Start at the beginning - Muddy Fox Courier Comp Greeeeeen
- Thread starter cocodemer
- Start date
cocodemer
Retro Guru
Re:
Thanks folks, I'm really enjoying spending some time on this bike, I know its no top end dream machine or going to be concours condition, but it means a lot to me, and although i'm itching to get her finished, its great to give all these old tired bits some love.
Which leads me nicely onto the wheels
Ive really been stuck as to what to do with the wheels. The wheels I would like would be some M261s on DX hubs - I already have the front wheel and a DX rear hub. But Ive been hunting for weeks for a matching m261 and have come up short.
The Specialized rims which are currently on my DX hubs are black anodised, pretty scuffed looking, and to my mind wouldnt have been a realistic upgrade I would have made to the bike back in the day.
Theye not bad rims but as I said earlier with the silver running through the whole bike, I am going to go for silver.
The way it was the bike was going to stall a bit if I didn't find some way round the wheels issue. Step forward this set of M231s on Deore LX hubs, borrowed from another very laboured project Orange Clockwork.
Not totally ideals as I dont like to rob Peter to pay Paul but they did need a scrub up, and Ill keep hunting for the matching rim, better on a bike than sitting in the rafters, and the clockwork can have the specialized rims if it ever wants to go for a bike ride. Sorted. (for now.)
They are petty true, just needing a few tweaks. They run a bit rough and look pretty grimy, so first things to do area strip down and clean, and some new grease and bearings
The seal on the non drive side totally didn't want to move for cleaning, it just bent straight off the bat
so I left it in position and cleaned inside as best I could, instead of risking further damage. It looks a wee bit battered now, but still allows the bearings to turn smoothly
The cones are a bit scarred too but when its all snugged up and greased it runs ok, so I thought best to leave these just now,
Thats the rear one cleaned up, and just in need of a tyre
When I had the old MF there were Specialzed HardPacks 2.2 on it, and Ground Controls, and there were also for a while Tioga Mud Dawgs, as luck would have it one of my faves
A few years ago a Bickerton Mean Green MTB passed through my hands - an interesting pretty low end also bright green uk bike - and when it came to me it was shod in a pair of very tidy Mud Dawg tyres. I kept the bike or a wee while but when it was time for it to move on, I obviously kept the tyres
They were in need of a sidewall scrub, but the still have quite a lot of the new little nobbly bits, and the sidewalls arent too badly age damaged, so spent a bit of time cleaning one up today
and with a cleaner patch
I couldnt resist getting the wheel in place, so Ive stuck on a new cassette and a tube in and im well pleased with how it looking so far...
Could maybe do with a bit more cleaning on the sidewalls, anyone got any good tips to get amber walls sparkly clean?
Next up the front wheel!
Thanks folks, I'm really enjoying spending some time on this bike, I know its no top end dream machine or going to be concours condition, but it means a lot to me, and although i'm itching to get her finished, its great to give all these old tired bits some love.
Which leads me nicely onto the wheels
Ive really been stuck as to what to do with the wheels. The wheels I would like would be some M261s on DX hubs - I already have the front wheel and a DX rear hub. But Ive been hunting for weeks for a matching m261 and have come up short.
The Specialized rims which are currently on my DX hubs are black anodised, pretty scuffed looking, and to my mind wouldnt have been a realistic upgrade I would have made to the bike back in the day.
Theye not bad rims but as I said earlier with the silver running through the whole bike, I am going to go for silver.
The way it was the bike was going to stall a bit if I didn't find some way round the wheels issue. Step forward this set of M231s on Deore LX hubs, borrowed from another very laboured project Orange Clockwork.
Not totally ideals as I dont like to rob Peter to pay Paul but they did need a scrub up, and Ill keep hunting for the matching rim, better on a bike than sitting in the rafters, and the clockwork can have the specialized rims if it ever wants to go for a bike ride. Sorted. (for now.)
