A newbie and his bikes

[A.D.R]

I joined here and posted on the intro thread back in October so its probably about time I posted some pics of my bikes.

Don't get excited there's nothing exotic or exciting, their all low end models. I've one or two questions about them too.

First up is my Carrera Krakatoa Flex bought in 1993? from my sisters then boyfriend. Its had some "upgrades" since then, I replaced the original bullhorn handlebars when I noticed a bend in them. And swapped out the rigid fork and girven copy flex stem for a 2nd hand set of RST380 forks and kalloy stem from the local LBS 12 years ago, the front canti's were swapped for V's using a travel agent with the original Altus A20 levers. aside from the above, the chain and a tyres everything is original (chainset, cassette and chain really need replacing tbh, looking at it now i regret getting the suspension fork fitted looks a little unbalanced with it)

Next is my Raleigh Special Products 150, its a 1999 (bought in 2000) so not really retro, used mainly for commuting until recently when it was replaced by a Carrera Fury through my works cycle 2 work scheme. Aside from the chain, tyres and a set of brake blocks its all original. Mech hangers bent very slightly from a crash that popped my collar bone.

And finally is a bit of a recent windfall from a friend of the wife. A Marin Hawkhill, 1994 I think, AceraX groupset, original Marin lite tyres (faded though, originally grey i think but they've gone black in places), hideous adjustable 1" stem fitted with a shim. Nice ride though.

Question wise can anyone tell me If the Carrera frame is all butted Tange tubing or just the main tubes and likewise with the Marin i.e. is it worth spending time and money sorting them.

Thanks

Andy

 

[markwashington]

Very nice, The Raleigh is a 2000 model, the 1999 was all yellow with black Manitou Spyder forks.

I remember a friend of mine had one of those Carreras, I think you're spot on with the date. One of a similar style features in the first edition of The Bike Book. I'm not sure about the frame though, sorry.

 

[Reluctant]

http://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/Bike ... K8uE4dWySo

There's a link to Bikepedia's page on the Hawkhill. I'd take it with a pinch of salt, it seems to be a US spec bike, but it gives you an idea. From what I remember of Marin in the mid nineties, they were fairly sneaky with their tubeset labels. You might find that only the seat tube is butted cro-moly, the rest will be plain guage and the rear triangle might even be hi ten. It's worth sorting to an original spec level, but not upgrading in my opinion. An original stem should be fairly easy to pick up here or on ebay for around a tenner.

 

[A.D.R]

Markwashington: Yeah now I think about it, it is a 2000, I got it in 2001. Don't suppose you know where I could get a new mech hanger for it?

Relcutant: I had my suspicions about the tubing, the label on the seat tube says "Tange custom tube set, triple butted cr-mo exclusive to Marin" But it seemed too good to be true on Marins base model.

I'm Just wondering if the Carrera is the same - chromo Main tubes or seat tube only

The Hawkhills rear gear shifter is stuck so I was thinking of fitting a cheap set of thumbies I got of ebay and cutting the trigger shifter mounts off the brake levers or is that just too rough and ready

Andy

 

[Koupe]

Yeah now I think about it, it is a 2000, I got it in 2001. Don't suppose you know where I could get a new mech hanger for it?

I'm 96.75% sure this is the right one, comparing it with the slot on my RSP frame. Seems a bit pricey, but maybe that's just me :?