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Beautiful bike!
Have a 9 speed chain on the way. Next will be to take some measurements and find the right chainline to then order some spacers and chainring bolts.
I hear ya. I wouldn’t mind switching to a 1×10, but I figure, I’ve got the 8 speed cassette and shifter…let’s try to make it work. I’ve ordered a 9 speed chain to use with the N/W chainring, and I think I’m going to get some longer chainring bolts and spacers and get the chainline worked out.
Also, I think there was something really funky about that HG-50 chain I was using. The links were not straight, even when the chain was pulled straight. They were at an angle, and I’ve not seen a chain do that before. It was new. I went with a KMC X9 and we’ll see how it works!
More updates to come later in the week!
Well, today was a fail. Got the narrow/wide chainring and the new chain and quickly found out that the chainring was designed to go where the large ring on a triple crankset. On this particular crankset (Deore M480), the diameter where the largest chainring mounts is different from where the middle chainring mounts, so it actually wouldn’t fit in the middle position. So I threw it on the outer position just to see what happened. Wow…it was incredibly sensitive to chainline issues! It wanted to easily throw the chain off. But that was partially because of the chain. It is an HG50 and NOT a good match for older XTR. I put back on the old middle ring and even with that, the new chain was terrible. Chainline put it somewhere around the 3rd smallest cog on the cassette, which was super weird to me. I had an IG-90 chain on another bike that I pulled off and tried on the bike and it was much better, so the new chain was causing a lot of issues.
I’m going to have to sit and think about this 1×8 chainline issue a little more. A little surprising was how wobbly the XTR RD was, but maybe not surprising based on how old it is. There was a lot of play, which I think was affecting the shift quality.
New challenges to be solved!
Yep, $20. Well, and then there was the derailleur hanger, which I recall was about $18 or so. Should receive the new chainring in another day or two and then will get this bike under power.
Next order of business will be taking a look at the SID and seeing if it is salvagable. I don’t know excactly what seals I will need for it. I’m putting the idea of a toasted damper out of my mind for now, although it would be good to experimant and figure out if any more available parts from other suspension forks would work in the SID to bring it back to life. We’ll cross that bridge soon enough!
Also bikeric, thanks for your offer on the SID. I’m going to see if it can be fixed, and will go from there. BTW nice Homegrown collection!
Ordered a new 34T narrow wide chainring. Once I get that, will throw on a new chain and the bike will be ridable.
On Friday, I got the sheared bolt out of the left side brake lever clamp and also rebuilt the 8 speed shifter. Will have some pictures soon. Good times!
Here is where the bike stands now:
1996 (frame date) Homegrown
XTR M950 wheelset (Bontrager Mustang ceramic rims)
XTR M950 V-brakes
XTR M950 8-speed brake lever/shifter combo
XTR M950 rear derailleur
Deore hollowtech crankset
Rockshox SID fork (1998, 1st year issue)
King headset
Kalloy Uno stem
EA30 bars
no-name seatpost
WTB Rocket V ti seatThe donor bike came with an XTR M951 crankset, but the BB was really crunchy, the large ring pretty worn, and I’ve read enough bad things about octalink that I think I’m going to stay with the Deore. Plus, I like the crank and I’m a square taper kinda guy.
Now, the bike has some issues, and I’m trying to sort them out to get this bike back on the trails –
1. The left brake lever/shifter has a sheared clamping bolt stuck in it. I did some research and it turns out these levers basically use a long chainring bolt, so my plan is to extract the sheared bolt and replace with some steel bolts
2. The rear hub has some ‘crunchyness’ to it. I rebuilt it and it didn’t seem to help. Examining the cones, there was at least one that had the start of some pitting/galling. It will be a fun challenge to see if I can locate some bearing cones for this or a suitable replacement. Not ready to give up on the wheelset yet.
3. The SID fork. So, the fork is losing air and under my weight (155lbs), compresses to the end of it’s travel. I’m trying to determine if I should replace the fork. I’ve had a hard time figuring out if the fork is rebuildable. I’ve read that the cartridge on these forks basically dies and there are no replacements. If anyone has some additional wisdom about this, I’m looking for all the info/knowledge I can get. I wouldn’t mind a little bit of extra travel, so a new SID or something similar (XC race fork) could be a good option.
4. I need to pick up a new chainring. I’m going to run with a 1×8 system for a while. I like the simplicity of 1x drivetrains and the ring on there is toast. I have a new HG chain ready to go once I get the chainring.
5. Pedals – I like flats, and I’ve got a pair of older Suntour XC-2 (beartrap) pedals I really like that will probably go on this bike.
6. New housing/cables/etc
Feel free to follow along as I document the build and repairs! Thanks again for this awesome forum. Excited to get back into mtb.
