Help identifying a find.

[cyberknight]

Picked up a MTB frame from freecycle and i think i might have stumbled on a diamond in the rough but i need some help finding some more information as google in not very helpful.
The frame is a rigid MTB frame with m trax duo tech 400 on the down tube and titanium worn away on the top tube, no brand marking .
Rear mech is an alvio 7 speed with a triple front, deore v brakes most of which do not work atm due to lack of cables and no shifter for the rear mech .
Tyres, marathon plus that look in good nick.
As far as i have been able to work out its a raleigh from around 1994 , bikepedi does not list it but found this on single track world
"1994 Raleigh MTrax Duotech 400 frame (Titanium top and down tubes, Cr-Mo rest of frame)"

 

[biggs682]

sounds good but pics will help with id

 

[cyberknight]

sounds good but pics will help with id

Will try , bit late as they are liable to be bad quality due to light levels atm.

 

[biggs682]

Will try , bit late as they are liable to be bad quality due to light levels atm.

wasnt expecting instant pics

 

[mickle]

With all due respect- its only a Raleigh. And the bonded ones are prone to joint failure.

 

[simon.r]

I used to like these, but as mickle suggests they were nothing special. An Alivio rear mech (if it's original) gives a clue - it's unlikely that a top end frame would be fitted with Alivio.

A mate had a nice ti / cro-mo Raleigh of mid 90's vintage that had a Shimano STX groupset - if memory serves it was a mid-range / mid-priced MTB.

So I reckon you've probably got a decent bike, but not a real gem.

 

[cyberknight]

Cheers,
I know its not a top spec machine although compared to the gas pipe BSO`s which are all that are offered around here if your lucky its a find .

 

[Star Strider]

The "Ti" ones had very little Ti in them, the space shuuttle glue ones are rumoured to fail but I have never seen a dead one as of yet.

They made an all steel version from Reynolds "K2" tubing, instead of having traditional butting the tubes had material removed in a helical pattern just like a rifle barrel, the steel ones were mid range as well but they are probably the one to look out for as they have all the braze on's, they are probably the more useful of the two bikes in the longterm. Just be aware that if you get the K2 version the rear canti posts are spaced too narrowly to run modern V's.

 

[mickle]

.... But if they're spaced too narrowly to accept modern 'V's they'll also be spaced to closely to accept anything else - since the universal standard for canti boss spacing is three imperial inches. Shirley.

 

[Star Strider]

I had one.

Ran shimano canti's fine, would not run with V's, too narrow, even with the spacers swapped round it still left V's sticking out well beyond the vertical.

 

[mickle]

Raleigh can't make bikes.

 

[Star Strider]

Spacing will vary and can present problems with some brands of V's.

It was made for canti's, not V's.

 

[mickle]

Spacing will vary and 75mm will present problems with some brands of V's.

It was made for canti's, not V's.

I guess I'm not explaining myself very well. The universal standard for cantilever bosses is three inches. Linear pull brakes, 'V' brakes, are cantilevers and use the very same standard. If your bike had narrower bosses its not because old-style cantis use narrower bosses its because Raleigh failed to build it to standard. Manufacturers make these sorts of errors all the time. Raleigh more than most. Orbit were terrible for this too.

 

[cyberknight]

Whatever
Anyway its running part from brake cables and new blocks, needs a clean though...
http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/free-bike-build.125814/

 

[biggs682]

Whatever
Anyway its running part from brake cables and new blocks, needs a clean though...
http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/free-bike-build.125814/

looks good