'91 Stumpjumper Time Warp Classic....

[Canuckbiker]

Love this one @abr303, great write up as well. Love seeing a traditional rebuildable bottom bracket with no signs of wear. Everything looks just right with the build, the XT cranks with proper dust caps are a great touch.

That Turbo saddle also looks great, looks like the dye was only needed in areas without logos, great to have an old one with the older logos. What sort of dye was used? I could use a bit of touch up on a couple of my leather saddles. One of my flites seems to have a finishing compound on it above the black which may need to be removed in order to get new dye to take hold. What did your dye process involve?

 

[abr303]

Love this one @abr303, great write up as well. Love seeing a traditional rebuildable bottom bracket with no signs of wear. Everything looks just right with the build, the XT cranks with proper dust caps are a great touch.

That Turbo saddle also looks great, looks like the dye was only needed in areas without logos, great to have an old one with the older logos. What sort of dye was used? I could use a bit of touch up on a couple of my leather saddles. One of my flites seems to have a finishing compound on it above the black which may need to be removed in order to get new dye to take hold. What did your dye process involve?

Cheers @Canuckbiker I won't tell you what I paid for those XT crank caps .... As for sorting the Turbo saddle, I gave it a good clean with some isopropyl after masking off the logos. The dye is a colour restorer I use for my leather seats on my VW Golf, nothing special but worked really well then treated it all after with some leather nourishing balm.

 

[Canuckbiker]

I won't tell you what I paid for those XT crank caps ....

I'm thinking you may not need to, from Poland? If so I just had to have some too and they're on their way

Thanks for the tip on the saddle refurbish, I'll add it to my long to-do list

 

[greencat]

Mikes Bikes…. What a character! Saw him once tell off a customer that you don’t come into his shop to browse… you come to buy and on that note the poor guy did an about face straight back out the front door
As for Steve’s…. I was rarely in the shop itself but worked from a separate workshop/warehouse situated round the back of the premises and got to play and fettle with lots sexy bikes He was a bit of character too… had his fingers in all kinds of pies…. He even had blagged me into being his mic guy for when he would film private weddings for people… not something I like to brag about

Yes, some standout memories from encounters with Mike.

Asked for a bolted bottom bracket and him offering me a nutted one - and then him tossing it over his shoulder when I said I would try elsewhere.

Going in for a replacement helmet after crashing on Drum - and him chiding me for being so daft as to go mountain biking. His shop was full of mountain bikes at the time.

Asking him to fit a bottom bracket and him saying he was just off for a cup of tea, but handing me the tools to have a go on the street.

He was such a grumpy sod, but he did know his stuff - and could be pretty kind at times (even if done with the air of taking pity on the wilfully ignorant).

I love that there is a now a cafe nearby called Mike's Bites (using the same font) which surely must be a tribute to the great man.

With Steve's (later West End Cycles) I always felt like I was in an abusive relationship. Regularly experiencing assaults on wallet and/or intelligence, but still going back because it was the only place to get some parts. My first encounter saw me going in with a slipping chain, going back a week later finding the bike in pieces and declared unfixable - and Steve (assuming he was the fat middle-aged guy who looked like he'd never been on a bike) essentially holding the bike to ransom ie he wanted £7 to put it back together and return it (without having done any work to fix it). I was horrified at forking out a week's worth of food for nothing, but being a naive 18 year old and far from home assumed that's how bike shops worked so paid up. I took it to Henry Burtons in my home town of Stafford - and one replacement cassette/chain later, it was fixed on the same day. Amusingly, the incompetence continues into recent years via West End Cycles at Junction (under new management now I believe). A few years ago, my friend took his electric bike in for a service and it came back with each crank fitted on the wrong side. We pissed ourselves when we realised why the pedals kept falling off.

 

[dmason1969]

Would this snowdonia have been made at Steve’s ( only frame and forks original )

 

[abr303]

Would this snowdonia have been made at Steve’s ( only frame and forks original )

Yes, a bit before my time there but my mate had one back in the day

 

[DHart]

@abr303.... what a wonderful write-up on a great classic! I'm so thrilled to see this.

I bought the exact same bike back in 1991. Still have it today. I hadn't ridden it in very many years until just yesterday, when I decided to dust it off, put air in the tires, and give it a go.

Everything worked perfectly and smoothly, just as it was back in the day. If I had your skills, I'd strip it down and give it a good service, clean, and lube. But I don't have your skills, everything seems to be in fine working order, so perhaps best left as is?

I bought mine in California - San Francisco Bay Area.

Original tires are still in great shape, in spite of sitting flat empty for many, many years.

 

[abr303]

Take it to your local bike shop if you have one nearby…. A little service and check over won’t do it any harm and will give you piece of mind and trouble free riding for the future especially if you intend to ride it regularly again .

 

[DHart]

Take it to your local bike shop if you have one nearby…. A little service and check over won’t do it any harm and will give you piece of mind and trouble free riding for the future especially if you intend to ride it regularly again .

Thank you. Any particular aspect that might make the most sense to pay for service? The deraileurs and brakes seem to be working fine to me.

Clean and lube bottom bracket and headset, perhaps?

 

[abr303]

Thank you. Any particular aspect that might make the most sense to pay for service? The deraileurs and brakes seem to be working fine to me.

Clean and lube bottom bracket and headset, perhaps?

Check for play or tightness/notciy feel in the bearing areas… get the hubs, bb and headset serviced if they don’t feel right …. A good clean with fresh grease and correctly set up again will go along way, replace the bearings if need be too