My Muddys

[OldBlokOldBikes]

I'm currently - and somewhat unexpectedly - restoring three Muddy Foxes. I used to ride a rather nice 531 Falcon road bike, until it got stolen from my garage about 13 years ago, although if I'm honest I'd hardly ridden it for 5 years by then.

I decided to get back in to cycling and my dad kindly gave me his Peugeot road bike (c.1979) I've ridden it a few times, but it's preposterously high geared for my weedy legs and knackered knees (thanks, football) on the hills where I live. It's also exceedingly uncomfortable because the roads here are very badly maintained. So that idea sort of stalled. These roads need lower gears and fatter tyres.

Last week I acquired a Muddy Fox Trailblazer, which initially I thought was a mountain bike, but on closer inspection it's a hybrid, I suppose. Or a 29er if you prefer. It has 700c wheels, anyway. And rather lovely curved rear stays. (In all pictures excuse the mess in the kitchen - it's small and it has two bikes in it but all trace will be gone before breakfast if the bikes and I are to survive)

Anyway, the wheels on it are a bit out of true, so I had a look on eBay for spares. Having looked to see how much the Trailblazer was worth (still don't know - couldn't find any) I noticed that Muddy Foxes don't get much love, so I ended up buying two more. It was when I got them home and put them next to the Trailblazer that I noticed that it had 700c wheels.

So I now have a MTB (20" Pathfinder), a hybrid/29er thing (Trailblazer 21") and my OH has an MTB (18" Seeker) All for £55. I'm ecstatic! No pictures of the Pathfinder for now as it's in the shed, and I can't get far enough away from the others to show the whole bike, but here is some Seeker:

My plans are simple - replace the bits that are broken and then maintain them and use them. They could all do with some paint, especially the Trailblazer, which also needs a new headset, BB and front brakes. And a cassette. And a 38 tooth biopace chainring. Otherwise it's perfect! Actually I'm going to get some drop bars on it and turn it into a poor man's adventure bike and use it for commuting on smooth tyres, saving the Pathfinder for proper off-road stuff. From the old catalogues I've seen here it seems the Trailblazer in earlier versions came with drop bars, and my frame does seem to have a more 'road' geometry - it's 21" bit has an top-tube an inch shorter than the 20" Pathfinder, for example.

I expect the Seeker to have an easier time of it as a park and tow-path bike. It seriously needs a new bottom bracket and left-hand crank (the bolt was loose and the square hole is round) plus new cables - but apart from that is pretty original, and I think fully functional.

Anyway, that's me and the bikes. Hopefully I'll have some updates as time goes on. If anyone has any info on the Trailblazer (think mine might be 92? It has biopace and LX) I'd be very appreciative.

 

[jonnyboy666]

Re:

liking the Seeker (mega?) i had that bike back in 1990/1, i had just finished rebuilding it, even had it painted then it got stolen. but it inspired this:-

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=133147&hilit=+muddy+fox

 

[OldBlokOldBikes]

Re: Re:

liking the Seeker (mega?) i had that bike back in 1990/1, i had just finished rebuilding it, even had it painted then it got stolen. but it inspired this:-

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=133147&hilit=+muddy+fox

Yours is a much higher standard than mine will be - it's great! Sadly these have to share a shed with a lawnmower and garden tools, so gorgeous paint would be wasted on them!

The Seeker is a 1989 I think - it certainly seems to be the same as this - download/file.php?id=14168

The Pathfinder is a 1990 - the same as the one in the Katana brochure - viewtopic.php?t=138710

And I don't know anything about the Trailblazer!

The Muddy Fox range seems strange to me with not much distinction between bikes, but from what I gather the Seeker was higher up the range than the Pathfinder.

 

[jonnyboy666]

Re:

as i understand it the courier comp (what i have) and the seeker you have were the same frame, the differences being spec. the seeker had suntour xce, equivalent to shimano lx, my courier had 400lx which was more basic, when i rebuilt mine i wanted to do a suntour build so went for a mix of suntour xc comp and pro which has been really nice.

i like these old muddy fox bikes, they are cool.

 

[OldBlokOldBikes]

Thanks - wish I'd bagged the Seeker myself now, but size-wise it's better for my OH to have that and for me to have the larger Pathfinder. Ah well

I read your thread: the period stuff you've put on looks lovely. These though will be getting things replaced with their modern equivalents as things wear out. The xce chainset looks lovely though, so it's a real shame the left crank is knackered - and it isn't even the original, it's a Shimano one. The spindle in the pedal is bent too I've noticed, so I suspect some sort of accident at some point, which perhaps also explains the looseness in the BB. The wheels are still on the original hubs and spin quite well, but will need some new grease.

It's the Trailblazer I'm most looking forward to building up though. My dad said he's still ride his Peugeot if it had flat bars, and I want drop bars on the Trailbalzer, so I might just swap them to see how (ridiculous) it looks. I'm hoping to emerge with something inbetween a 1988 Trailobalzer and a Surly Long Haul Trucker. We shall see what I actually get! (When I've got hold of some suitably budget bar-end shifters)

1988 Trailblazer - viewtopic.php?f=9&t=275565

 

[mrgumby]

I had an 89 seeker like yours that i sold to someone on here. And a 1990 pathfinder as well, but sold that to a mate. Is it the neon blue version or the sparkly dark blue?
Nice bikes..

 

[drcarlos]

I've had a few pass through my hands and the 1989 bikes are well proportioned and comfortable, the 1990 range were somewhat ruined by overly long and flat stems, I changed the one on my 1990 Prestige Comp to something a bit shorter with some rise and it made a hell of a difference, worth doing on the Pathfinder in my experience too as I used to use a shorter stem on my old one.
The XCE on the Seeker was at a similar level to Shimano 400/500LX and on the whole fairly decent, In 1991 the Seeker actually got a 500LX group, parts for XCE do come up from time to time and a replacement crankset shouldn't break the bank.

Carl.

 

[OldBlokOldBikes]

I had to get the Seeker out the shed this morning to take to the LBS because my bash 'n' bodge method of getting the bottom bracket out wasn't working. So I took the opportunity to take pictures of 'the fleet' in the idylic surroundings of 'leaning against the back wall near the bins'

Seeker: (it does have a complete front wheel, I'm just useless with a phone camera)


Pathfinder (someone has already changed the stem, @drcarlos)


Trailblazer (the LBS says the wheels are true-able - result!)


Carbolite Peugeot (needs BB threads cleaning as I can't get the new one in)

 

[mrgumby]

Very nice.. Neon blue was the better (and rarer) colour for the pathfinder.

Ive got a 1989 pathfinder stem in the shed that would work, ill dig it out and take a picture..

 

[OldBlokOldBikes]

Thanks. We're going for a family bike ride this weekend; the three of us, two quarter-century old Muddy Foxes and this bike-shaped-object



I'll have a better idea then of what needs doing. The Seeker will be ready to collect on Saturday so by Sunday morning it will have smooth pedals, two cranks (taking the XCE one off for now and sticking on a cheap Decathlon one I have lying around. Will keep an eye out for a LH crank) and new cables. I've actually ridden the Pathfinder and it seems ok apart from the terrible brakes - they are tonight's job.