Yesterday I headed down to Fort Collins where my brother +Chris Slider volunteers at the Fort Collins Bike Co-op. We spent most of the day wrenching on bikes, so I can say it was a good time. Of course my primary goal was get my Project 'Dale up and running!Before we get to the Project 'Dale news, I have to share something with my bike friends. As Chris was showing me around the Co-op, we stumbled upon this recent acquisition, a 2000 Klein Mantra Pro!! As my readers know, I am a huge Klein bicycle fan!!! I fell in love with the Klein road bikes back in the 80s, so to see something as rare as a top of the line Mantra Pro in the Co-op's donation collection, we were amazed. You just never know where something cool can pop up!
We've dubbed this Mantra Pro the "Red Bull" Klein. The frame's red/silver/blue color scheme reminds both of us of the original Red Bull cans. This particular Klein looks to be in a slightly rough condition, but the good news is that it looks complete, restorable, and it is Chris's size!! He is going to talk to the shop manager and see if Chris can purchase it. It would be quite a project and addition to Chris's collection. :)
So much for the Klein fan-boy stuff, let's get to the Project 'Dale! Today's first goal was strip the frame down to the bare frame, clean it (and the parts) thoroughly, and then reassemble it. So the first step was the disassembly. In no time I had the frame stripped of its ornamentation. It was time to break out the Simple Green and do some cleaning!
In spite of its numerous scratches and paint chips, the frame was looking really good. With the frame and parts now clean, it was time to commence with the bike building! Everything seemed to go together without much fuss. There are always little things that don't seem to work they are designed to work, but the bike is now complete!
From the front, she looks really nice!
From this picture of the M700 logo, you can see some of the "rash" on the frame. A previous owner of this frame really didn't care about the gorgeous paint and finish, and I have to say that is tragic. This M700 features a black to dark green fade and I love it!
Even the Cannondale logo on the downtube has taken a beating. :( I did score an old-school Specialized carbon-fiber water bottle cage, just like the cages on my 1989 Klein Quantum!
Here she is in all of her glory, the Project 'Dale assembled! She still needs a few things before I can take her home back to Wyoming. This includes checking the tension of all of the spokes (along with truing the wheel), along with fine tuning the brakes and shifting.
I am really excited about getting the Project 'Dale rolling again! Stay tuned!!
--UberCyldesdale
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