One of my friends is currently riding what I can best describe as a “Halfords special” (sorry halfords) that is way too small for him. The bike really is starting to fall apart so we persuaded him to let us build him a new bike up if we got hold of a cheap frame.

We picked up slightly bent Inbred frame from an STWer and I’ve been raiding all my spares and after cleaning it all up and getting it all straight again it is starting to take shape:

Just waiting for some new gear and brake cables (need full outers and they are all past their best) and some chainring bolts and new cassette and chain to go with the new chainrings I am putting on and got my eye on some shorter stems as I only have 90mm ones spare.

Could do with a bit of advice on a couple of things:

It has some 2002ish Bombers on there and we have some new seals for it but what oil is best and any servicing advice? The gold anodised stanchions are in perfect condition but there is a bit of a squelch.

The current gears are all okay Sram stuff but as it needs new cranks and chainrings so I am fitting some 9 speed Deore ones I have lying around. Shall I go with an 8 speed chain along with a new 8 speed cassette or would 9 speed be best? I am guessing match the chain to the cassette.

Hi the Marzocchi website still has servic manuals for older forks those look something like 2003 MX comps!! If you know what they are and age try the web site some info here.

http://www.marzocchi.com/template/detailProdotti.asp?LN=UK&idC=1561&IdFolder=113&idMY=2147&IdOggetto=2438#

The manuals are downloaded as PDF files.

As for gears if you have 9 speed chainset / cranks you may as well run a 9 speed cassette but consider what shifter you have as an 8 speed shifter will not operate over a 9 speed cassette and vice versa.

Those old Bombers rock! I’ve got a pair of 2001 on my main bike. Covered many miles and still plush with minimal servicing.

You’ll need 30mm sealkit..

And some 5wt or 7.5wt suspension fluid.

Either, buy that from crc for a fiver for some Stendec stuff or local motorbike spares place for double the quantity for the same price.

Old bombers squelch. That’s what they do.

You can’t beat a Skintbred.

£28 frame here

I think I have a seal kit for those bombers.

Great stuff, love ‘put together bikes’ hope to get mine up here Friday.

might have some shifters (9spd) email in profile… D

I just read somewhere else that they squelch – maybe they are okay, certainly feel pretty good for 11 year old forks! Got a seal kit with them. We got them from the Bristol bike jumble along with a few other bits like a £3 headset which is lovely and smooth once it had a re-grease. I’m not sure which seals though, maybe just the wipers. He’s got them back at his house somewhere.

I think they are 2001. Have got hold of the service manual now 🙂

Really odd disc mounts. I read that some of the older forks had different spacing ie none IS but a normal disc brake does match up and work with a disc. Just at a strange angle. We need to get some new wheels before discs can go on as just recycled the old ones for now.

Thomthumb – will give you a shout about those shifters. He has grip shifts at the moment.

if those forks are the open bath ones like the 1997 z1s then may i recommend 5wt fork oil? they come with 7.5 but they made the rebound a wee bit slow. the damper can be adjusted to slow them up if they a bit quick with the 5w…

I’ve had 2 sets of those older bombers and they do squelch. They felt quite nice though 🙂

TBH, if they’re squelching and not leaking at the seals and not feeling sticky, I’d probably not bother taking them to bits yet.. Get a feel of how the compression damping is working and then give them a fettle later. The new seals take a good while to bed in, so you won’t know you’ve put the right weight oil in for a while!
If he’s heavy (it’s a tall bike, so I’d assume so!) I’d put something higher than 7.5 in.. 10 or a mix of 10/7.5 would be a good start.

He’s 6ft 2 but I’d probably say about 12-12.5 stone. From what I have felt they feel okay so I am inclined to leave them for now. Will have to try and get my leg over the frame and give them a go. 20″ is a bit high for me!

It’s funny, my bars cost as much as that whole bike so far yet I bet it won’t be any less fun to ride and I am as excited about getting it finished as I was my bike! In fact possibly more being a bike thats cobbled together.

Not sure with those ones, but they probably have a 2.5mm allen key adjuster for the rebound under each lower leg.. It’s probably all in the service manual anyway.

I had an old skinny downtube inbred like that.. flexybendium to climb hills but lots of fun down… Cheap heavy clunky fun! 70mm stem seemed spot on for mine.

well the bike it’s replacing can be seen in the background. Supermarket style full suspension with alloy main triangle and a steel rear triangle and a coil spring which has almost as much slop as the cranks so the inbred is going to be night and day to him.

I’m just building my first full susser on a similar almost non existant budget it’s quite fun isn’t it 🙂

Squelch is good, means the damping is doing something, My own 2001 forks are using 5wt, but the site recommends 7.5 for pretty much all of them…

Good bunch of mates building a bike for one of the fold, Good on ya!

Looking at the pics you could scrub up and reuse what looks to be a SRAM (SX4 maybe?) set of mechs off the old bike just to keep costs sensible, a mechs a mech it’ll still work until he decides to bust it or spend on new drive parts…

—–Edit—–

Actually what parts are you short of?

Why not stick up a “Needed/Wanted” list see if the STW masses can be arsed to raid their spares bin for a good cause….

I’ve some 9spd chainrings with bolts you can have. Outer & inner should be fine, unused TBH. Middle is worn, but was running fine as 1×9 when it came off. A new Deore middle is only going to set you back about £10 anyway. Got an old top-pull XT front mech that should suffice if you can shim it out. Yours for the postage.

Shame your not closer, I’ve an XT front hub I could have rebuilt onto your old front wheel, to get it semi disc ready. If your passing the Middlelands any time soon drop me an email.

Cheers guys, yeah I was thinking of putting up a wanted for a few of the bits I don’t have.

Waiting to hear back from him what the rear mech is. It’s got a huge red plastic jockey wheel but hoping to reuse it. The chain/cassette and rings are all fit for the bin (well over 1% wear). The front mech is one thing that’s on our “could do with” list as it looks a bit crappy and doesn’t seem to have any make/model on it so if you are sure you don’t want it then I’ll happily give it a new home, thanks 🙂

Will give you a shout about the rings and bolts too as just about to order some outer bolts. Have dug out a nice new steel inner and very lightly used (by me) steel middle as I pick them up at the bike jumble when I see them but not got a decent outer. I’m a big fan of the steel rings, take a bit more fine setting up to get really crisp but last much better.

Other stuff I’ve been on the look out for in case anyone has any for sale (will put a wanted up during a busier time of day):

70mm OS stem (low rise)
Lock on grips (fattish)
Bar ends

getting back onto this so put up a wanted thread:

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/wtd-9-speed-rear-mech-70mm-os-stem-flat-pedals?replies=1#post-3464723

man up and singlespeed the shit out of it.

Andy, just remembered. Duh. Will be on in the post tomorrow if I can get out of work at lunch.

SS – I had thought of that but he’s got to use it for getting to Uni and vet placements over 10 miles away as well as our local (hilly trails) so the gearing is always going to compromise.

takisawa – no worries and thanks again. Was wondering but didn’t want to be rude!