Author Topic: 1984 Tioga Rhino Charge: Meet Max (Read 25755 times)

Avro · « **on:** May 05, 2018, 08:23 PM »

This is a build I have had simmering in the background for over a year now. The parts list was very specific and led to a number of chases, failures and scores. The overall theme was to be TIOGA, Tioga everything I could track down. The sub-theme was to be MAX-FLO, again everything Max-Flo that I could call my own. I love Tioga, perhaps not the skeleton saddles, but none-the-less, I love Tioga. These chaps do too:

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Weak? Worth it? Hell yeah!

This build is with love. I am also ressurecting my pop-up photo studio and making an effort with photography; helps keep things fresh and challenging for me. I hope you stay with me and enjoy the journey, if only a little!

More to come soon...

Avro · « **Reply #1 on:** May 06, 2018, 07:35 PM »

The Rhino Charge is one of three branded frames from Tioga, all made by Tange.

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The Rhino was a Hot Heart, I assume a full Cro. Moly. version given the catalogue description. The Rhino III has hour-glass shaped top and down tubes and aero section chainstays; I am looking for one of these frames for a future build. The Rhino Charge has top and down tubes that start out oval at the head tube and morph to round tube at the seat post tube. The frame sports a roomy 19.5" top tube, handsome aero section chainstays and has the Tange 'bulge' in the seat post tube at the bottom bracket.

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The frame came to me without decals but Delcals has them and very nice they are too.

Mikku · « **Reply #2 on:** May 07, 2018, 12:40 AM »

Love these frames. I expect Monkian aka Paul will be along shortly as well.

griff · « **Reply #3 on:** May 07, 2018, 08:59 AM »

Following

MartyC · « **Reply #4 on:** May 07, 2018, 03:41 PM »

Nice frames and forks

Avro · « **Reply #5 on:** May 09, 2018, 03:28 PM »

The steering head and bottom bracket had to be Tioga Beartrap. This turns out ot be a bit of a minefield with various reincarnations of the sets, especially in the packaging. I tried to get a Beartrap headset in the same packaging as the nos bottom bracket set I had but they came at a premium. Being permanently skint I could not justify the extra expense so a later incarnation it is, still Japan made.

The bottom bracket, by Tange, is a Tioga Beartrap BB-220BT, totally minty. The headset Beartrap 2.

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The Tioga Max Flo forks, by Tange, installed with the headset and a lovely flat black and chrome Task Force head lock. I have not found a Max Flo equivalent and wonder if they were ever manufactured?

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Avro · « **Reply #6 on:** May 09, 2018, 03:59 PM »

I saw several Max Flo cranks come up for sale. All for more than I could afford and, frankly, grossly over-priced. I watched one start out at £200! I offered £80 delivered, having seen a couple sell through at that price, but the seller would have none of it. It was frustrating to see the seller drop the price every ten days by a tenner or so. Last time I saw it it was down to £90 and still unsold.

This example came from the US in the end. These are the same as SR Cosmo-lite tubular cranks with the pressed in chainwheel pin, a weak point I understand. These have Tioga Boron Max-Flo engraved into the driveside crank arm. A slightly later, improved version is the same as SR Turbox tubular crank and has a welded in pin and screen printed legend 'Tioga Cr Mo Max-Flo'. Both varients are stamped by SR in a conventional way.

This crank is dated September 1985

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The crank is paired with a Force Connection Max-Flo FC-2 spider dated 1984 in natural finish.

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Avro · « **Reply #7 on:** May 09, 2018, 04:47 PM »

I like laid back seat-posts, I think they add dynamism to the whole look. I tried a DX post but decided against it in favour of a Tioga laid back. Could I find one in chrome at sensible money, no, nothing except one from the someone who likes to let things shine...a lot and for a lot, if you get my drift.

As I was about to send off a set of Laserbars for a re-chrome, I cast the net wider to include all those mid '80s pastel coloured seat posts. A lilac one was obtained and it felt good to free it from that garish hue under a bubbling coating of Syn-strip! Was this naughty? It is not as if there is a shortage of said painted posts! So, off it went to be chromed with the handlebars.

The seatpost clamp is a Tioga Max-Flo clamp. I wanted a black one but struggled to track one down. I bought an orange one fully expecting to refinish it. When it arrived it was still in its original packet with intact header card. The orange was also gorgeous. I could not do it, it was just so nice. In fact it has inspired me to search for other orange parts for some future build, cables have already been sourced, be they Clarkes! So I bought another Max-Flo clamp in white, which I stripped and refinished in black.

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CustardLips · « **Reply #8 on:** May 09, 2018, 05:16 PM »

Love Tioga framesets... especially the Rhino lll. Very nice indeed.

