Stump_Jumper
Dirt Disciple
Good afternoon all,
I made an impulse purchase last night..as the title suggests, I bought a 16” ‘96 Zaskar “LE”for not an awful lot of money. I say “LE” because it is hardly top spec!
I have been loosely looking for one in this size for a while, and although this one is far from perfect, I thought it was an ok starting point for a bit of a project.
The vendor rescued this one from 20 odd years of slumber. It has had a strip down and clean and various components from a parts bin fitted.
Brief spec as follows:
‘96 Zaskar LE Frame, (small dent in rear seat stay)
Manitou Comp forks, fully stripped and rebuilt with new elastomers
LX (possibly M539) crank arms
Pace 44t outer ring, others unknown
Rear cassette unknown
Headset and BB unknown
Front and rear XT derallliers
LX 8 speed shifters
Bontrager bars
Kore Stem
Use suspension seatpost
Mavic 230 rims with LX hubs
Brakes unknown
I have not received the bike yet, and will
Update with a full breakdown once it arrives.
In the meantime, I would value any input/thoughts on the direction to take with this bike, bearing in mind it’s a bit of a ‘banger’.
Do I strip it and rebuild it with XT or XTR kit From circa ‘96, if so what sort of £ would I be looking at?
What components would you keep, and what would you ditch?
Do I leave the dent alone?
it’s currently got original decals on it, which my brain says to keep, however I do prefer the earlier Zaskar details.
also not a huge fan of the blue/yellow decals/Tyres/cables.
Tyres will probably be swapped for some gum wall smokes/darts when I find some.
I don’t want to spend a fortune on it, but want something that’s a decent spec, light and suits the era of the bike, so any thoughts about how you would approach this project are greatly appreciated!
Cheers, Paul.
Pics from vendor below:
I made an impulse purchase last night..as the title suggests, I bought a 16” ‘96 Zaskar “LE”for not an awful lot of money. I say “LE” because it is hardly top spec!
I have been loosely looking for one in this size for a while, and although this one is far from perfect, I thought it was an ok starting point for a bit of a project.
The vendor rescued this one from 20 odd years of slumber. It has had a strip down and clean and various components from a parts bin fitted.
Brief spec as follows:
‘96 Zaskar LE Frame, (small dent in rear seat stay)
Manitou Comp forks, fully stripped and rebuilt with new elastomers
LX (possibly M539) crank arms
Pace 44t outer ring, others unknown
Rear cassette unknown
Headset and BB unknown
Front and rear XT derallliers
LX 8 speed shifters
Bontrager bars
Kore Stem
Use suspension seatpost
Mavic 230 rims with LX hubs
Brakes unknown
I have not received the bike yet, and will
Update with a full breakdown once it arrives.
In the meantime, I would value any input/thoughts on the direction to take with this bike, bearing in mind it’s a bit of a ‘banger’.
Do I strip it and rebuild it with XT or XTR kit From circa ‘96, if so what sort of £ would I be looking at?
What components would you keep, and what would you ditch?
Do I leave the dent alone?
it’s currently got original decals on it, which my brain says to keep, however I do prefer the earlier Zaskar details.
also not a huge fan of the blue/yellow decals/Tyres/cables.
Tyres will probably be swapped for some gum wall smokes/darts when I find some.
I don’t want to spend a fortune on it, but want something that’s a decent spec, light and suits the era of the bike, so any thoughts about how you would approach this project are greatly appreciated!
Cheers, Paul.
Pics from vendor below:
