[Closed] 26 ain't dead - The story of a Steel Frame

Nice. I have a 26" 853 steel hardtail (Genesis Altitude) and I expect it will be last ever mountain bike. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. And if it is, I can 🙂

headset spacers

thoroughly enjoyed that..nicely done.

That explains the issue I'm having with clearance of the chainring on the old Bfe.

headset spacers

Nope. At one point they're silver, others they're black.
More obvious than that. 🙂

cranks?

But what about the Sanderson?! I was expecting "so I took the downtube from the on-one and..."

But what about the Sanderson?! I was expecting "so I took the downtube from the on-one and..."

It's a fair point. And well made.
To be honest it was a nice bike but it didn't really suit me. The Inbred is a better bike.
I should have kept part of it though, I suppose.

cranks?

Yup, easy!

Cranks??? but the Sanderson has black cranks. wheels don't appear to have changed well rims anyway.

A great read. Persistence:)

Lovely bike, and lovely, unchanged, cranks.

wheels don't appear to have changed.

They have, actually, but it's hard to spot. The first ones were from CRC and had Hope XC hubs which died on the previous years tour: I pulled the rear rim apart. Same model rim now, built by me this time, on DT 240s hubs but not the same [i]actual[/i] rims, so you're sort of right. 🙂

but the Sanderson has black cranks.

They're actually a bronze coloured pair of FSAs but I was referring to the Inbred really. 🙂
Spot the difference over! 🙂

I wouldn't have bothered spending so much time and money on such an ordinary frame, but well done for keeping it from the scrap heap! 😀

top stuff! and well done for not binning a great frame

*likes*

such an ordinary frame

Limited edition, one of 100 853 geared frames produced. I'd bet half are gone now.

This is excellent. I love the repairability/modificationability of steel - a disc mount for my 1997 Kona Lava Dome is on the list and it's great to know it can basically (allowing for the Trigger's Broom effect of course) go on for ever.

Nice work on keeping it going in so many guises!

Nice story, thanks 🙂

Its a great looking bike. The orange build is my preference.

Glad to see its still going! Another chapter in its life and certainly not an ordinary frame 🙂

i like steel,and perseverance 8)

The orange build is my preference.

That was the best paint. It still looked fine after about 6-7 years use, but for £120 it bloody well should have!

I've just worked out I've spent about £330 on repairing a frame I paid £249 for 😳

Was the Seattube problem caused or made worse by cable rub?

Nice one on the persistence. Repairs have been much cheaper than new frame(s) so if you like it then why not.

Nice to see it used in different ways. Keep enjoying it!

Nice story! good work for sticking with it!

Mine isn't quite as as dramatic. Bought a year old 2nd hand Dekerf Generation from Recycle in Penge in 2000. Race face, LX, suntour thumbies, lime green Z2 Fly Bombers. flared the headtube a few years later, took it to Chas Roberts, who brazed & reamed the headtube and added reinforcing rings, painted it blue and new decals (badly - see pics below!).

Went through few wheels, Marzocchi MZ comp forks then disc brakes arrived with a Reba Team fork.
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Bought an 853 Dialled PA on the preorder offer (2012?), which freed up the dekerf to be sent off for more extensive froo-frooing, disc mount on the back, hydro guides for cable stops, canti bosses removed and dents filled. And spangly paint with forks to match. Set it up rigid singlespeed (salsa cromoto, Phil Woods EBB), as the PA was taking care of the ruffty-tuffty end of things.

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Handling was razor sharp, so took the opportunity to introduce a little more comfort, grip, and calm the steering down a bit with a 3" knard on a Hugo up front. Cleaned up a tiny jpg of the logo and sent it off to Greg Moorhouse for a pewter headbadge too.

[img] [/img]
(I've shortened the brake hose since then!)

Was the Seattube problem caused or made worse by cable rub?

Nooooo. I had to remove the paint to find the crack. That was seriously tough orange stuff. When I was building the bike up I dropped a spanner on the top tube. Not a mark....

nedrapier, that De Kerf in green is LUSH, baby!
What a fantastic colour!

I quite enjoyed that wander along someone else's nostalgia. And yes, orange was best.

Dekerf and OnOne both lovely.
Cheers pp I'll keep an eye on the stays on my 853 sliding dropout SS frame.
Currently repurposed for allotment duties.

I remember your Sanderson stack like it was yesterday, shows how old I'm getting! Good work on the inbred, modern classic?

Great story about the Inbred. You often hear people claiming 'repairability' as a plus point for steel frames, but it's rare you see anyone actually repairing them.

I have an Inbred and a 456, and i'll certainly look i to repairing them if they break. You can't buy that kind of history!

Not sure we got enough detail about how he crashed into a parked car either.

