Private Repress

Deleted duplicate post

What are peoples thoughts on the colour of the forks? Silver to match the frame or black to match the bar and stem?

Also managed to spend an hour on the Diamondback Ashton frame with an angle grinder. The disc mount strap had been cut by the previous owner to accommodate a calliper that didn’t fit. So I’ve smoothed that off... the gear cable mounts have gone too. the forks that came with the bike had the brake mounts hacked at with a hacksaw. Took the opportunity to smooth these down too, although they are for the Planet X Zebdi. This may have to have Onza zoot forks, unless something straight pops up cheap. shame because these forks do look the shizz on the rolling chassis! hoping I might be able to get the frame in to he shot blasted tomorrow

Also, had to order some new bits, parts that are cheap enough to buy new. This includes - seat clamp -13t double wide sprocket - DMR single speed spacers and some bars, nuke proof neutron v2 risers - these will go on my Giant TT which I’ll pinch some arcade risers from I think - coupled with a bbb stem at 100mm and 7 degree rise. If that’s to long I’ve got an 80x40 one kicking around but does conform to a street build... I’ll see how it rides

Front wheel built

Front rim has arrived smothered it in paint stripper between work calls today It’s coming along nicely so hoping that I’ll be able to get the XC hub built onto it later. Also cleaned up the old spike nipples, paint stripper soak them shook them in a tub with some sand, finally left them to soak in oil, they’ve come up okay too and finally an idea of what the frame will look like silver - Rowan John’s old bike (sorry about the poor image quality)

@Ross McArthur Mate it’s out of hand! was thinking exactly the same thing the other day.. ‘Oh I’ve found a single HS33 pad, a bike must be built to use it’ haha. To be fair this was the original foundation for a Frankenstein bike that turned into a showroom condition fourplay. But I’m setting rules for myself on this one... 1. No parts purchased unless I can’t repair what I have or I don’t have a variant of it. 2. Said parts required must be second hand 3. Additional money may be spent on paint job, but to keep it really budget... and more in keeping with Rowans proto bike (a nod to the good old days), sandblasting the frame silver is most likely. (Thanks for the photo and the inspiration on this one Ross). 4. I may not talk about about fight club I have already broken rule 2 as I didn’t fancy a second hand headset, so got a ODP one for less than a tenner. Picked up an angle grinder disc tonight to finish off what I started a little while back on the frame... smoothing off those gear cable guides. Once done I’ll get some pics up before dropping it off to be sandblasted - the paint stripper barely touches the paint on this bike, and even when it does finally come off, there is a white layer underneath that appears to be able to withstand all but a nuclear fallout.

To match the rear wheel I found a very cheap front rim on eBay with 32 holes which will match up with a red Hope XC hub I have, more paint stripping when this arrives! Really like the profile of these rims

Same here, I’ve done a couple now - an Ashton ET and a Planet X Zebdi. This will be an interesting one as I’m forcing myself not to buy parts unless absolutely necessary - it’ll make a funky build haha. Thinking of making this one more trials oriented as opposed to a street build (mainly because of my left over parts!). I enjoy building and restoring as much as I do riding these days which is no bad thing

Speaking of old bits, this will be the back wheel for a proper mash up of parts. I’ll probably update the title on this thread as I get more done and share progress on the unusual build. a sneak peek of what’s to come haha:

Once I’d cracked the original white paint it all started to peel much easier. eventually I got to this: thankfully this free’d up the spoke nipples so I could take it apart. Once done I rebuilt it onto the spare Hope hub: after truing it I cleaned up some old DMR motos and fitted one... Pretty pleased with the results. Considering how poor the rim looked on the old build I never really thought I’d make any use of it. Really do get a kick out of bringing old bits back to life.

Been going through my spare parts seeing what I have left and what could be built. Came across some wheels in the roof of my garage that I’d forgotten about. A set of halo combat rims on halo hubs. they came second hand on a complete bike I bought a few years back. The rims had been sprayed black over the existing white paint, clearly whilst the wheel was built as the spokes and nipples had lots of overspray. Never thought I’d use these, but I had a 36 hole pro 4 kicking around (bought it second hand with the intention of slapping it on the Marino build - not realising at the time that spank only do 32 hole rims!) so out with the good old paint stripper: Two coats and some scrubbing, and the bare metal finally started to show.

I work for Countrywide Surveyors @Ali C, if you need a surveyor to inspect it after your initial viewing (if you are still interested in it) for some piece of mind I can get you a heavy discount. Not trying to plug anything here but the amount of people that buy houses without realising potential issues only to have a nasty surprise when they get the keys or shortly after is alarming. Our website below: https://www.countrywide.co.uk/surveying/offer/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMItoOHvs357gIVC-vtCh2USgcIEAAYASAAEgKNbPD_BwE

He made it look sooo good to!

Some more spam pictures, can’t help it! Been out for my first decent ride on it today and it’s just lovely, exactly what I have been looking to achieve. So refreshing not to have noisy brakes.

So I realised I made a huge school boy error when I built the wheels... I forgot to underlap the spokes on the 3 cross!! In my defence I was building them in the living room while keeping an eye on my new born son haha. Took the bad weather as an opportunity to rebuild the wheels and add some rimpact inserts. Every cloud...

Giant team trials, it could be ridden on the street, it was seen at comps, and the frame is big enough to raise the seat and do some cross country... what more could you ask for haha

Exactly what I have done: works a treat!

Next level precision! That last side hop is a monster!

Thanks Grant, I’ll definitely get some footage recorded soon.

Thanks Grant, I’ll definitely get some footage recorded soon.

A few more snaps whilst testing in the snow this morning

Ah right understood, budget build!

Have you considered DMR DeeVees?

After ordering the frame kit from Marino in April 2020 for a lockdown project, it finally arrived late last month. I’d purchased most of the bits over a long period of time and got what I could second hand but in good condition to keep costs down. Ultimately this is a cheaper route to an inspired arcade which I make no excuses for, it’s what I wanted. A fairly standard build these days but I’ve gone with parts that have been tried and tested - so it is a bit of a photocopy of other 24’s out there, but that’s fine by me I’m absolutely over the moon with the finished result, only had a chance to ride on some curbs outside my house so far (I need to bed the brakes in anyway). But first impressions are great, the bike feels nimble yet solid and responsive. Can’t wait to have a proper ride this coming weekend (if the weather is kind!).