Hinde Racing Columbus Zonal XC build thread

[pwebb]

unintentional build up of a NOS frame from Dave Hinde Racing in Northwich - I had popped in primarily to discuss the history of the last Hinde bike I restored and discussion turned to this - that was built up for shop display , then put back into storage for 20 years...

 

[pwebb]

...wasn't that familiar with Zonal tubing - but it is not scandium, just similar and ludicrously light - it feels like you could mark it with your thumbnail. I am used to steel frames of all types and grades but this is only the 2nd alu frame I have tackled as I normally stick to retro steel builds.



Hinde sell a lot of Mavic rims so these will do for this build ( not strictly period correct but absolutely typical of what DHR would have used




the rest of this build is going to be an exercise in finding relevant bits from my hoarde that is 'modern' ( to me anyway ) 1 1/8 steerer and headset, 27.2 seatpost and ( thankfully) standard 68mm BSA BB...

 

[pwebb]

I had an icon graphite chainset I have been keeping for a long time and a suitable fork that are both the same colour and not a million miles from the sort of metallic bronze/brown that this frame is coated in ( not very well painted and not durable at all it has to be said) I have some very nice Renthal chainrings that I have been keeping , along with a mix of other bits and bobs. As the frame is so light, it seems a shame to burden it with suspension fork and/or disc brakes so it will be rigid fork ( I will source something exotic in future) and cantis. The frame also has no braze ons ( naturally) and only cable routing as though it were going to have discs and all the cables associated with those ( this being one of those funny frames in the crossover period between v brakes and disc). The cable stops are not right for cantis with no bridge on the rear and no hanger up front - so a little improv will be needed


rolling chassis mock up to check proportions

 

[pwebb]

at this stage I needed to source a fair few things and was wondering what type of shifting to use , after some expert advice on this forum - I now have some very clicky and positive feeling dura ace shifters mated to Paul thumbies - these look nice and retro and will work with a variety of mechs etc.




a brief pause while I dealt with Storm Daragh flooding my basement :-( ( and I live at the top of the hill so you can imagine what it was like at the bottom)

 

[pwebb]

my first mistake - I had intended to use a 105 front mech and set up as 2x - but then looked at the cable stops and thought, oh dear I kind of assumed bottom pull when this was clearly a top pull cable route - my bad.
Fortunately I was helped out here by another forum member who has a stash of components and delivered to my door the day after I asked - what super people you meet in this forum and big thanks to Colin - especially as he is not fully mobile yet after a recent op - very humbling.
Front mech fitted and realized I was going to have fun and games trying different BB lengths to get chainline right - a bit of a goldilocks type situation ensued with 113mm not being long enough to allow the chainrings to clear the stays and 122 mm being a tad too long for the extension of the front mech to reach - so looks like 116mm is optimum for this frame.







I am also not quite happy with how this GRX rear mech sits too high and too far forward to be ideal for the mahoosive freewheel - there is a fine art to getting these wide-range cassettes and mechs to work with older hangers from 2+ decades ago

 

[pwebb]

resolved the issue of front cable hanger being too tight a squeeze for the front brake cable to sit nicely - Condor cycles do a 1 1/8th one with a deeper profile and a cable guide that sits a lot further down the head tube - a welcome find as all my stock of cable hangers turned out to be for 1" steerer ( understandably) I also found a lighter Deda seat post and junked the stupidly heavy (400mm) Surly one that was the only 27.2 I had gathering dust, surly by name, surly by nature - they don't really do 'lightweight'

I still haven't properly resolved the cable routing and opted to do a temporary job for now - and plan something more eloquent and neat in the new year - I really need to find some cable ends that fit 4 and 5 mm outers but that have a larger size flange that will lock into the cable guides on this frame and allow me to extend a length of bare inner cable between the cable guides on the top tube . The lash up for now is a bit ugly on the drive side of the bike compared to the clean look of the frame without:

 

[pwebb]

I managed to find some NOS Ritchey brake blocks ( yes I know its tiny detail but) that 1.) have the right threaded posts and 2.) are so much better than anything else I could find quality wise and a whole heap better than the orange rubbery things I had resorted to before.

I am more used to cantis that take non threaded 'posts' and didn't have a ready supply of the correct size and fitting - I ordered soem spare pads as a precaution as I doubt the ebay seller in question has too much stock of these ( old crappy quality ones at the bottom of the pic)



Neo Retro cantis are a cinch to fit and pleasure to adjust although I completely forgot I would need straddle cables and hangers so have improvised using the center cable hangers I bought in bulk for a vintage Falcon (Weinmann centrepull) build - I think they work aok and are very nearly achieving the desirable 90 degree angle between brake caliper and straddle cable for maximum leverage.

One point of note - Neo Retro cantis do not use the 3 little spring holes in the canti bosses, but instead have their own way to tension the spring - this is useful for damaged or painted up canti bosses and ultimately makes the cantis much more adjustable each side with nothign more than an allen key.

 

[pwebb]

shakedown ride today I am more or less happy with the end result - it is certainly light and responsive , but that rear mech needs to go and a Deore/XT mech (SGS shadow with clutch I think) substituted so it sits in the right place ( GRX obviously designed for 700C gravel bikes). I also will sort a nicer alu or carbon rigid fork when I geta round to it - but for now the fork matches the crankset and is the right proportions at least, if a little low rent ( it is becoming ever harder to find NOS rigid forks these days)

 

[grantoury]

I love the colours on this.

@Imlach check it out.