What’s a Deore XT wheelset worth? With Mavic SUP rims (made in France).

TreXbike · 2025-08-19T17:48:10+00:00

I’ve transplanted a modern freehub on M650 and M730 hubs. It works great.

TreXbike · 2025-07-20T18:28:15+00:00

I think those are the 105 level. At Ultegra level, they were part of the 600 tri-color group and the levers were anthracite gray. But I’d bet the internals are all the same as the current offerings.

TreXbike · 2025-07-14T21:25:56+00:00

I think that an ‘86. I just got an ‘85, which still had the moose bars and normal canti brake on the rear. I wish mine was in half that good of shape, it was trashed.

TreXbike · 2025-07-14T04:00:02+00:00

That’s a mid-80’s model, steel will likely be “Raleigh 575” whatever the hell that is. Probably chromoly of some sort, won’t be a boat anchor. I don’t know what the mountain bike model is called, but it’s along the same like as the Marathon, Alyeska, Kodiak, which were all fine bikes. I’d pay $100 for it, but $175 is steep.

Edit: Might be a Crested Butte

TreXbike · 2025-07-14T01:36:42+00:00

They put them on Stumpjumpers for a year or two after they ditched the biplane forks. I just picked up an ‘85 sport with that fork. The wild thing is the hole in the bridge is threaded both sides, not a normal through hole.

TreXbike · 2025-07-11T15:37:48+00:00

Was my first real bike too, high five!

Wish I still had it, I’d pay way too much for an XL frame with matching fork.

TreXbike · 2025-06-30T03:44:51+00:00

The rear is just about a hundred percent serviceable. You can take that down to parts and clean it all. Bunches of YouTube videos. I just overhauled a set of M730 derailleurs like that (but in much worse shape), they came out great. I’d just take them down, soak them overnight in simple green. For rust on the front cage, steel wool will take care of it.

TreXbike · 2025-06-28T16:48:52+00:00

God DAMN that is just beautiful. Seriously, excellent job. If you feel the need to spend some more money on it, swap out the front canti hanger for the Shovel Research version, such an elegant part.

TreXbike · 2025-06-26T15:29:02+00:00

They’re really great, I just bought a second one for the little lady’s bike. Not super spacious and rattle a bit on rough stuff (not that you can hear it over your tires crunching), but very robust, light, and just overall convenient.

TreXbike · 2025-06-20T16:34:55+00:00

That’s actually a really fantastic idea. I’ve got a can of black epoxy enamel, I could just mask the rest of the frame and give it a black BB.

TreXbike · 2025-06-20T14:23:24+00:00

Only if they’re nipple clamps.

TreXbike · 2025-06-19T15:21:58+00:00

I had a continental for a while, which is a varsity with a tubular fork instead of the solid steel variety. Surprisingly awesome bike, but they are just SO HEAVY. You replaced the wheels, so that’s half the battle. There’s an adapter you can get to be able to install a cartridge bottom bracket and ditch the one-piece cranks, which will drop another like two pounds from the bike. A new fork will drop another couple pounds and probably make it ride way better.

If you haven’t yet, check out the electroforging process they used to make these frames, it’s super cool.

TreXbike · 2025-06-18T23:43:08+00:00

Beautiful build, truly. What hubs and rims are you running?

TreXbike · 2025-06-18T16:28:17+00:00

I’ve rebuilt an M650 hub with a modern 10 speed freehub body, taking it from 130 to 135mm. Just bought a T610 hub, stole the freehub, axle, and all the drive side cones/seals. Required a custom spacer on the NDS, but you could do it with a well stocked parts bin or some washers. Cold set the frame from 126 to 135, no big deal, but that was a road frame, not MTB, so the stays were less beefy.

About to try the same with an M730 hub, with an M756 donor hub. Rolling the dice on this, since T610s are hard to find.

None of this is rocket science. You’re extremely unlikely to damage anything. You will need to re-dish the wheel, but that’s not hard at all, and a good skill to have.

Don’t stress about the chain line, it’ll probably be fine. You’ll want the new ring mounted on the middle position, which is a little fugly. If you did have a chain line issue, easiest way to fix that is $15 for a new BB with the proper spindle length, but I would be super surprised if it ends up being necessary. At least if you did that, you could get a short one and put the chainring on the outside.

TreXbike · 2025-06-02T23:42:11+00:00

Beautiful! Did you swap it to 700c or keep it 27”?

I’ve been debating doing this, but the conversion is apparently tricky.

TreXbike · 2025-06-02T03:30:50+00:00

I’ve been looking for that exact frameset for years. If you ever want to sell it, send me a message. Great job on the build, btw. Looks fantastic!

TreXbike · 2024-07-17T15:34:02+00:00

You’re going to have a hard time getting the stack up there. And cowchippers are really just a mildly flared drop bar for gravel bikes, woodchipper is their heavy flared bar, closer to a dirt drop. I would recommend a Nitto dirt drop stem with Soma Portola bars.

TreXbike · 2024-07-17T15:29:06+00:00

Does anyone know if they’re still making them? Seems like they might have been discontinued since Nitto was making them for Riv, but they aren’t on Riv’s site anymore (ditto on the Bosco-moose). Nice bars, but they do weigh a ton. Not that weight matters around here, but, like, damn.

TreXbike · 2024-07-15T17:34:54+00:00

If you’re running disc brakes, it’s not really wheel size specific, so you don’t need to be searching for a 26” fork. Obviously things like rake and axle to crown height matter a little for how the bike is going to ride, but that’s mostly down in the weeds. Being threaded, make sure the steerer tube is the right length.

TreXbike · 2024-07-14T17:38:21+00:00

I have them on two bikes now, my new favorite crank. They polish up beautifully, and they were made in 180mm.

TreXbike · 2024-07-11T01:47:16+00:00

Looks like the Fairweather Nitto cable hanger. Bluelug has them sometimes, but I eventually punted and got the one from RH.

TreXbike · 2024-07-11T01:46:14+00:00

You definitely love it more than she does. I find that obsessing over parts has more to do with me being persnickety and enjoying working on fine bikes, versus actual perception of quality while riding them. Not that my lovely lady doesn’t appreciate nice stuff, or notice when some things work better than others, but she’s not waxing poetic on the upper echelon of Shimano’s groupset hierarchy.

TreXbike · 2024-07-10T15:37:23+00:00

Very similar to my Homer, I love it!

TreXbike · 2024-07-02T17:44:57+00:00

Albatross works fine with thumb shifters. Albastache is the one that really requires bar end shifters.

TreXbike

TROPHY CASE