Although "Halloween" took my train of thought a particular direction

cheers PeterP, it is lush. Fine metal flake and a yellow top coat. Looks fantakka in the sunshine - but to paraphrase, "at £155, it bloody well should do!"

like you, a multiple of the original price spent on the frame, but if you're attached to something, you're attached to something.

oops, dp.

It's the pedals, what do I win?

Good effort keeping it going when most would of binned and started fresh 🙂

Cheers pp I'll keep an eye on the stays on my 853 sliding dropout SS frame.

I'd keep an eye on the dropouts If I were you, mine has a small crack near where the axle tightens. You won't eat the stays on a SS version, the chainring has more space up front.

Nice post OP, looking forward to one day giving my SS 853 Inbred the full refinishing attention. Including filling in the pointless rack mounts..

Nice 🙂

My Soul at it's birth, Xmas day 2008;

[img][url= https://c3.staticflickr.com/4/3463/3226101978_cd1e0cb1fd.jp g" target="_blank">https://c3.staticflickr.com/4/3463/3226101978_cd1e0cb1fd.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/5V5BHU ]Picture 015[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/16899333@N03/ ]IamDeathside[/url], on Flickr[/img]

Been my only mtb since, it's seen off wheels, forks, drive trains and too many contact points to count. But still going strong and still putting a smile on my face. I should perhaps show it some love.....

[img][url= https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7648/27324622076_ec3980ffc0.jp g" target="_blank">https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7648/27324622076_ec3980ffc0.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/HCzQaJ ]IMG_20160529_194924[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/16899333@N03/ ]IamDeathside[/url], on Flickr[/img]

long may it remain my only mtb 🙂 but road bikes, that's different story.....

Steel frames, gotta love 'em! Mine's going nowhere 😀

Not sure we got enough detail about how he crashed into a parked car either.

Although "Halloween" took my train of thought a particular direction

I'd washed my bike the previous ride and was riding out to meet the others (at about 6.45pm. It was dark, but that's nothing to do with it) and my front mech (Remember those..?) was sticking, probably a gritty cable and I was tapping it with my heel and actuating the shifter to free it up. I was looking at the front mech, couldn't even SEE the front wheel....
This was down a long, shallow hill and I rode slap bang into a parked Citroen and smashed the windscreen with my face, left a 'me sized' dent in the centre of the bonnet and a Sanderson shaped vee in the bumper
This was witnessed by a couple driving passed who stopped and insisted upon holding my head still for a good 20 minutes until the ambulance arrived. None of us knew the name of the road (No smartphones then either) and nobody would answer the door to sell us where we were (Highgate Lane, forever etched onto my cortex from that night) as it was Halloween and they thought it was Trick or Treaters....
So, ambulance arrives and they sit me down and ask me some questions and decide to take me in. I [u]SIT[/u] in the ambulance and ride to Frimley Park A&E, then [u]WALK[/u] through the door. After being checked in the virtually wrestle me to the horizontal position and tape me to a spinal board where I'm immobilised for an hour or so whilst they X-ray me. All I can remember was that I was BUSTING FOR A PI$$ and getting rather annoyed as I felt the board was waaaaaay too late.
In the meantime Mrs PP had come and seen me then gone to collect my bike. As she pulled up to the house on Highgate Lane where it was stored the driver of the car came back and was about to drive off, oblivious to the damage until Mrs PP pointed it out to him...
Long story short but it was a company car and their insurers lost my details and called me up to get them again about a year later. I provided them again. About another year or so later I got a letter as they'd changed hands and needed my details AGAIN, but I got this letter on a mail redirect after I'd moved. I rang them and told them I'd given them the info twice after well over 2 years I did'nt have a clue what my insurance details were back then, and I'd moved and they could poke it, sunshine, or words to that effect....
That's it, in a nutshell......
🙂

Great stuff all.

I have a sliding dropout 853 inbread frame somewhere - never got around to doing anything with it 😉

Still brand new/unused?

@ Futon river crossing, if peterpoddy isnt interested i could be depending on size ?

I bought a 2004 Gary Fisher Marlin Disc back in 2008. I cracked the frame (alu) near the start of 2012 and found out to my pleasure that GF were owned by Trek who offer a lifetime warranty on their frames. I got a Trek 3500 as replacement. The components weren't up to much so I replaced the brakes with the Deore Hydros from the GF, and other parts I'd upgraded on the GF over the years - drivetrain, forks, saddle, grips, wheels. I'm still commuting on the Trek 3500, as well as longer road/XC rides. The only component that was original to the Trek 3500 that remains is the seatpost (and perhaps a headset spacer). I've upgraded the forks since, and the drivetrain again, and bars and stem. Could do with replacing the grips now - the cork has almost worn away in places.

The 10 year old Deore hydro brakes from the Gary Fisher are still performing relatively well.

Oh, I don't want his frame, I was just interested and wondered why he'd not built it up 🙂

Used - but it's in nice condition. I was going to Alfine it, but never got round to it.