They are petty true, just needing a few tweaks. They run a bit rough and look pretty grimy, so first things to do area strip down and clean, and some new grease and bearings
The seal on the non drive side totally didn't want to move for cleaning, it just bent straight off the bat
so I left it in position and cleaned inside as best I could, instead of risking further damage. It looks a wee bit battered now, but still allows the bearings to turn smoothly
The cones are a bit scarred too but when its all snugged up and greased it runs ok, so I thought best to leave these just now,
Thats the rear one cleaned up, and just in need of a tyre
When I had the old MF there were Specialzed HardPacks 2.2 on it, and Ground Controls, and there were also for a while Tioga Mud Dawgs, as luck would have it one of my faves
A few years ago a Bickerton Mean Green MTB passed through my hands - an interesting pretty low end also bright green uk bike - and when it came to me it was shod in a pair of very tidy Mud Dawg tyres. I kept the bike or a wee while but when it was time for it to move on, I obviously kept the tyres
They were in need of a sidewall scrub, but the still have quite a lot of the new little nobbly bits, and the sidewalls arent too badly age damaged, so spent a bit of time cleaning one up today
and with a cleaner patch
I couldnt resist getting the wheel in place, so Ive stuck on a new cassette and a tube in and im well pleased with how it looking so far...
Could maybe do with a bit more cleaning on the sidewalls, anyone got any good tips to get amber walls sparkly clean?
Next up the front wheel!
cocodemer
Retro Guru
Re:
well doesn't time just disappear?
In the true ethos of a Winter Project, as soon as "summer" rolls around my long relaxing lunches of polishing my bits have been replaced by snatched sandwiches in between chaotic work frenzies, meaning this old girl has been hanging, much neglected, and giving me the evil green eye every time i try to sneak past unnoticed
You can only get away with that sort of thing for so long though. And given that there's going to be a Retro MTB Barbeque and Ride at my place of work this coming week, it was time to get busy, and take care of this MF business! There was no way I could bring something else along to the party, but it has meant I'm not able to take quite so much time over the final build as I would have liked, no compromising on the plan though...
So the shiny components were pretty much all in place. The front wheel got a good polish up, with some fresh bearings, and a true, and the front tyre received a similar amount of scrubbing as the rear.
It was then time to start applying some of the collected goodies that I had been storing and purchasing, to get this bike as close to my old build as possible.
First up, brakepads. I had always used Aztec, or Fibrax pads back in tday. I had a good scout around the bay, and came across these Old Skool Aztec Super Blocks, made in the UK, exported to Germany, packaged in German backing, and then purchased back to the UK. And they're yellow, so I imagine the Braking performance will be second to slowing your bike down with actual bananas on the rims
And here they are in position
Also on my shopping list had been some Mt Christophe Bright green toe clip straps - not so easy to come by these days. Exactly as I had on my original bike, so they had to be. I know a very kind soul had sent me some green straps in the post, but the colour was out so I thank you kindly and will happily Karma you them back, or if I can help with any other bits just shout
These look the part on the silver pedals though, so I'm well chuffed
I had been in two minds about what to do about the bars on this bike, I had straight silver ones, or AT3s to choose from but a chance conversation with a very nice fellow, meant that I had the option of running a set of Scott AT4s on this bike. I had had a set back in the olden days and have always wanted to do a build with them, so this chance was to good to pass up.
They obviously needed a good colour of bar tape, and it was a happy day indeed when I opened the jiffy bag to find this intense green poking out, I don't think I could have asked for a better match
Grips wise I had a set of these mushrooms kicking about, I think they might be ODIs? but don't have any markings on them, they are pretty cool though, so they have been added to the bars set up, bit of a hooha to get them in place round the AT4s, settled on spittle with haribos as a lube and bond combo - rock solid!
