Three notable updates
Firstly, who's heard of or used
buyee? This is a new source to me. It's an international front-end to Japanese auction sites, including the Japanese version of ebay. You purchase through buyee, who purchase from the seller. Goods are shipped to buyee's warehouses where it can sit for up to 30 days. This means you can collate multiple purchases and have them ship it in one parcel (size permitting). You pay a small % fee to buyee for the transaction.
I trailed it with a used XTR M950 cassette, which including shipping with Fedex and taxes, cost less than £45. A great result, because it's in super condition.
Fitting it to the hub, I noticed there wasn't enough clearance, with the rear spider rubbing on the wider Bulb hub. Luckily I had a spare cassette spacer, and now it spins freely. It's pretty tight but it should work fine.
Secondly, in a curious but brilliant set of events, I've found the original owner of this bike. It's the first time I've ever corresponded with an original owner, so I'm super stoked, especially since he has pictures of the bike from back in the day, and it's various build incarnations. Here's a teaser.
Unsurprisingly, he is based in the south-east of England, not far from where I purchased it back in 2019. He bought it new, full build for...wait for it...deep breath...£5,700
That's north of £10k in today's money. I haven't had the cheek to ask how he could afford it! It was no garage queen and saw a lot of action, raced locally around the south.
He confirmed the disc tab was an after-market addition (he can't remember where or when), and the Bombers it came with were the last forks he had fitted. He was able to confirm it was his due to the modification he made to the top swing arm.
@mk one has rightly pointed out that the BB is a little on the high side. If you look closely, the stays are sloping downwards towards the rear wheel, not parallel to the ground. This is due to the shock, which is longer travel than the original Fox unit. He purchased this later on, but saw that the swing arm would hit the seat-tube. So he filed a small amount off. You might remember on purchase, I noticed there was some foam added around this area too. That was all his work.
I've been toying with returning it to it's correct set-up but at the moment, I've leaving as is. It tells a story about how the bike was used and enjoyed, and neatly demonstrates the era where the technology and set-ups were evolving from one week to the next.
It turns out the owner knows most of the folks I've been chatting with about the bike. He did have the Hope rotor I needed but he gave that away to Jamie for the Rob Warner project! Instead, I grabbed a lovely RaceFace big ring from him. I may not use it, but it's handy to have for now.
Thirdly, the chaps from Mondraker confirmed the chain-guide that Tomi used, and was pictured using in the Spanish "Bike" magazine feature, was a proto-type Roox Chain Dog, the single version, not the Cat and Dog version. The finish is raw steel rather than black, and he changed the plates too. Helpful intel.
For the record, this is the current shopping list. If you have anything in the parts bin that would be suitable, please let me know
Drivetrain
- Shimano XTR SL-M950 right side shifter (rear mech)
- Shimano XTR M950 DH (downhill) cranks and single big ring, 5 bolt spider, and BB (1st gen Octalink). I would consider M952 if it was in great nick.
Brakes
- Any Hope C2 levers/component spares
- Hope C2 (or nearest equivalent) 180mm rotor, 5 bolt
Other
- Hutchinson On The Rocks II or best equivalents incl. Squale, 2.1" minimum, 26" of course. Would also consider other DH tyres of the era e.g., Maxxis Lopes Bling Bling
- X-Lite Ti Kevlar saddle, red or orange, or SDG equivalents incl. Ti Comps, red or yellow kevlar sides, etc.
- Shimano DX PD-M636 peddles
- Roox Chain Dog or DMR chain guide, seat-tube bolt on top, BB bottom half, or best equivalent
- Hope 1st gen rear skewer, silver or red
- Any spare X-Lite headset spacers, red or grey