What you don't dare do, people - Ti `98 Voodoo Loa

[br0qn]

bummer

 

[Woz]

Signing up. Brimming with Joe Murray quirkiness

 

[br0qn]

Signing up. Brimming with Joe Murray quirkiness

Cheers!

My earliest (88 Merlin counts, right?) / latest production bikes are both Ti and both Joe Murray with a decade between them... I like that.

I found this snip from the '97 catalog, seems that was the first year of the Loa and mine is the 2nd from smallest, 50 cm.

 

[Woz]

Many years ago I saw a Lao being serviced in the local bike shop and thought it was super interesting; I like how he blurred the lines between road and MTB, dusted off and modernised the CX bike and made it more accessible and less of a specialist 1hr race bike.

Understood that he was personally into European cyclo-cross scene too. Would love to hear how it rides.

EDIT: The catalogue picture shows top tube cable routing for the FD, your's doesn't. Your's is quirky de chez quirky; I would go as far as it was not meant for STIs at all. Perhaps your's is something earlier?

 

[Woz]

EDIT #2:

..... it's the catalogue build which is oddball. In that configuration, while very possible, it would be a faff to get the front indexing set-up.

So perhaps the design was updated for down-pull just so a cable tension adjuster can be used on the gear lever boss if you wanted STIs?

 

[br0qn]

I like how he blurred the lines between road and MTB, dusted off and modernised the CX bike and made it more accessible and less of a specialist 1hr race bike.

I agree! Apart from simply wanting a cx bike and the details I mentioned in the first post; the ti, the rear mech routing etc, what drew me in initially on the Loa was that the geo did look different than any of the others mid-lats 90's CX bikes I'd been hunting. And I couldn't put my finger on it but what you've said sounds right to me.



I was pretty intrigued just looking at the few photos that exist online of these (special nod to @Corduroyboy for sharing his!)

...and also the tire clearance really was a large factor. I'm still looking around at tires and undecided but 40-43mm will be no problem. As usual, I'm torn on black or tan walls. These are 3 contenders, all come in either.

Challenge Get Away 40




WTB Resoloute 42




Bruce Gordon Rock N Road 43

Would love to hear how it rides.

I hope I'm only a few weeks away and I'll be happy to report though I've not much to compare it to.

EDIT: The catalogue picture shows top tube cable routing for the FD, your's doesn't. Your's is quirky de chez quirky; I would go as far as it was not meant for STIs at all. Perhaps your's is something earlier?

ah good eye, I didn't see that. You'll have to educate me here, I only have one rolling bike that was built up while my friend supervised and did the cabling...and it doesn't even have a front mech yet why would the top cable routing make the front hard to index? I wonder if it was changed prior to production, like you said, for STIs

Here is one more Loa photo I found and can share. Patrick O'Grady of Mad Dog Media racing his



I wish I could find a 700c marzocchi XC, too cool.

 

[Woz]

To set-up front indexing, ideally you need a cable adjuster. On a MTB this is part of the shifter which we don't think about and take for granted. STIs typically do / did not have an integrated cable adjuster at the lever end.

The only standard solution back then was to place the cable adjusters on the now "defunct" gear lever bosses (although the rear derailleur also had a cable adjuster, the front derailleurs never did). At least you could adjust indexing on the fly without a dismount.

I'm pretty sure (read 99.999999%) that no solution was available back then for a cable adjuster running along the top-tube and down the seat-tube. Neither in-line nor specific braze-on cable adjusters were available back then. Alternatively, he could have put a gear lever boss on the seat-tube, but that probably would have tipped the weirdness balance a bit too much

This is how Moots solved it for top routing in 2012 .... much later.

 

[Corduroyboy]

I found this snip from the '97 catalog, seems that was the first year of the Loa and mine is the 2nd from smallest, 50 cm.

View attachment 710573

That’s cool, thanks for posting - pretty much confirms mine as a ‘97.

 

[br0qn]

To set-up front indexing, ideally you need a cable adjuster. On a MTB this is part of the shifter which we don't think about and take for granted. STIs typically do / did not have an integrated cable adjuster at the lever end.

The only standard solution back then was to place the cable adjusters on the now "defunct" gear lever bosses (although the rear derailleur also had a cable adjuster, the front derailleurs never did). At least you could adjust indexing on the fly without a dismount.

I'm pretty sure (read 99.999999%) that no solution was available back then for a cable adjuster running along the top-tube and down the seat-tube. Neither in-line nor specific braze-on cable adjusters were available back then. Alternatively, he could have put a gear lever boss on the seat-tube, but that probably would have tipped the weirdness balance a bit too much

This is how Moots solved it for top routing in 2012 .... much later.

ah, thank you for all of that. you must be right. The D Jab had the same canti boss / top tube routing. Seems likely they made the Loa the same and realized the need afterwards.

The boss is a bit farther up/forward of the downtube than others I've seen, maybe not really meant for a shifter at all, would they have been all but dead in '97?



I'll be running a shifter there anyway.

That’s cool, thanks for posting - pretty much confirms mine as a ‘97.

Sure thing, maybe I'll throw a lowball offer at the seller and see if they take it. I owe some scans to the archive considering how many hours I've spent squinting at all of those already uploaded.

What makes you sure yours is a '97?

 

[Corduroyboy]

What makes you sure yours is a '97?

Decals, cable routing, dropouts, being posted in the up to ‘97 section