One day last July, it was about 35 °C, and I was spending the afternoon trying not to melt into the chair while scouring local ads for good bike deals. I spotted a 1991 Marin Eldridge Grade for a price which could be considered okay, given that the condition was good. Texted the seller and was on my way a few minutes later.
I was greeted with “by the way the seatpost doesn’t move”. Of course… Needless to say, the bike was absolutely filthy too. I should have walked away, but I was 15 km from home and wasn’t in the mood of taking the metro back. After some haggling over the price, we struck the deal and I started pedalling home. It was a fun ride home, the seat was about an inch lower than necessary, which meant my knees started aching about 500 meters into the journey. It didn’t help things that I had one barely working, and one completely non-functional brake, and fully gummed up shifters. I made it home without crashing, although the climbs were a bit rough – of which there were plenty.
I always forget to take proper “before” pics. I’ve made one, but it’s not really something that can be called proper. This was after some cleaning already.
So, let’s assess the damage. Seatpost badly stuck. Front wheel painted over with black spray paint. Pedals wobbly. Shifters not really shifting, brakes really not braking. Some bolts rusty. Could be worse. But still worthy of the Eldritch Grade nickname.
Before doing anything else, I really wanted to assess the seatpost problem. First, I soaked things in WD40 for a week. Doesn’t really do much with galvanic corrosion, but just for good measure. Then I’ve acquired a BFPW – a big fucking pipe wrench that is. 80 cm of leverage. Seatpost was out within a few minutes.
My second fear was getting the BB out after struggling a with the crankset. Luckily the cups didn’t pose a challenge at all, they were kinda loose actually. The rest was easy. I replaced the worn out caged bearings with nice and shiny loose ones, then smeared plenty of grease on them and fiddled with the adjustment for a bit.
It would have been time to start thinking about the build. Normally. But I already knew exactly what I was going to build way before I had the bike. Fat slick tyres, BMX bars, 1x drivetrain. Went ahead and placed the orders, then I started pondering about the wheels. The ones that came with a bike were useable, but ugly. And I wanted some nice parts for a change.
I had another bike listing saved in my favourites for a few weeks. The frame was way too small, but it came with some pretty neat, mint-condition components. So I went to pick it up and rode it home. Again, roughly 15 km with a way too short seatpost, and the first few kilometers were uphill. It was well worth it. STX RC Parallax hubs laced into Ritchey Vantage Sport rims. Spotless, not a speck of dirt on them, with buttery smooth bearings. Just what I needed!
It wasn’t too difficult to put this machine together – for the most of it. After all the components arrived I finished the build in a single afternoon. Besides the tyres… the bloody tyres! They just wouldn’t seat properly. After sweating buckets struggling with my floor pump, I decided to ride to the nearest gas station instead. Took some dish soap and a toothbrush with me. Applied the soap onto the beads, then carefully overinflated the tyres. After some loud pops they were finally on. Now let the pictures talk instead of me.
I think it turned out pretty darn cool, at least a lot nicer than most of my previous builds. The Flite is of course extremely uncomfortable for this riding position, and I’m not very satisfied with the handlebars, they rise a bit too high. Gonna replace these eventually. I could (and I should) trim the cable housings, they are a tad too long, but I had some other projects to work on instead. Stay tuned!
Components Table
| Component | Brand & Model |
| Frame | Tange CrMo Butted OS |
| Forks | Marin Rockstar CrMo 1 1/8″ (threaded) |
| Seat Tube | 48 cm C-T |
| Top Tube | 57 cm C-C |
| Headset | Ritchey Comp |
| Crankset | ZRACE Blade with Goldix 38T |
| Pedals | Cheap |
| Rear Derailleur | Shimano Deore XT RD-M737 |
| Shifters | SunRace SLM96 8-speed |
| Brakes | Shimano Alivio BR-T4000 |
| Brake Levers | Avid FR-5 |
| Wheels | Shimano STX Parallax + Ritchey Vantage Sport |
| Cassette | Shimano Deore XT CS-M737 8s |
| Tyres | Schwalbe Big Apple 26×2.15″ |
| Handlebars | Promax BMX bars 650×190 mm |
| Stem | Salt AM Frontloader BMX 50 mm |
| Saddle | Flite Ti |
| Seatpost | Ergotec Patent 29.4×350 mm* |
*The original seatpost had a 29.5 mm diameter, which is completely unobtainable, so I went with 29.4 instead.