Parkpre Pro\Elite 1994

denco.h1e

Dirt Disciple
One project ends, another one starts. This one's a '94 Parkpre Pro\Elite.

This won't be a catalogue build because the correct seatpost, Ti saddle and bars are proving very hard to find. Plus the OE Pulstar hubs are too blinkin' hard to clean! And since I've been an SPD man for as long as they've been around, Onza pedals won't be going on. And as for Onza bar ends, or bar ends of any sort, well, what can I say? 😉

The majority of the groupset on the '94 bikes was M737 XT and that's what I'm going with, including hubs and cantis.

OE cantis on the '94 bikes were purple Critical Racing but they're hard to track down and likely to be expensive if I did find them.

The wheels came as a package with the frame and forks, but they have miss-matched hubs - Ringle front and a relatively recent late model LX rear because the Ringle cracked, so they'll be rebuilt with the XT hubs.

I was going to fit a matching ControlStem and seatpost from my stock, but then I tracked down a correct PFR stem from a member here, and at a very fair price.

I think I'm only the third owner. The guy I bought the frame, forks and wheels from was sure the person he got the complete bike from was the original owner.

There is one little difference between this '94 bike and the '95 (besides the '95 being threadless, having different decals and silver Critical Racing brakes) and that's the guide loop for the rear brake cable at the top of the seat tube. '94 bikes have a smaller diameter noodle.

The seller broke the bike up to sell the parts separately, and with no decals on the frame I asked him what colour the brakes were and he confirmed purple, and along with the original threaded Mag 21s this marked it out as a '94.

I don't think it's seen much use at all. His wife had been riding it around the local park and they'd fitted Schwalbe street tyres, and from the condition of the forks they look just a couple of moths old. The seals aren't leaking so I might not even rebuild them and just go with new oil at first.

There are a couple of parts I'm still looking for and if anyone has a nice M737 cassette I'll be happy to talk. I purchased a couple from eBay but they aren't that nice. Also I have one pair of almost new M737 cantis, but I need another pair. I don't really want to buy a full set, but if anyone has a pair or a full set at a fair price please PM me.

Parts clean-up starts this weekend. :D

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Beautiful frame. :cool: I'm looking forward to seeing it built.

I don't know if you saw these on eBay:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/116270593619
Star12
I hadn't, and thanks for bringing them to my attention 👍, but the price is a bit too salty for my budget. It's almost as much as I paid for the frame, forks and wheels!

The chap I bought the frame from sold his CR brakes for (I think) £250 and I kind of made my mind up then that I'd head down the XT route.
 
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Fitted a few parts this evening.

Lightly rubbed the frame down with an 800 grit Scotchbrite pad to give it an even satin finish.

BB is a new 107mm Tange. Headset is the bike's original aluminium Tien Hsin - I think I read somewhere they own the FSA brand. The headset's locknut was once anodised purple, but one side is faded to silver, so I guess the bike once stood pretty much unused in direct sunlight for some time.

I've had the ControlTech seatpost since the mid '90's. The titanium seatpost collar is a new purchase.

Forks have had fresh oil this evening and I'm surprised how smooth they are, so I won't be rebuilding them any time soon. They didn't need much cleaning externally, just a bit of detailing. There's an annoying shallow gouge in the centre of the fork yoke. Looks like someone mounted something on the fork brace and used too long a bolt :confused::oops:. I've smoothed the small burrs but that's as far as I'm going with it. While it's not exactly a battle scar it's part of the bike's story, and since this bike isn't going to be wall art, perfection isn't my goal.

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A few more parts went on this afternoon.

M737 chainset and front mech, both purchased a couple of months ago, and a set of XTR pedals nicked from one of my other bikes. The mech had some pretty ingrained dirt and took a while to clean up.

NOS M737 brifters are on Renthal bars with Yeti grips, both of which I've had since BITD. Stem is a cro-mo Parkpre item that's in really nice condition, bought from a member here.

The Flite is new because the online images made it look like the '90s original But side-by-side with my '91 saddle it's only a bears a passing likeness, with the rails being completely different. I'll see how I feel about it as the build progresses, but may be on the lookout for an old one.

Wheels are only there to move the bike around. Rims are Mavic 117 SUP CDs and they'll be laced to M737 hubs. New Smokes are on the way.

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Rims are now laced to 737 XT hubs with DT spokes and nipples, and Smokes front and rear.
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I hadn't paid much attention to the Ringle/LX hubs that came with the wheels because they were going to be changed anyway. But when stripping the wheels down I noticed the skewers are ControlTech titanium...bonus. 😁
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737 rear mech fitted and until I can find another pair of 737 cantis I've fitted some NOS Dia Compe 987s, which is a brake I like anyway so they may stay on there.
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Next thing to sort is the forks. They're leaking all their air within 24 hours so an air valve kit is on the way from SRP.
 

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There's only one job I really dislike when it comes to bikes and that's applying decals 😱. So since I was up early today I thought I'd get on with it before the usual round of Sunday chores. The car can remain unwashed for now and the wood pile unchopped.

The image makes the decals look a little blue, but they are purple, very purple.
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Parkpres have a separate brake cable noodle that passes through a short tube at the top of the seat tube. When I picked the frame up I forgot to check whether it was there. It wasn't, but when I messaged the seller said he'd look for it. After a couple of weeks I'd guessed he couldn't find it, so I asked a pal to make one for me. A couple of weeks later the seller found the noodle and sent in on to me...oh, well 😂

The chromed Parkpre noodle is at the top, and the stainless one made by my pal is below.
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I'm going with the stainless one as the discolouration caused by the heating to put the bend in looks much nicer against the titanium frame.

Big thanks to Col at Moorespeed Racing for making it. This was his third attempt as the first two fractured during bending, and he wouldn't take a penny in payment. Top feller! 👍
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