A 1996 DEAN Colonel built up for the Ozarks for $200
I love a bike build with a story, and Bikepacking.com's latest Reader's Rig has a good one: Mer's 1996 DEAN Colonel, a vintage mountain bike set up as a bikepacking rig and put to work on Ozarks trails.
Mer lives in Northwest Arkansas, works in tourism, and has been around bikes for a long time, from volunteering at bike kitchens to working as a mechanic, head tech and eventually a shop owner. She helps organize the cycling group Dilly Dally. Early in her bike career she admired her coworkers' custom builds but never had the money for one. When she finally could spend, she went the budget route: the local nonprofit Pedal It Forward had received the frame as a donation, and she bought it, mostly complete, for $200.
The stock rims were cracked, so she moved the Shimano XTR M950 hubs, which she calls worth their weight in gold, onto 26-inch Velocity Cliffhanger rims. That also made tubeless tires possible, a good thing on rough Ozark terrain. The rest is mostly parts-bin pieces and a few budget components she wanted to try, such as a Microshift Advent MX drivetrain, a Surly fork, Paul cranks, MKS Gamma pedals and old Avid brakes.
Mer says it is not the fanciest bike she has built, but maybe one of the most fun. Personally, I find that the most appealing thing about old steel and titanium frames: they reward people who tinker.
Source: Bikepacking.com
Mer lives in Northwest Arkansas, works in tourism, and has been around bikes for a long time, from volunteering at bike kitchens to working as a mechanic, head tech and eventually a shop owner. She helps organize the cycling group Dilly Dally. Early in her bike career she admired her coworkers' custom builds but never had the money for one. When she finally could spend, she went the budget route: the local nonprofit Pedal It Forward had received the frame as a donation, and she bought it, mostly complete, for $200.
The stock rims were cracked, so she moved the Shimano XTR M950 hubs, which she calls worth their weight in gold, onto 26-inch Velocity Cliffhanger rims. That also made tubeless tires possible, a good thing on rough Ozark terrain. The rest is mostly parts-bin pieces and a few budget components she wanted to try, such as a Microshift Advent MX drivetrain, a Surly fork, Paul cranks, MKS Gamma pedals and old Avid brakes.
Mer says it is not the fanciest bike she has built, but maybe one of the most fun. Personally, I find that the most appealing thing about old steel and titanium frames: they reward people who tinker.
Source: Bikepacking.com
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