'94 Super V

[JohnnyD]

I've been keeping this under wraps, but thanks to the amazing founder of this site. I picked up a killer deal on a frame that just needs some love to return it to glory.
That said here is the latest addition to feed my addiction:

Here's just one of the parts I've picked up for it:

Stay tuned for more updates as my goal is to have this bike finished by Christmas 2022.

 

[JohnnyD]

Here are the only surprises that I've found on the Super V as I've began to tear it down.

First is the upper and lower headset bearings. Both came out without any problems, a whole lot easier than they did on my Jekyll when I replaced them. In the pictures you can see just how dried out they were. The lower was also cracked.

Not a huge deal really. I have several brand new bearings for Headshok cups, plus a few serviced used bearing that are smooth as well.

The other "surprise" was that the area surrounding the captured nut for the rear bottle cage has a hairline crack near it. It looks like it has been replaced as well since you can see that it a different color than the other three mounts, as well as different than the other '94 frame I have.

It's not loose in the frame, nor does the metal move when applying pressure on it. I am going to just carefully do a surface repair to the area and leave it alone. What's left of the captured nut is still in the frame though so it rattles when you shake it. I checked and the two holes in the ends of the rear part of the V are not big enough to get it out. So this bike will just live on with a rattle inside the frame. To me that is character!!!!!

That's all the surprises this bike has given me. Not too bad for a 28yr old used bike. The rear shock rebounds decently, holds air. I did have to give it a quick clean up on the outside though. Hell I even checked the derailleur hanger out before I tore the bike down and even it was straight!!!!!

I am super excited about building this bike back to it's former glory. I wont give it a 100% accurate restoration because this bike will be RIDDEN

 

[black lightning 1987]

You might try to capture the loose nut by getting it close to the opening and shooting a bit of expandable foam in to trap it. At least it won't rattle then.

 

[JohnnyD]

Good idea. I'll have to see if I can find some with flexible enough nozzle tube that will get it into the hole in the seat tube. That is the only one that's accessible.

 

[Brian]

Good idea. I'll have to see if I can find some with flexible enough nozzle tube that will get it into the hole in the seat tube. That is the only one that's accessible.

Is the loss part steel? if so, a magnet with the access hole. Good luck.

 

[JohnnyD]

I am such a idiot..I never even thought to check that. Even if that doesn't work, the bike is still in great shape considering it's age and the fact that it was ridden in its life. This bike wasn't a garage queen!

 

[JohnnyD]

Here's some updated pics.
Sorry I somehow deleted all the pre-paint pictures.
The frame has been sanded down, primered and now painted. As you can see, the bike now has shiny new metallic black and metallic silver paint job. I still have to apply the decals and then clear coat everything. I've also done a few "upgrades" to the bike too. Like the Fatty Ultra and the rear disc brake adapter that is currently installed. Yes this '94 Super V is getting some serious love.

I hope you like it Brian.

 

[black lightning 1987]

Nice work. Always good to see new paint.

 

[JohnnyD]

Thank you. I wish I hadn't needed to repaint this bike, but the paint was too worn off on both the frame and fork.I did try to keep the little nick and scratches that the bike has earned over the years that someone rode it as it should've been. To be honest though, I was super tempted to change it from replicating the factory color scheme a bit. I wanted to do it in a metallic black and gold theme. The show stopper was that I couldn't find any decently priced wheels that were all black. Seems everything out there has got silver on it somewhere.

 

[JohnnyD]

Spent some quality ebay time as I wait for the decals to arrive.

Teaser


A little voice kept saying to add a little carbon to the bike...so I did!
Everything went smooth during the test fit today. I do a pre-assembly of the bike tomorrow and upload some new pictures for everyone.

 

[black lightning 1987]

Interesting crank, what years were they made? I'm not even sure what year ISIS was introduced but must have been around the same time as Octalink. Is that a triple crank?

