Making Plans for Nigel

[retroJIM]

So I've ended up buying this Nigel Dean MTB frame that I'd posted about in the eBay & Marketplace watch forum. Fantastically it arrived this morning (24 hrs after payment!), so now I have to decide what to do with it! It has a slightly unusual paint job that looks better in the flesh than in the photos. I like it.

It weighs 2400g, has 130mm stays, 21" seat tube, 27mm seat post, and a 1" head tube that's 150mm long. There's also plenty of tyre clearance. I think I'm going to turn it into what the marketing people would call a flat bar Gravel bike. I'm wondering about fitting 650b wheels with suitable cantilever brakes or maybe stick with 26 inch wheels with tyres similar to Rene Herse Rat Trap Pass (budget won't stretch to those).

First I need to source a few things, namely a suitable 1 inch fork with a massive steerer tube. Anyway comments and suggestions welcome as nothing is set in stone.

 

[retroJIM]

I've no idea what steel it's made from, 2400g isn't exactly light weight. The frame design is pretty similar to this one which is Reynolds 531 Magnum.

https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads...0’s-mtb-531-frame-campagnolo-groupset.400138/

 

[RetroDavy]

That looks great. Look forward to seeing what you do with it. And also, kudos for for the very best thread title this year!

 

[longun]

Looks ace, cant wait to see it built up.

 

[retroJIM]

I've got some great forks that were generously karma'd to me by @kingoffootball

They should be just the job. The metallic purple clashes with the frame colour so I'll have to re-spray them at some point. Probably black with black stem, bars and post.

But for now I'll leave them as the are.

 

[retroJIM]

Decals!

 

[dirttorpedo]

Cool. Personally I'd stick with some good 26" wheels and fat gravel tires. I'm playing with a couple of old 26er frames with gravel builds.

 

[retroJIM]

I decided to try and build this up to see how it looks and how well it'll fit me. Initially I'm using parts I have available rather than buying stuff so it's a bit of a dogs dinner but I'm sure it'll evolve.

Any purists should stop reading now

First issue I had resolve was with the forks, the steerer tube was threaded but too long for the head tube. I called a couple of local bike shops and none had a die for a 1 inch steerer. So for now I've bodged it with a threadless headset. I've put a 1 1/8" shim around the threads which sit above the headset cups and have used a 1 1/8" Thomson stem. It all seems to work OK but there's no room for spacers so the bars are lower then I'd like.

For the bars I'm going to try some On-One Mary handlebars as they have some rise and lots of back sweep. Not very retro I know!

The wheels comprise ZAC 19 rims with an STX-RC hub on the back and a chunky GT Hub on the front. These are probably 5-6 years newer than the frame and the beefy hubs looks rubbish with the skinny forks. I will change them for something more suitable at some point.

I haven't really decided on a groupset but I do have some STX-RC bits I can use for now.

I'm a bit bored of the usual Deore LX, DX, XT and would like to try something different (Suntour maybe). I'll keep an eye out.

 

[tintin40]

I've no idea what steel it's made from, 2400g isn't exactly light weight.

https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads...0’s-mtb-531-frame-campagnolo-groupset.400138/

me neither . approx 5lb 3 oz. Love the paint work

 

[retroJIM]

I've decided to move this on so it's for sale here.

https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/nigel-dean-frame.456199/