DuoTech
Retro Guru
I very rarely find bargains on marketplace before they're snapped up so I was chuffed when I managed to get first dibs on a "free bike needing attention" just down the road - a Saracen Traverse that looked in pretty clean condition from the tantalising non-drive side photo on the ad (why is it always the non-drive side?!).
I picked it up from a really friendly couple who'd acquired it from an elderly neighbour and were passing it on to a new owner. From a quick inspection before chucking it into the boot it was obvious it was going to be a project. The seatpost is completely seized as is the seat clamp. The paintwork on the frame isn't too bad at all with the usually scuffs and scratches that I can happily live with but the fork has been resprayed at some point in a (surprisingly quirky) lemon yellow colour and where the paint has peeled away over the years the steel has rusted pretty badly. Looks like surface rust but it's going to need a sand blast and respray either way. Various screws are stripped and some looked rusted to the point that they'll snap in the threads as soon as I touch them but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
The possibility of a full Mountain LX groupset was an exciting thought but unfortunately the cranks have long gone as has the front mech, the original Wolber rims and, perhaps most frustratingly, the right hand thumbie top cap. I've got a feeling it might take a while to pin down the elusive crankset, and I've no idea how I'll source a Mountain LX top cap, but in the meantime everything is covered in a layer of grime so let's take it apart and get cleaning.
I picked it up from a really friendly couple who'd acquired it from an elderly neighbour and were passing it on to a new owner. From a quick inspection before chucking it into the boot it was obvious it was going to be a project. The seatpost is completely seized as is the seat clamp. The paintwork on the frame isn't too bad at all with the usually scuffs and scratches that I can happily live with but the fork has been resprayed at some point in a (surprisingly quirky) lemon yellow colour and where the paint has peeled away over the years the steel has rusted pretty badly. Looks like surface rust but it's going to need a sand blast and respray either way. Various screws are stripped and some looked rusted to the point that they'll snap in the threads as soon as I touch them but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
The possibility of a full Mountain LX groupset was an exciting thought but unfortunately the cranks have long gone as has the front mech, the original Wolber rims and, perhaps most frustratingly, the right hand thumbie top cap. I've got a feeling it might take a while to pin down the elusive crankset, and I've no idea how I'll source a Mountain LX top cap, but in the meantime everything is covered in a layer of grime so let's take it apart and get cleaning.
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