

[franx]

Stripping process. Much more arduous than I expected. Thought it would peel right off given the actual state of the coating. Not so. Not sure how it goes in other countries, but here the strong and effective (but nasty for mommy nature) paint stripper is not sold anymore. What we have availlable now is not as effective. It did work pretty well on an old Cannondale but really struggling on this one.

 

[vtwinvince]

You've got the twin of mine, same paint and decal scheme. I used a stripper, than several grades of sandpaper, as mine looked like something from the Black Lagoon. I left if unpolished, but am thinking of having another go for a mirror finish to match my Stratos.

 

[Retro_Roy]

i'm lazy. i would have left as is. keep all the original decals.
give it a good cleaning, build it and ride it.

 

[franx]

Well you do you my friend, I dont see any fun in either of these propositions

 

[27motorhead]

Nice project. I'm with @Retro_Roy - I like the patina of the discoloured lacquer and original decals, however I fully appreciate it's not for everyone and no doubt with a fresh new respray I'll be eating my own words as I say it looks amazing!

Good luck with the stripping!

 

[zonoskar]

With @franx's bike, the paint is really yellowed, so it's a good idea to remove it. But it's really hard to replicate the standard Cirrus finish as it was raw aluminum (including tooling marks) covered with clearcoat. Anything you do to remove the paint will mess with the raw aluminum, except if you can get hold of an industrial paint stripper (or have lots of patience). Once you start sanding, you'll never get the same finish again, it will look too uniform in the end I was lucky that the paint on mine wasn't yellowed, it was just a bit worn, so I left it alone.

BTW: I don't have the Spinergy wheels in it anymore, but still have the red P-bone forks.