Bontrager ‘96 Privateer comp resto
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Small progress update:
Picked up some RST mozo pro forks with a 1” steerer for very reasonable money, I was hoping they would be ‘95/6 but as it turns out they are a little later and date stamped April ‘97
Good period reviews for and I like the chunky look, I will rebuild them when I get the bike running.
Had a disastrous attempt at threading the steerer myself as I must have started off at an angle, despite practicing on the offcut, I’m usually ok at this kind of thing but it really wasn’t my day!
After a cuppa and a think I realised the dead Rock shox which came with the bike had a nice threaded 1” steerer which is bonded/ interference in the crown, so I set about liberating them with an angle grinder.
After a careful cut down the crown ‘stump’ and wiggling with a big screwdriver the remnants of the crown just tapped off revealing a lovely ready made steerer.
I fitted the RST reducer sleeve then into the crown clamp and all looks pretty good, happy days hopefully
Picked up some RST mozo pro forks with a 1” steerer for very reasonable money, I was hoping they would be ‘95/6 but as it turns out they are a little later and date stamped April ‘97
Good period reviews for and I like the chunky look, I will rebuild them when I get the bike running.
Had a disastrous attempt at threading the steerer myself as I must have started off at an angle, despite practicing on the offcut, I’m usually ok at this kind of thing but it really wasn’t my day!
After a cuppa and a think I realised the dead Rock shox which came with the bike had a nice threaded 1” steerer which is bonded/ interference in the crown, so I set about liberating them with an angle grinder.
After a careful cut down the crown ‘stump’ and wiggling with a big screwdriver the remnants of the crown just tapped off revealing a lovely ready made steerer.
I fitted the RST reducer sleeve then into the crown clamp and all looks pretty good, happy days hopefully
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2manyoranges
Old School Grand Master
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Brutal
I like it.
I like it.
You know it’s been too long when you have to search for your own thread 
So… had an issue with the nice Bontrager gusseted stem, I guess rust and manglement over the years had destroyed the fork tube clamping end.
The little curved bit just visible below is the top of the original chamfer cut so there was not a huge amount of steel missing
Recently I’ve been in the mood for fixing things rather than buying again which, in the case of this stem, looked to be quite pricey.
I remembered that I had a Kona 1” stem in the parts stash with a very long down tube that could afford to lose an inch or so
Angle grinder time
Then we have this, the velocity stem was a thicker gauge but that can only make it stronger right?
I know Keith wouldn’t approve of using a MIG welder but I don’t have a TIG so it will have to do
I know I’m not winning any awards for that welding but plenty of power and penetration and spent all the time getting it aligned so that it’s sure to fit, then a little careful time with the finger sander and some black plasticote and voila!
That’s the first time I’ve welded a bike, well a bit of one anyway, very satisfying to do.
I suppose I should get on with building it up and riding it soon.
So… had an issue with the nice Bontrager gusseted stem, I guess rust and manglement over the years had destroyed the fork tube clamping end.
The little curved bit just visible below is the top of the original chamfer cut so there was not a huge amount of steel missing
Recently I’ve been in the mood for fixing things rather than buying again which, in the case of this stem, looked to be quite pricey.
I remembered that I had a Kona 1” stem in the parts stash with a very long down tube that could afford to lose an inch or so
Angle grinder time
Then we have this, the velocity stem was a thicker gauge but that can only make it stronger right?
I know Keith wouldn’t approve of using a MIG welder but I don’t have a TIG so it will have to do
I know I’m not winning any awards for that welding but plenty of power and penetration and spent all the time getting it aligned so that it’s sure to fit, then a little careful time with the finger sander and some black plasticote and voila!
That’s the first time I’ve welded a bike, well a bit of one anyway, very satisfying to do.
I suppose I should get on with building it up and riding it soon.
Please don't. I think we're all enjoying the full throttle approach to the build
Very kind thanks
Not sure there’s anything left that needs cutting or welding unfortunately
br0qn
Retro Guru
That’s the first time I’ve welded a bike, well a bit of one anyway, very satisfying to do.
I suppose I should get on with building it up and riding it soon.
That is pretty badass.
