M_V's multitude of bikes and adventures in the land of framebuilding

Really? I thought the spacing was different? I guess it wouldn't be coz 7 to 8 speed was where the width changed.

I think the cassette I have is too cheap to be bolted together and is riveted instead but I could just not use one of the outer most cogs, perhaps I'll play with it in friction to see which I could do without more easily.

Oh and I took your advice and have just bought a couple stainless cages off ebay so one can go under the downtube.

Really? I thought the spacing was different? I guess it wouldn't be coz 7 to 8 speed was where the width changed.

Yup, you got it, the width have changed.

5/6 speed have the same spacing (5.5mm), this is where you got the loveliest "clunk" sound when you change gear.

7/8 is 0.5mm closer at 5.0mm, then a massive drop to 4.34 when you head toward 9 speed.

8 speed are cheap as chip nowadays, what you can do is set the screw limiter correctly for the 8 speed width, and then indexed the shifter to the smallest to the second biggest cog.

When you need that 8th cog, simply switch to friction and shift up, basically the slowest index shift ever, but it mean you get to use your 7 speed shifter fully on an 8 speed cassette without buying a new shifter.

It could also be a useful way to force you not to cross-chain.

Oh and I took your advice and have just bought a couple stainless cages off ebay so one can go under the downtube.

Good call, alu bottle cage are light but fragile, they're definitely not used to the constant removing/installing of the bottle cages, which tend to get a little loose over time.

When it's upside down, I found the weight of the bottle made the cage a lots looser than it should, after 113 miles, the bottle was rattling away ready to be jettison toward the front wheel for it's final oblivion, it was good fortune I found out then before heading onto a very long tour with a steel cages instead.

Yup, you got it, the width have changed, the spacing start to change at 9 speed.

8 speed are cheap as chip nowadays, what you can do is set the screw limiter correctly for the 8 speed width, and then indexed the shifter to the smallest to the second biggest cog.

When you need that 8th cog, simply switch to friction and shift up, basically the slowest index shift ever, but it mean you get to use your 7 speed shifter fully on an 8 speed cassette without buying a new shifter.

Good call, alu bottle cage are light but fragile, they're definitely not used to the constant removing/installing of the bottle cages, which tend to get a little loose over time.

When it's upside down, I found the weight of the bottle made the cage a lots looser than it should, after 113 miles, the bottle was rattling away ready to be jettison toward the front wheel for it's final oblivion, it was good fortune I found out then before heading onto a very long tour with a steel cages instead.

Aye, I've found alu cages on a seatpost mount just bend open and drop the bottle, I had forgotten about that when I mounted this one up.

I also hate how alu cages tend to rub off and make your bottle all black.

I like the idea of switching to friction to get into my biggest cog, will definitely be giving that a shot, cheers.

Eds post above may be correct but looks monumentally complicated. I once was using a set of 7 speed brifters with an 8speed cassette and the performance was OK but not perfect. So I just bought a 7speed cassette and used a spacer on the freehub. The cassette cost me about a fiver or something (albeit trade price at the time) and I'd imagine you can still get them.

Also care to share what bottle cages you went for? Just out of interest. I would also have considered a seat post mounted cage given the amount of post you have , albeit the triple cage setup on the downtube/seat tube looks smart.

Ach I dunno, I think it'd work like an emergency low gear.

Bottle cages, I found a pair of Topeak tubular steel cages on eBay. They're new/unused and I got them for £12.50 for the pair.

I was going to just do the seat tube one but though that since I was buying jubilee clips I may as well do an under slung one too.

Stem arrived this morning

Position and saddle:bar drop seems alright. Will need to get the cranks on and have a seat on it to see really though.

Chainring and bottle cages also came but I had no time to fit them this morning. Hopefully be rolling/riding this evening though.

Other parts fitted this afternoon meant I could get it out for a spin,

Bit worried about the front tyre succumbing to flints and rocks so I'm going to replace it with something a bit more substantial, probably a Big Apple. Got a new seatpost on the way and bar tape will get done tomorrow morning - I've cut the gear outer between bars and dt stop down a little.

Very good. Looks like fun! How does it handle?

Seems to handle pretty good so far. I'll need to try it with a load on the front though.

Pop it into a wheely from the drops no bother!

Did bar tape this morning and rode it to work today, handles pretty good even with a one sided load on the front.

Friction shifting works much better with the 8speed cassette than with the 5speed, much easier to hit a gear.

Wait till you try out the Simplex Retrofriction, made Shimano feel like grinding sandpaper on rock.

The 1x1 hauling me and camping gear on Wednesday.

It's geared for technical off-roading without a load which translated to pushing a load over less technical terrain pretty well but the 2.4" tyres were heavy going on the road.

Finally got round to doing some proper snaps of the Muddyfox, and a couple of my Pomp too for good measure.

both awesome, you have the best bikes.

Only just realised how wide the Blackburn rack are compared to my Tubus, how was it with panniers?

Only just realised how wide the Blackburn rack are compared to my Tubus, how was it with panniers?

Yeah it is hella wide, felt fine on the 1x1 though, haven't really loaded it up properly on the Muddyfox. On the 1x1 I didn't really feel as though the bike suffered from the increased frontal area. I mean, it's a heavy steel framed mtb running on huge 2.4" tyres so its hard work on the road anyway but I don't think the panniers made it noticeably worse. I did get a bit bogged down crossing one ford river, I think the panniers were about half submerged though.

The question is more about the overall width when you add the panniers rather, mine just about a little under my bar width, just about doable when riding in traffic.

The question is more about the overall width when you add the panniers rather, mine just about a little under my bar width, just about doable when riding in traffic.

Ah ok.

The bars on the 1x1 are pretty wide so I'm pretty sure panniers would have been within that width.

With the drops, I've ridden it a couple times with just one pannier and didn't notice it sticking out too far.

The headset on the Muddyfox is doing my tits right in. The bearings were gubbed in the old one and the top nut was stripped so I bought a fancy sealed bearing FSA thing to replace it only the stack height was huge so it barely fit on and it went from slopping about loose as a wizard's sleeve to tighter than a...tight thing with less than an 1/8 of a turn of the headset spanner. It was also possible to have it loose when rocked with the brake on yet still binding when the bars were turned.

I put the old top cup back in and that made it a little better and improved the stack height issue a bit but I think the threads on the forks are worn as I've just stripped another locknut.

I want 1 1/8" ahead!

So when I saw this Marine(sic) Pine Mountain on eBay I had a bid.

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxNjAw/z/z0gAAOSwirZTwBNU/$_57.JPG

Won it for £2.20 + p&p!

I believe its made from some half decent Columbus tubing so I'm hoping for a bit of a weight saving over the MF. I'm also hoping the P2 fork from the CinderCone will fit it. Everything else will get transferred over from the MF. It also has 2 sets of bottle cage bosses so I'll get to do away with one set of the jubilee clips.

Wow, you got a freaking bargain! here's hoping everything clear up nicely with no issues.

Been googling it, found a fully build one, think you got a 2004 one;

edit - gotcha;

Yeah mine is older, think its a '98.

Suits me as the newer ones have no rim brake mounts and I don't want to have to buy a new set of wheels.

Seems like the Pine Mountain has come with a suspension fork for quite a while, hopefully back in '98 they were pretty short travel and fitting a rigid fork won't screw up the geo too much.

Probably 80mm, at the time, they also sell a rigid version too with suspension corrected fork, so I reckon you'll be fine.

Found more, you're right, 1998;