Avro · « **Reply #9 on:** May 09, 2018, 05:35 PM »

The stem is, of course, Tioga Max-Flo. Annoyingly I sold one just a few weeks previously but luckily found one at sensible money without too much bother. It has the original clamping bolts but a replacement wedge and bolt. The black anodising was largely in good shape save for a few minor scratches. This is good as I can not re-anodise the vast majority of stems due to the steel chrome plated shafts. I could re-anodise the caps but that would only be half a job.

All I had to do was deep clean it and dust it with rattle can satin black to unify the whole. Looks lovely and has retained that brushed aluminium look.

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The stem is made by Nitto and dated July 1983

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I swear I used to see Tioga stamped bars on the museum fairly regularly, not the fugly freestyle ones but conventional race bars. Could I find a set when I needed them, no chance. Move on a few months and a set of what I believe to be Nitto bars came up on this site towards the end of last year. Having given up on Tioga stamped bars I committed to buy the Nitto bars. They are lush! A proper 28.5" width and an 8.5" rise. Not only that but they have glorious 'power-bends'

The bars are dated October 1985.

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Mikku · « **Reply #10 on:** May 09, 2018, 11:56 PM »

Looking great so far, and I love those bars!!

MartyC · « **Reply #11 on:** May 10, 2018, 02:39 PM »

Liking the look of this (although bars do need to come back a bit once it's built

) and loving the picture story

Avro · « **Reply #12 on:** May 10, 2018, 07:49 PM »

Thanks for that. I am racing through the build because I love the finished bike pictures and I am desperate to share them!

Brakes are thanks to Shimano. Shimano Tourney caliper, nos in the bag prior to this build, complete with Shimano brake blocks, a DX lever and a choice of cables. I had originally planned on a silver/clear cable, and found one, sorted I thought. Then I looked at the parts as a whole, in particular the suite of yellow parts I will share shortly. The silver cable was rather anonymous when put with the whole. Worked great on my Laserlite but that had an altogether more sombre colour scheme.

Looking for inspiration I looked at dozens of builds but got nowhere. Then an idle ebay search and there she was, calling to me, nos in the bag, card intact, dated........pretty in pink and twice as lovely. I knew it had to be, and it is: this bike has a pink Dia Compe cable without a yankee-doodle-dandy-Hutch in sight.

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The only sad thing is that I do not have a pair of cables, nor a front caliper to match the rear. I do have the right hand DX lever to make the pair though. You see I like to have a full compliment of brakes, not necessarily fitted, no idea why but that is the way it is.

Avro · « **Reply #13 on:** May 10, 2018, 08:22 PM »

Wheels! Blimey am I pleased I have a number of wheel sets available, not all built but none-the-less.

I only rediscovered BMX a couple of years ago but even I have noticed an escalation in the prices asked for wheel sets. December 2016 I bought the wheels that this build sport's; they came complete with a pair of very nice rainbow label comp III tyres. Today, similar wheels sets (more often in a more common colour and without tyres) are advertised at double what I paid. Anyone else noticing this? I appreciate that the asking price is not the same as a final sale price. I am also aware that high prices are often posted to encourage 'off-ebay' sales and therefore a win-win for both buyer and seller, buyer protection excluded.

Anyway, the wheels are Araya 7W 'Aero' rims laced to loose ball Suzue hubs. Both in a lovely black. The spokes are a little tarnished but plenty good enough to leave alone. Love these wheels.

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Avro · « **Reply #14 on:** May 10, 2018, 10:06 PM »

Don't start me on tyres! Pah, started myself!!

This build is late in date for me, with the frame being a Tange T4 build so 1984. By 1984 I was more interested in getting a DT50MX or, and what I eventually got my gloved mitts on, a Suzuki TS50ER.

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Somehow smelling of two-stroke fumes and lying flat on the tank to try to get to 40mph became cool. BMX was left behind.

Therefore I am freed a little from convention. I decided to source a tyre other than the ubiquitous Comp III. Obviously it had to be the Competition IV! Later and less desirable I thought so plenty around. Proved a little more difficult to source than I anticipated. It turns out that the 'Competition IV' was supplied in a box which necessitated the tyre being folded up. Tyres left in the box tended to split. NOS in the box tyres are almost certainly toast, despite what sellers try to tell you and I heard it all. It is the partially used jobbies you want! Meh, you could not make it up!

It took a while but I got there. A mint front with no splits sourced from the UK and a used rear from the US. The front is lovely, the printed label minty. The rear is clearly used and a bit sorry. The sidewalls have lost most of the rubber skin so very dry. However they hold air and look ok. The Competition IV rear also came with a very nice Cheng Shin rear which it lovely, amber coloured side walls and comp III tread, a bonus but it did not help me out with this build! In the absence of anything better I decided to make good.

