Roller Cams On The Brain: Update 3

The last time I wrote here concerning the old Dorado MTB with rollercam brakes I was telling you all about the snafu with regard to handlebars and the stem which prevented me from swapping things around. I also had done a wheel bearing repair on the rear wheel. 

Well, maybe you may have thought I'd forgotten all about that Winter project, and you'd have a valid thought there, except for that I did not forget about this project this time. I know.......crazy, right? 

Since that last update I found a pair of tires that would serve as a test set, a pair of brand new rim strips left over from the T.I.v5 sponsorship, and I had pilfered my Brooks B17 Special from that old barn-built Trek I have as a saddle to try out on this along with the Fyxation pedals from the same bike. I had everything lined up that I needed to reassemble this bike and see if it was going to be something I'd want to keep around.

It ain't pretty, that's for sure!

So, without further adieu, here it is. The Dorado Sherpa. Ah.........this is an ugly duckling of a bike. No doubt there were a ton of bikes out there that looked like this in the mid-80's, but now? This seems like a prehistoric anomaly. Okay, okay.....That's just my opinion, but really, just look at the thing! 

What's really odd is that this bike looks way too big for me, but it isn't. It fits like a glove. The rearward weight bias is quite notable, and while I did not have time to really mess about when I did my test ride, I feel like this could be a wheelie machine. This bike simply begs for a drop bar, if it weren't for that ancient steer tube ID. 

It may be hard to believe, but this saddle was a nice green color when new.

Everything works fine, by the way. The rollercams worked and adjusted up well. The right thumbie is actually indexed. Crazy! Shifts just like a Sun Tour bike does. (If you know - you know!) I did swap out the original rear derailleur for a newer Sun Tour XC Pro I had laying around. The original had a lower jockey wheel I could not get to work as well as I'd want it to. 

I confess I screwed up the cable routing on the down tube, but no big deal. This is merely a test. If I decide I want to live with this bike it is all coming back apart for deeper cleaning anyway. I'd like to score a drop bar stem and set this up with drop bars if I decide to keep it also. I'd have to go with bar end shifters, but I have a plethora of those sitting around, so no worries there. 

This is a mock-up and I will probably run it around here a bit. Then I'll decide what I want to do. If a stem and drop bar are found that will work, that will help swing the decision. I know I really don't want to keep it this way. Until next time.....