Diamondback Apex build

[twain]

Hi all, i think this is my first posting in this section regarding a build....so here goes:

Thought i'd put some back story to it....
This bike is the reason i found retrobike, so its fitting that this build should bring it full circle.
I posted a wanted ad in 2012 requesting assitance to find my beloved DB Apex frame that was mercilessly slaughtered in the dark hours of the night.

after a short burst of hunting, my passion wained and burned out over the years settling on the idea that its not going to come up anytime soon if at all.....

so, occasional glances in the usual places online, and the local printed ads, whenever memory was stirred, slowly got me to a post by Ultrazenith in the 'BOTM' thread a little over a month ago.
i saw the picture of his bike - and immediately recalled the breif fleeting time i spent on it in the summer circa 2008-09.
In true retrobike fashion, i PM'd him just to congratulate him on his build and shared a little of my sob story in the process.
What i didn't expect, is for him to return my message explaining how he is wishing to pass on the frame after many faithful years service.

After an initial [and controlled] scream of excitement, we settled on what and how much i was wishing to relieve him of.

that brings us to today with me being the proud recipient of:










i've already got a build in mind. details to be divulged later (although you could get an idea by scrolling thorugh my wanted ads of recent )

i know its not up there with some of the other builds on this forum, but i'm actually pretty excited to get this built up and bombing round the streets of Brighton and across the Downs this summer. Need to make up for lost opportunities with this here bike

 

[twain]

not sure who's following this, but here is a quick update:
so far i have received:
LX cranks (black)
LX gear/brake lever combis
LX Cantis
Mavic rims/LX hubs

pics will be posted when i get a rolling frame sorted on my lunch break.... maybe tomorrow.

 

[twain]

got wheels.

 

[Dossa]

Re:

Well I'm following the build! great work and good story with it, too

Looking forward to more progress.

 

[kyle888]

Re:

Interested to see where this goes!

 

[twain]

Re:

Tomorrow will hopefully bring a headset and bottom bracket installation....
Hubs need a service and frame needs cleaning a little.
I've been considering a radical paint job. But think ill just build this as is and see what happens.....

 

[shinobi]

Re:

Hi should be a good un great colour and groupset choice , i have always liked that lx it looks great and works really well.
Paul

 

[twain]

right, so between yesterday and today i have:

Stripped the old rim tape off
Removed the rogue ball bearing from rear hub
installed headset
installed bottom bracket.


i found pulling the rim tape slowly and at 90 degrees to the rim made sure it took off as much of the glue residue as possible. will need to remove the rest by cif or nail varnish remover.



i ran half the new rim tape into the rim to see how it fits (nice and snug ):






the rogue ball bearing....all other bearings were present and correct, so no idea where this one came from...:?




then on to the headset. very carefully inserting one cup at a time. dab of grease to ease it in:










then on to the Bottom bracket. i hand turned it in to check threads were clean. added a dab of grease and checked te crank/chainring clearance before tightening and fully installing the BB:





then took to the rear mech - stripped it to see what state the jockeys were in. not great, but think i have some spares at home. some corrosion/pitting on the cage, but may take my dremel to that if i can be bothered and respray the backing plate black. might see if i can get a sealed bearing centreon jockey wheel to tart that up a bit :





pics arent the best quality. phone/potato camera

if i can get bars and a stem im happy with in the next week, i'll have a bike i can put together i actually have bars/stem i could mock up with actually...so may just use them to get it all together.

we'll see....

 

[ultrazenith]

Glad to see your build coming along nicely! The colour of the paintwork really came out well in some of the photos.

Just to add my two pence worth to the story, I was really happy when Twain got in touch with me about my Apex and agreed to give it a new home. It quickly became clear the frame would be going to a good home, where it would be appreciated and, most importantly ridden and enjoyed The wife is happy as well, because it looks like I exchanged one red frame (Apex) for another (Rourke 853).

 

[twain]

Glad to see your build coming along nicely! The colour of the paintwork really came out well in some of the photos.

Just to add my two pence worth to the story, I was really happy when Twain got in touch with me about my Apex and agreed to give it a new home. It quickly became clear the frame would be going to a good home, where it would be appreciated and, most importantly ridden and enjoyed The wife is happy as well, because it looks like I exchanged one red frame (Apex) for another (Rourke 853).

i've got big things planned for this beaut - its a keeper thats for sure