Here is the lovely Competition IV front:

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This is the tread on the rear
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The label on the used tyre was very faded and crumbly. I asked if Delcals had a decal I could use but no, they do not do tyre decals as they will not stick. So, I was on my own. I went back to my scale modeling days and water-slide decals and decided to make my own. Now, I am not a very computer savvy chap, people who know me would say retarded. So, and I do not mind admitting it, it took me hours to get a decal that remotely resembled an original printed image. It took hours to 'master' 'cutting out' an image of the logo let alone printing the damn thing! I sort of got there, for me this was a huge win! I prepped the tyre with a clear coat and applied decal softener, slid my own decal in place, added decal setter to make good and padded it all dry. The result, super amateurish but better than before and I DID IT! *giggles*

In the act of making the decal, note 'You Tube' hits on the right-hand side, make of them what you will!

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Here is my very own Comp IV decal (please be gentle, getting this out of a computer for me is like 'fermat's last theorem' stuff!
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Big build up for very little result! Not for me, I was full of it for days after!

Monk_Wally_Honk · « **Reply #15 on:** May 11, 2018, 05:48 AM »

Quote from: Avro on May 10, 2018, 07:49 PM

Then an idle ebay search and there she was, calling to me, nos in the bag, card intact, dated........pretty in pink and twice as lovely. I knew it had to be, and it is: this bike has a pink Dia Compe cable without a yankee-doodle-dandy-Hutch in sight.

The only sad thing is that I do not have a pair of cables

I think Andy DTTDB has the other one!!

Avro · « **Reply #16 on:** May 11, 2018, 09:51 PM »

The freewheel is a super smooth 16T Shimano 333 dated June 1983....

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...paired with a 43T Tioga CD chainwheel through an Izumi Jet Black Chain.

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Avro · « **Reply #17 on:** May 11, 2018, 10:06 PM »

The pedals took a bit of work. The bodies, which came from the US, were sold to me as Harry Leary Turbo bodies SR-134. They were black but the Harry Leary bit was of little interest. They were in pretty good shape, very smooth spinning, if cosmetically just ok.

Bearing seats would rule out any anodising and I really wanted polished bodies anyway. So a bit of elbow grease and, voila, shiney bodies. The cages also came from the US, I saw that another rad member also bought a pair of the same cages recently. The Tioga Surefoot III cages, complete with new screws, were nos but in an odd gun metal/almost khaki matt finish. I sprayed them black and splendid they look too.

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Andyboy77 · « **Reply #18 on:** May 11, 2018, 11:13 PM »

Would a pair of pink '86-dated cables help? If so, I have a pair.

Avro · « **Reply #19 on:** May 11, 2018, 11:14 PM »

My rear is '86 so absolutely!

Andyboy77 · « **Reply #20 on:** May 11, 2018, 11:24 PM »

Quote from: Avro on May 11, 2018, 11:14 PM

My rear is '86 so absolutely!

Nice, I'll have a look for the pics (they are somewhere on my HDD) and drop you a message tomorrow.

Avro · « **Reply #21 on:** May 12, 2018, 09:04 PM »

Now for a splash of colour.

Given the nature of this build the grips and saddle pretty much choose themselves. Both were bought without a specific build in mind at the time, although the yellow suite of parts soon took shape. I got pretty lucky with the grips and saddle and did not have to pay silly money either.

The grips are Tange and as fresh as if they made yesterday, makes me think but meh! They have all the right markings.

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The saddle has to be an Elina Lightning bolt. This example, dated April 1981, was subject to a little restoration thread I made last year: http://www.radbmx.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,190557.0.html. Both parts look lovely on the bike.

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The saddle may be my favourite part on this entire build.

The pad set took a little chasing. This was a case of the proverbial buses. A set of yellow California Lite pads came up for sale on ebay, they were totally mint I have no doubt as the seller is extremely well known, something to do with Lamborghinis. At the same time another set were up for sale on the Museum.

The seller on the museum stated US only so I waited to see if I could get the ebay set first. I even had the Museum up in another window ready to click the commit to buy button if the ebay set went too high. The ebay set did go too high, way too high! So commit to buy on the museum, pay instantly, give a relatives address in Connecticut and Bob's your uncle. It really was that simple, why on earth I bothered watching the ebay sale when I knew it would go silly because almost everything the guy sells goes silly! I only ended up paying $50 anyway. Was I temporarily under the Lamborghinikid's spell?

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Avro · « **Reply #22 on:** May 13, 2018, 09:46 PM »

...a few detail shots of the brakes.
I hope no one thinks this is for vanity! I just enjoy photographing the components, the colours and the shapes.
I hope you don't mind if I post more in the days to come.

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griff · « **Reply #23 on:** May 14, 2018, 12:13 AM »

Post away Peter
You can never have too many threads like this

Mikku · « **Reply #24 on:** May 14, 2018, 12:37 PM »

Too bloody right! Even if it was for vanity's sake, keep 'em coming mate. Love a good build thread, especially when it's such a cool bike!

Author Topic: 1984 Tioga Rhino Charge: Meet Max (Read 25755 times)

griff

griff