 

[JohnnyD]

I haven't been able to find any detailed info on exactly what year(s) it is. I did see a website saying something like 2002-2003 ish though so I am trying to confirm it with an e-mail to Race Face. Their website doesn't have anything on earlier products that I've been able to find. As far as specs go. It's a 94/58mm BCD triple. The square taper ones I have seen on e-bay were/are all 22/32/44 . The seller did tell me that it came off of a Merlin titanium bike he was parting out, because of the size of the frame. His loss my gain, especially at the price I paid for it and the amazing condition it is in. There are NO scratches or nicks on it, the clear coat is bright and shiny. The decals/letters are just old and feel soft when you rub your fingers on them but that is about it. I guess I need to invest in a Park Tools crank puller that works with ISIS. They cheapo I have doesn't. NEW TOOL TIME!!!!!!

just in case you are curious about the weight

Just a bit heavier than a current XT M8100 w/o BB and just over 200g heavier than the current Race Face Next SL crank w/o BB..

 

[black lightning 1987]

That is probably in the year range but I would have guessed ISIS was introduced a bit earlier. I have lots of mail order catalogs here from the general era. I will try to dig through them if you don't hear from RaceFace.

Seems to me that I had a bad experience pulling an ISIS crank with the wrong tool.

FSA made titanium spindle "Platinum Pro" ISIS bottom brackets. I have a couple of NOS ones here, but they are unfortunately Italian threaded and 108 mm spindle length.

 

[JohnnyD]

I would be really interested in any information you might find.

The spindle on the bottom bracket I got with the crank is 108 mm. I was concerned that it might be too short to allow the crank clear the frame and swing arm. Just roughly putting it all together for a test fit yesterday it did look like it would clear, but I am going to do a full pre-assembly today to make sure. if not I will pick up a new 113 mm BB. I can imagine the PITA it would be to try to get a ISIS / Octalink crank off using the wrong tool. The increased surface area of the splines would make it really hard, not to mention the risk of damaging either the crank or spindle.. I'll gladly spend the money for the correct tool. What guy doesn't like buying new tools anyways? Besides, I also just refinished a old metal tool box to house most of my bike tools in and I don't have a decent crank puller in there yet.

 

[JohnnyD]

Test fitting everything. I apologize for the dark pictures.

Swing arm clearance:


Swing arm mount:




Pre-assembly:


Most of the decals arrived today. So I'll be spending the afternoon studying pictures of other early Super V's and getting them lined up and installed. I am still waiting on the Fatty Ultra decals and trying to find the correct Handbuilt in the USA decals for the swingarm as well as Super V 2000. Then it's teardown and clearcoat time! After that it's drivetrain.

I've finally settled on the drivetrain. I went with Shimano M5100 11-51T 11 speed. I wanted to make this bike a 1x12 but there are just too many little quirks of getting the all the parts playing nicely with HG hubs. All in all , this bike is coming together nicely.

 

[JohnnyD]

In case anyone is curious still about the disc brake mount

180mm rotor and Magura 4 piston caliper on a 1994 Super V!!!!

It's amazing that it fits. Granted I will NOT be using 180 mm rotors on this bike, but 160 mm on the front and rear of the bike. Something tells me that I will not have ANY problems stopping this bike.

 

[Brian]

This is great! I love a build when it can sit on tires and roll. That is the best feeling.

 

[JohnnyD]

It's super close to that point now. The wheels I had on it are actually the ones I picked up for the Delta V, but they will work temporarily until I buy a set of Mavic disc wheels and hubs for the Super V.

 

[black lightning 1987]

The RaceFace Next crank was available in square taper in 1999. That Excel had it marked down $90 late in the year might indicate that it was being replaced by the ISIS version, which as far as I can tell they never sold. They show a TruVativ crank in 2000 which in the description they term ISIS as "new". So I'd guess the ISIS version of the Next crank was introduced within a year either side of 2000.

 

[JohnnyD]

I haven't heard anything back from Race Face, but to be honest that was expected. So thank you for the information on about what year the crank is from. I am just glad it is in such nice condition. I am glad I found it on e-bay. I was going to use the old XT crank I repainted at the same time as the frame, but this deal came along and I just felt it fit the bike better. Call me crazy.