1993 Brodie Catalyst
- Thread starter rigidftw
- Start date
rigidftw
Retro Guru
The XT headset on the Catalyst had developed a stop slightly off-center a good while ago, meaning it seemingly worked smoothly but centered itself off-center.
It had been over-tightened.
This week I finally came round to inspecting the headset.
I found quite clear marks in the upper cup and some minor marks on the upper race.
The upper race was removed, rotated by a few degrees and reinstalled. This, in combination with some extra careful installation of the rest of the headset, makes for a much better riding bike. Success!
In other news, the XTR rear hub seems to develop a problem with its freewheel mechanism. Coasting and then pedalling produces a loud 'clank' sometimes. And it's getting more frequent.
Is this a common issue?
Are there pawls inside the freehub body. Sounds like one of them is not engaging properly, maybe.
It had been over-tightened.
This week I finally came round to inspecting the headset.
I found quite clear marks in the upper cup and some minor marks on the upper race.
The upper race was removed, rotated by a few degrees and reinstalled. This, in combination with some extra careful installation of the rest of the headset, makes for a much better riding bike. Success!
In other news, the XTR rear hub seems to develop a problem with its freewheel mechanism. Coasting and then pedalling produces a loud 'clank' sometimes. And it's getting more frequent.
Is this a common issue?
Are there pawls inside the freehub body. Sounds like one of them is not engaging properly, maybe.
narcotitlan
Rocky Mountain Fan
What I really like about the thread - and your bike - is how you've made it good for actual riding! Great evolution. How are you getting on with the Suntour shifters upside down? I might do that with mine.
rigidftw
Retro Guru
Thanks!
I grew up riding bikes with trigger style shifters. So doing the shifting under the bars makes more sense to me. It's a bit of a learning curve to get accustomed to the switched sides for front/rear shifting, but I like it. It's different. And for that reason alone it's worth trying.
rigidftw
Retro Guru
I must have posted the red Hügi hubs I got for this bike at some point...I've now got a few sets of Araya RM-20 rims to build a new wheelset for this thing and have replacements, just in case.
There is not much wrong with the M231s, but they do seem a little flimsy. I tend to go easy on them, because I do not fully trust them.
I've got a wheelset with a pair of RM-20s where I had a nasty hit to the front wheel and the rim side wall was bent out severly. The side wall was hammered back in shape and, despite a little hickup while using the brakes, the wheel is fine.
My confidence in these rims is much higher.
The XTR/M231 wheels will be kept in storage for my kids, once they grow tall enough.
As for the wheel build, I'll be using aluminium nipples mimicking the colours of the RM-20 decals: silver, yellow, light green and dark green. The rims themselves are the grey hard-anodized ones.
And yes, red hubs on a red frame might look odd, but the paint on the frame is so bad, a respray is definitely on the cards at some point.
There is not much wrong with the M231s, but they do seem a little flimsy. I tend to go easy on them, because I do not fully trust them.
I've got a wheelset with a pair of RM-20s where I had a nasty hit to the front wheel and the rim side wall was bent out severly. The side wall was hammered back in shape and, despite a little hickup while using the brakes, the wheel is fine.
My confidence in these rims is much higher.
The XTR/M231 wheels will be kept in storage for my kids, once they grow tall enough.
As for the wheel build, I'll be using aluminium nipples mimicking the colours of the RM-20 decals: silver, yellow, light green and dark green. The rims themselves are the grey hard-anodized ones.
And yes, red hubs on a red frame might look odd, but the paint on the frame is so bad, a respray is definitely on the cards at some point.
