Well, I've had a chance to have a better look now. I'm going to start stripping it down at the weekend but first impressions are positive. It's about 85% original, the usual rusty chips and UV faded fluoro paint from a good portion of time outdoors but the guy I bought it from was a gent, he was well into his bikes and had a good few up on the wall in the garage. The bike is in good mechanical condition; hubs, bb and headset all feel ok but cosmetically it's clearly seen better days.
It has a gripshift for the front mech which has to go so i may as well replace the shifters wholesale. The rear mech is a M739 XT model so although this isn't going to be a period correct stock rebuild, that's a bit too far from original for my liking. Front mech is the original top pull 300LX. Crank is a horrid chinese fixed ring no name thing, obviously i want that a long way from the bike and myself. Given that i'm going to replace the brake levers, I thought I'd replace the brakes too. So..... I've been looking on here and on ebay and I reckon period correct XT/DX stuff is the way to go. When I began riding and admiring mountain bikes 20 years ago, something (anything) that said deore on it was what I wanted for my bike, my 13 year old self was so proud of the deore thumbies on my Kona.
So now, I'm going to treat myself. The single speed thing might have to wait, I'm going to fund the project by selling my road bike (2005 ribble will full campy groupo and carbon forks if anyones interested) which is gathering dust anyway. I will restore the frame, fork, bars and stem. I'm going to indulge in early nineties components and enjoy the process of dismantling, cleaning, polishing, putting back together. I'm going to invest in components that compliment the look and feel of the bike. And then, how cool will I look when I'm teaching my boys how to ride. They will look up to me on my zolatone goddess and will want to emulate me (minus the belly) and will become the retrobikers of the future. I'm going to make a mountain bike alive again (at the very least I need something functional or my boys won't be riding anywhere).
So, bring your suggestions and opinions. I'm torn on the wheels after your comment hamster. Maybe this is going the way of a frame upgrade in the future so I might just buy replacement wheels. Suggestions on rims/hubs? Anyone got any to sell?
Perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself. I apologise for any offence I have caused, I will do this bike justice. If anyone has any components (90-93 XT/DX, flite ti, wheels) please pm me!
cheers
