'94, erm '92..., well '93 Rocky Mountain Cirrus rebuild

[RockiMtn]

Regarding the pulley and cable, have you tried looping it the opposite way, to give a half-figure of eight?

not likely to work as the cable stop is off centre to the non-drive side.

 

[foxb13]

Miracles always come in pairs. I had just bought the Syncros Propost from the French reseller when the vendor of my Cirrus contacted me. While he was tidying the cellar, he stumbled across the original seatpost and proposed to send it to me for an interesting price. This I couldn't refused. A few days later, I was the happy owner of a 3rd gen. Syncros Propost 30.4 x 425mm.

I was just contacted by the first owner of my Cirrus. While reading this thread, he now remembers that the Syncros seatpost was exchanged as there was a crack in it. And he thinks that I'm right with 1993 for the original build. Thanks for the feedback!

 

[foxb13]

So it turns out that my BR-M734 brakeset didn't came with the right shoes. Fortunately, the correct Shimano Deore XT M System brake shoes can still be obtained NOS nowadays







Discrepancy fixed!

 

[foxb13]

..., but finding runnable blackwall Ritchey Megabite Z-Max tires as fitted on most '93 Rocky Mountain bikes is unobtainium.

Sorted. And at a bargain price

 

[minor_LEGEND]

As has been said previously, such a pleasure to read this build & observe your pics.
I too share your enthusiasm for the original Shimano STI levers. Happy you found the tyres you were looking for at a great price too.

GREAT STUFF!

 

[foxb13]

Thanks for the kind words @minor_LEGEND. And happy to share

 

[foxb13]

For you all blackwall haters, my Cirrus now sports a pair of skinwall tires

Well, it's just that Panaracer Smoke/Dart Classic re-issues are more rideable on tracks than my NOS Z-Max, which I'll put on for exhibitions only

 

[foxb13]

Shimano Rapidfires were (and still are) my all-time favorites. I quite don't understand how the Rapidfires Plus are thought as a superior design. Having to handle the gears with the index finger leads to a more lose grab of the handlebar (well, the thumbies were even worse) whereas the handlebar is still firmly grabbed in all circumstances with the Rapidfires, the thumb always being under the handlebar, even when activating the upper shifter. Did I already told you that I opted for the ST-M092 shifters over the ST-M095 ones that were also available in the '93 Shimano catalogue? Not to add that the Cirrus is my only bike with Rapidfire shifters; all the others sport Rapidfire Plus(-like) ones

One more fact I just discovered to favor ST-M092 over ST-M095 is that the latter run Ø1.6 mm brake cable with Ø5 mm outer casing, whereas the former run Ø2 mm cable with Ø6 mm casing. And the brake cable stops on the Cirrus frame are tailored for Ø6 mm casing. Not surprising as it was the standard in the early days of MTB.

 

[foxb13]

I've later discovered that this Syncros Hardcore hub was in fact introduced in 1994, so slightly off by one year from my plans. In retrospect, I even could have gone with a Shimano Parallax hub that was marketed the same year!

Sorted! I don't exactly know when this Pulstar Mombo front suspension hub entered the market, but I own a MTB from 1992 that came originally equipped with Pulstar hubs, the hub shell and Pulstar logo being exactly the same than this suspension model.



Beyond the X-design to accommodate for straight spokes, the Pulstar suspension hub sports an oversize 17mm axle, incorporating the QR skewer.



As outlined in its March 1994 issue, MBUK was apparently not convinced with such an approach [1]. I didn't notice anything wrong on my side, but yes, the action to actuate the QR is quite harsh. Anyway, I find that the Pulstar logo nicely matches the color scheme of the Mag 21 logo/forks

 

[foxb13]

The original Velo-made saddle with Shoulder Holder was found in the UK in a Rocky Mountain garage lot also including Rocky Mountain-branded stem, handlebar and seatpost in 30.4mm, so probably coming from an Expérience MTB. The leather of the saddle didn't have any bad scuffs nor scratches, but was probably exposed for years to the lovely weather of Great Britain I tried to do my best with shoe polish to restore it but it'll probably take another couple years of polishing to make it looks like as how it was manufactured in November 1991. If you know other restoration techniques, please let me know. Some day, I may replace it with something more high-end.

Now replaced with a (much) lighter and far better condition '93 Selle Italia Flite Transalp.