Mid life crisis MTB’s - Raleigh 531 / Dale M400 / Giant Escaper

Today was a good post day.

Flite titanium Trans Am
Tioga Tange Prestige Mountain bars
Super Hard TCO - Tall Cool One - seat post.

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Woo, cool stuff!

Flite looks super comfy. I put an old gel c2 on my mountain bike - it’s plush.

Little time to build over the past week, and realised today that i didn't have the stack of gear cable outer I thought I did, or the brake cables. Still a little work done.

Clamp on the TCO is a little wide for the saddle, but I think I'll be okay. Gone for a slight rise right now, grips are the Tioga Biogrips it came with.

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This is going to be so awesome dude... The retro MTB nerd in me is envy af!

Mad work late into the night to get it finished in time for the nippers last day at nursery, so happy with it!

Rides great, all the mechs work well and the koolstop cross pads make the cantis surprisingly good.

The tyres though..omg, game changer. They might be the nicest rolling tyres I've ever ridden( that includes Corsa Speed G+ And Schwalbe Pro One), for the size they are soon smooth and roll effortlessly.

More pics soon, plus a rack and guards in the future.

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Turned out super lovely!

Awesome!

The tyres are amazing. I have them on my Marin and as you say, rolls effortlessly.

Took it down ta few trails to a local pub last night, this thing is great, puts a massive smile on my face.

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So, a few things to go over.

First up in fitting guards I realised that either the rear wheel is stunningly badly dished.....or the nds chain stay is bent, flaps. Taking it in to LBS for a look see next week.

Also flaps.

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Second is a weird little thing I found on the new UN55. It’s listed as 73mm, but when installed there is a clear 5mm gap between the cup face and the bearing. A gap that can basically fill with water and mud and rust out the bearing and bb shell. This seems a very weird design by Shimano and I wonder if it’s a cost saving exercise now that 73mm shells are less popular.

To test it I picked up a UN71, which happens to be the period correct BB. There is a clear diff in length of the bb so as to make the cup sit flush with the nds cup. It’s very strange, has anyone else noticed this?

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What a great build @Matisse

want me some of them tyres.

Chipping in a bit late about your bars here, drops vs flat/risers. I’ve never got on well with narrow flats or risers unless they’ve been pretty much straight. They always seem to sweep back too much for me. Could never do that narrow upswept bars thing back in the fixie days.

UN55 vs UN71 5mm gap thing doesn’t surprise me. Going the other way, these modern cranks with the fixed axle length need a stack of spacers to make the bb fit properly in a 68mm shell. Then you don’t get a choice of chainline. Seems like more of a bodge imo.

Big news, the frame, it is bent.....

Pretty sure it's from their being a 126mm wheel in there, which is what it came with weirdly.

Still, lbs are going to track it and cold set it so it'll be fine by the end of the week.

Back from the LBS and straight as a die , just need to fit the flaps and rack.

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Apologies if you thought I was drafting you in Regents Park, but this thing is deceptively quick, even with the flaps.

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It's so pristine!

This looks lovely, well done.

Muddy today, happy that I had large flaps.

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Really like this bike, great build!

This thing is so good, so happy with it.

Been smashing around after work delivering coffee to people who are in quarantine or Isolating and it’s not missed a beat.

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It's got a nice post/per apocalyptic vibe to it. Needs a weapon of some sort attached though for full effect!

This bike's so rad man, love those beefy tires too!

Busy few months for this one, 2000km delivering coffee killed the rear rim last week. So a new temp XT M750 whilst I wait for a slot at a wheel builders. Also upped to 8speed with a xt rear derailleur.

Been really uncomfortable on it recently, switched to some Salsa Moto Pro carbon bars to see if a wider bar helps, but may end up going drop.

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