t0-ster's stable

Got my wheels back. straight this time! Super satisfied with the silver spokes and nips.

Im starting to want to build up my cannondale 2.8 frame with all the parts meant for my Ti build, as its proved a bit harder than i thought getting the crack repaired. Strongly considering it, as it'd be nice to have in the mean time...

New 26" franken projekt!

This huge mtb frame came in the post today! The old dude just wanted a beer. He was so nice to package it up and ship it to me, so i sent him a couple of half litres and some chocolate.

Got the bb and headset out without problems, despite the intimidating rust. Guess it had been greased well back in the day.

Dont really know what i want to do with it, but im really diggin all of these recent 26" functional builds.

I might be getting some old 1" bullmoose bars. I need a fork, maybe the one you used @bankiren . I dont have the original forks, but is 400mm a-c pretty standard for old mtbs? The fork in the mockup pick is a 400 a-c cyclocross fork, and it looks pretty spot on with bb drop and toptube angle.

But damn the HT and ST angles are slack AF.

seat tube 60 cm c-t
top tube 56 cm c-c

That's pretty awesome. Early and pre-90s you're probably looking at 390 for mtb forks, later ~410. You could get a 26" LHT fork at 376, unslacken the angles a bit and have a functional lo-pro?

Edit: 1", reading fail

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/293494/#comment13340471

? Too long a-c I suppose, given ^

Edit: also wrong steerer diameter. Scratch everything, carry on.

Nice, good info on the a-c. 1-1/8" would certainly open up a lot of options, but its a 1".
Functional lo-pro sounds wicked

As far as i can tell from the serial number, its from 1989, so 390 it is. Also seems right as theres no headset installed in the last photo with a 400 a-c.

@russmeyer i wish.. that thing is rad

I don't think a 376 mm a-c fork plus external headset cups would make it a lo-pro. I think it's an excellent idea. Play around with this and see what results you get?

http://leagueofbikepolo.com/forum/gear/frames/2013/10/10/fork-swap-geometry-calculator

This gon be gud.

...the long headtube exagerates the slack angle - I think we're only looking at 71 degrees, with a cx fork.

The standover height must have limited the use of frame for MTB back then.

Yea you might be right.. maybe ill print out a protractor and do the old science/ math thing with a string and all. And yea no kidding! the stand over is outrageous for a "mtb"

Ill need to get the angles anyhow if i want to play around with the fork length/ geometry. Thanks for the link @russmeyer I guess i could also nerd it out in bikeCAD just for fun.

Just get a clinometer app for your phone.

And make sure your floor is level

Yikes, 126mm spacing.. Is steel real enough to stretch to 135?

And yes technology!

Less than 5mm each side. Should be fine. Maybe cold set it first?

You'll be fine

Just use Sheldons method

make sure your floor is level

Or at least the frame dropouts, slightly easier to achieve if your floor is wonky :-)

Edit: and yes, def. cold set the frame. String method and bend with piece of lumber á la Sheldon.

2x2 method works a treat, there is also a simple hack in sheldonds page for aligning the drop outs afterwards. I usually borrow the park tools from my LBS to align the drop outs, it a 2 min job.

I've got a fork from a Marin Muirwoods in the attic. Yours if you want it. Can give you some measurements tomorrow.

Top! a-c and steerer measurements would be great, thanks :)

Hope you can wait 'til Sunday instead. A bit too busy today :)

No worries! take your time, im in no rush

Man that app is sweet, i now know the (approximate) angles on all of my bikes!

Nishiki is 70 degrees seat and headtube, with the 400 a-c without headset, so about the same with headset installed and 390mm fork. Lol i was expecting like 68 or something.

Looks like it should be pretty simple to cold set, theres lots of good videos, and sheldon explains it very well.

@FredyCro tightening a string from the dropout to the headtube, and measuring the distance from the seattube out to the sting - genius.

400mm a-to-c, but only 185mm steerer. Still free if you want it...

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Dang, the headtube is 205mm. Thanks anyways Jesper

Successfully coldset the Nishiki. Hella satisfying!

Got it out to 135 pretty quick, but alignment was off by a few millimeters. Got it straightened up to about 30mm from seat tube to string on each side. Made a thing for the vice (but I need to make a proper set of soft jaws out of real wood at some point) to not scratch the paint, in order to get teh dropouts properly aligned. Plunked a wheel in, worked a dream!

126mm

the lever

the second best drawer in the workshop

cute

actually making a mixte..

alright

yikes.

word

things

snug

faux soft jaws

bendage!

the trophy

Good work