That pretty much brings the final touches up to date - I was raking through some old boxes in the store and came across these vintage yellow brake outers - be rude not to I thought so these have gone on. Not totally convinced, but there they are for now
Also added were a new Shimano HG71 chain, and that completes the line up for now
Still need to add some shiny crank bolt caps, and probably a proper shimano silver seat post clamp. A banana yellow Turbo would be my seat of choice - (anyone?) and could also use one yellow presta valve cap, and a yellow specialized or zefal bottle cage of suitable vintage
These aren't the photos to it justice, but I ran out of time today, hopefully get some sunshine tomorrow to get her out and about, before getting dirty on Tuesday
well doesn't time just disappear?
In the true ethos of a Winter Project, as soon as "summer" rolls around my long relaxing lunches of polishing my bits have been replaced by snatched sandwiches in between chaotic work frenzies, meaning this old girl has been hanging, much neglected, and giving me the evil green eye every time i try to sneak past unnoticed
You can only get away with that sort of thing for so long though. And given that there's going to be a Retro MTB Barbeque and Ride at my place of work this coming week, it was time to get busy, and take care of this MF business! There was no way I could bring something else along to the party, but it has meant I'm not able to take quite so much time over the final build as I would have liked, no compromising on the plan though...
So the shiny components were pretty much all in place. The front wheel got a good polish up, with some fresh bearings, and a true, and the front tyre received a similar amount of scrubbing as the rear.
It was then time to start applying some of the collected goodies that I had been storing and purchasing, to get this bike as close to my old build as possible.
First up, brakepads. I had always used Aztec, or Fibrax pads back in tday. I had a good scout around the bay, and came across these Old Skool Aztec Super Blocks, made in the UK, exported to Germany, packaged in German backing, and then purchased back to the UK. And they're yellow, so I imagine the Braking performance will be second to slowing your bike down with actual bananas on the rims
And here they are in position
Also on my shopping list had been some Mt Christophe Bright green toe clip straps - not so easy to come by these days. Exactly as I had on my original bike, so they had to be. I know a very kind soul had sent me some green straps in the post, but the colour was out so I thank you kindly and will happily Karma you them back, or if I can help with any other bits just shout
These look the part on the silver pedals though, so I'm well chuffed
I had been in two minds about what to do about the bars on this bike, I had straight silver ones, or AT3s to choose from but a chance conversation with a very nice fellow, meant that I had the option of running a set of Scott AT4s on this bike. I had had a set back in the olden days and have always wanted to do a build with them, so this chance was to good to pass up.
They obviously needed a good colour of bar tape, and it was a happy day indeed when I opened the jiffy bag to find this intense green poking out, I don't think I could have asked for a better match
Grips wise I had a set of these mushrooms kicking about, I think they might be ODIs? but don't have any markings on them, they are pretty cool though, so they have been added to the bars set up, bit of a hooha to get them in place round the AT4s, settled on spittle with haribos as a lube and bond combo - rock solid!
That pretty much brings the final touches up to date - I was raking through some old boxes in the store and came across these vintage yellow brake outers - be rude not to I thought so these have gone on. Not totally convinced, but there they are for now
Also added were a new Shimano HG71 chain, and that completes the line up for now
Still need to add some shiny crank bolt caps, and probably a proper shimano silver seat post clamp. A banana yellow Turbo would be my seat of choice - (anyone?) and could also use one yellow presta valve cap, and a yellow specialized or zefal bottle cage of suitable vintage
These aren't the photos to it justice, but I ran out of time today, hopefully get some sunshine tomorrow to get her out and about, before getting dirty on Tuesday
CrossFred1978
Raleigh Fan
muddy fox
hi, looks really nice just my sort of thing. friend of mine had a road runner bitd and recently ive had my eye on a fox courier comp, this has given me some inspiration.
funny though as today i found some almost new aztec grey pads in my shed and wondered if any one else still used these.
great rims those 231s
andy
hi, looks really nice just my sort of thing. friend of mine had a road runner bitd and recently ive had my eye on a fox courier comp, this has given me some inspiration.
funny though as today i found some almost new aztec grey pads in my shed and wondered if any one else still used these.
great rims those 231s
andy
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