16" red colour

I had one of the anniversary Inbreds; it was a great ride but the chainstay design was dreadful and I ditched it as I spent a great deal of ride time dreading when the next grinding crunch of chainsuck would occur (I rode a DN6 Inbred prior to this). I remember following your repair threads with interest!

Two 853 steel frames on and some of the kit bought for the anniversary Inbred build is still on my current bike ( although the wheels have to be replaced after 10 years+ a few months back due to serious cracking in the rims.

I'm riding a rigid steel bike with 26" wheels, 3x9 (Octalink) drivetrain, silver finishing kit and bar ends (so rather out of date) and having great fun. I don't have a great deal of spare cash so plan to continue doing so.

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The first photo of the inbred just looks right. That blue, 3x9 XT, 100mm forks. That is a proper bike and a classic.

I like the way the frame has gone through evolutions, and still gets used.

When the basic design is good and the materials repairable, then there's no reason to dump a damaged frame.

Quite right, epicyclo! Hoping essel will show up with his much-amended Fleet frame.

have enjoyed reading this thread.

i have a 2011 charge duster 26" skinny tange prestige bike that i do love (it's also my only bike at present).

due to various things have not ridden my bike for a while now (for any distance anyways,i still use it as my transport to town).

my duster does need some tlc,and i do plan on giving it some tlc once i have recovered from my operation (that makes sitting on a saddle erm difficult shall we say 🙁

i fully intend to get back into riding my bike again,as the duster is a great bike.

am thinking of getting a full xt groupset 2 x 11 for my bike,and then fit a nice set of rigid forks to it also (kona project 2's discs would be ideal i thinks). then buy some new wheels for it (maybe hope pro 2's). i need to buy some new tires also as the charge splashbacks are worn out now unfortunately.

yes that sounds great actually 😀

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here's my bike before i changed the bars/stem and seatpost to ritchy wcs black (with cane creek ergo bar ends).

Ah, bugger it, here's mine (again)-

[IMG] [/IMG]

2011 Sunn Tzar

That was it last summer just before my first ever DH race at QECP in Hampshire (bit of a trundle from Durham!) It's singlespeed now and I've built up some 26+ wheels for it which are ace 😀

I'm glad you like it, OP, and I think it's great yo've chosen to fix it and keep it running rather than scrap it. Personally I would only have done the bare minimum to that frame, and maybe spent more if it was something really nice like a custom/handbuilt frame. I do think it's a shame that so many old steel frames end up in scrap; they cold be repaired quite cheaply really, most times. The cost of getting a 'framebuilder' to repair stuff makes it economically unviable most times. Many repairs don't require specialist skills really, just a bit of welding or brazing.

I've got two 853 hardtail frames awaiting time to build them up: a Genesis Altitude that I'm going to run as a singlespeed, rigid carbon forked whippet, and a Dialled Bikes Prince Albert Classic that will have a 140mm Sektor on.

My current commuter/MTB is this rather nice 1998 Sunn (sorry for the rubbish photo). I bought it for £45 on eBay a few months ago, and have ridden it to work every single day since. I'm also desperately trying to get into the top 50 Strava laptimes for Parkwood Springs in Sheffield on it - I'm up up 70th so far. The original 1998 Hutchinson Chameleon tyres it's still got on and the supermarket pedals are the major limiting factors I think 😀

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m thinking of getting a full xt groupset 2 x 11 for my bike,and then fit a nice set of rigid forks to it also (kona project 2's discs would be ideal i thinks).

I've got a pair of 26in disc only P2s stored away. And a pair of OEM Genesis rigid a too. Not for sale. Mine mine mine!!

I'm glad you like it, OP, and I think it's great yo've chosen to fix it and keep it running rather than scrap it. Personally I would only have done the bare minimum to that frame, and maybe spent more if it was something really nice like a custom/handbuilt frame.

I've seriously looked at custom frames. The problem is that, MTB wise, I'd just be building an expensive Inbred. There's very little I'd change about that bike, maybe the cable routing, some fancy dropouts and crud catcher bosses. It would be a waste of money. So far that frames cost me a bit over £550 including buying it in the first place. Does anyone currently even make an 853 frame for that money?

@ futon river crossing, right size and color , email me if u fancy selling it, email in profile

My '97 Lava Dome has evolved over the years, but doesn't get used much any more - apart from pub/shop runs. Feel like changing it a little though and maybe taking it back a bit more retro - regret selling my P2 forks a while back. Considered putting an Avid BB disc on the front, but don't know if there's much point - the V's work fine. Thinking black tyres and flatter bars maybe

[url= https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7457/26876543543_b343187b4f_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7457/26876543543_b343187b4f_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/GWZj2M ]2016-06-05_08-35-00[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/85252658@N05/ ]davetheblade[/url], on Flickr

For anyone looking to build up a 26" wheeled steel hardtail, the Pipedream Scion frames are 853 and currently £250 making them quite a bargain.