2005 Rotec RL9 rebuild

Love it, great build and story. What pedals are you running? Atomlabs?
The pics are a combination of Funn, Atomlab Aircorp and mk1 Crank Bros Mallets. The Aircorps felt great but the bearings lasted five minutes the pedals were so thin, and the Funns weren't the best feeling but lasted a while. I do have some Atomlab Trailkings but they're earmarked for the M1. I'm also a predominantly clipless rider these days though and have been for a long time so the Mallets will likely go on this when I get around to riding it.
 
Ha, love the trailkings, got a set stashed away along with some original Flatboy and Cully's.
Would love to find a set of the original Atomic Industry pedals before they became Atomlab.
 
Ha, love the trailkings, got a set stashed away along with some original Flatboy and Cully's.
Would love to find a set of the original Atomic Industry pedals before they became Atomlab.
I had a pair, killed them (bent both axles), and had them replaced under warranty with the later style in the pics above (which I then sold). Two bad decisions, the originals were amazing pedals both in grip and looks/manufacturing. The issue they did have was the axles were too thin at the end and unsupported so they'd break quite easily. The later ones had undersized bearings so they'd explode on a regular basis. The Trailkings were a much tougher pedal but were narrower and not so stable. Then again I saw the light and moved to clipless for most stuff, and Burgtec for anything flat related. Then again I sold my first set of Penthouse Flats years ago and still kick myself for that too! 😂
 
@Cloverleaf, just doing the same to my RL9 too, first time in a long time! It was all going smoothly until I can't for the life of me find the correct size bearing for the rear shock arm pivot. Thought it was a 15mm ID, 28mm OD and 7mm depth but cannot get the new one to go in more than half way and can't measure the OD of the old one as I had to hammer it out as it was completely seized in. Don't suppose you know what size it should be please??? 20240518_214749.JPG
 
@Cloverleaf, just doing the same to my RL9 too, first time in a long time! It was all going smoothly until I can't for the life of me find the correct size bearing for the rear shock arm pivot. Thought it was a 15mm ID, 28mm OD and 7mm depth but cannot get the new one to go in more than half way and can't measure the OD of the old one as I had to hammer it out as it was completely seized in. Don't suppose you know what size it should be please???View attachment 850558
Let me check but all the bearing recesses were a bit over tight on these frames IMO, exacerbated by how much metal is around them so there's zero give. I'd knock that out and make sure you're not digging into the aluminium and burring it up as that won't be helping you. It's also possible that the bearing itself isn't the best tolerance if it was cheap. I'm absolutely sure that's the correct bearing you've got there though so I'd be inclined to warm the swingarm, bung the bearing in the freezer, and use a little grease before you press the bearings in. You do need to slug them in a little though, and that's easier with a block of wood under it so you can properly hit it without damaging the swingarm. .
 
One of the 'final' pieces I was after was a Hopey steering damper. This one came to me in bits but it was all there so it's been rebuilt (I need to check the oil weight though as it doesn't feel quite right) and fitted. As the bike is currently built with a DM stem rather than the original Diablous one the standard attachment pin needed some modification, and I'm not totally happy with it but it'll do for now as it at least looks the part. More important things taking my time, sadly.

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I also matched a set of the SRAM Guide levers (which are godawful) with a set of Mk1 Code calipers which came from a member on here. Ideally I'd have some Code 7 levers on there too but it fulfils the purpose for now. I might paint the Guide levers grey to at least look a little closer. I was never particularly enamoured with the Codes as I found them a bit grabby but in the end I ran them for several seasons, and they're the brakes I remember the bike with so they're the right ones for the build.
 
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