What does a serial bike restorer do after a finished project? One either enjoys the newly built bike, might actually ride it and never looks at another or . . . No.

One gets a new project bike to fill the void. So, I got myself a Wheeler 6600 Comp Line from 1992 that I spotted in a recycling centre.

This Wheeler is a steel frame made with Tange O.S. tubes. The O.S. stands for Over Size. The frame itself is no unicorn; not light, not high-end nor particularly sought after.

But, what it does have is a pretty sympathetic two-tone colour scheme, frame lugs and the often overlooked Deore DX components. I also find the Wheeler decals really stylish and very 90s.

To be more precise, the colour could actually be defined as Fuchsia or some variation of Magenta. The paint was in a reasonably good order, so it required no work as such and I find that as long as the bike and parts are clean, patina doesn’t matter.

Deore DX M650 series is a groupset that was positioned between the top of the line Deore XT M730 and Deore LX M550. More affordable than XT, but no less in terms of functionality.

Yet, it was much prettier than LX and I think there’s some undefined Dura-Ace-sque je ne sais quoi about it. The DX was in production in 1990 – 1993.

Deore DX components’ finish is slightly matte and a little less bling than Deore XT M730 series, but still a notch classier than Deore LX which – in my opinion – has a bit of a ‘supermarket bike’ feel to it.

Eventually, the M900 series, the XTR – that stands for XT Racing – replaced Deore XT M730 as the top of the line groupset so XT became the new DX, second best of the line-up.

As mentioned, the frame has a nice paintjob but it’s not particularly light and the same goes with the other Wheeler bits like the stem, the handlebar and the seatpost: heavy, as if they were made of cast iron, but they are originals and have value as such.

The wheels are factory spec Deore DX hubs with Araya CV-7 rims. The rims have a nice gun metal grey finish, but some argue that the colour is actually a faded anodised black instead.

When I spotted the bike I noticed that all of the critical parts were original, like the hubs, rims, derailleurs, stem, handlebar, seatpost and the cranks. The bike did however need some de-Acerating.

As sad as it is, when the original components break in old mountainbikes, they’re often fitted with off-the-shelf Alivio or Acera shifters.

To add insult to injury, this one even came with some hideous no-brand V-brakes. Does nobody think of us vintage MTB aficionados, when we fiddle with these bikes a decade or two later?

The bike did however need some de-Acerating.

The tyres were some worn out random ones, and this even had some “compulsory” crud catchers, spoke reflectors and that mother of all sins: a kickstand attached to the rear triangle that always tends to scratch the paint.

I get it: a kickstand is a very practical thing to have in a bike and I have one myself in my errands bike, but but…

The saddles in these finds are hardly ever originals nor worth saving. There was a random Biltema saddle with sofa-like comfort level and aesthetics.

Whenever I reassemble a project bike I have some basic rules. First, I throw away all cables and cable housings and replace them with new ones. Second, I do not bother with “period correct” old cracked tyres.

Rule of thumb: Replace old cables and housings, get new tyres.

Originally, this Wheeler 6600 came with black cable housings, but since it has a really cool red/white combo, I took a risk and ordered some white Jagwire cable housings instead. And I think they add that little extra to an otherwise ordinary bike.

When choosing tyres I try to go with a visual fit and that means either average looking blackwall tyres or a good old classic: the reproduced Panaracer Dart/Smoke in skinwall.

After having actually ridden that weeny 2.1 Smoke/Dart combo on the Explosif in local trails I thought that with this Wheeler, especially with a rigid fork, all extra cushion was needed, so I opted for some modern 2.2 Schwalbe Nobby Nics.

I managed to find the missing DX parts, the DX brakes and DX shifter/brake lever combo. Unfortunately, the DX cantilevers were missing a spacer inside the spring mechanism and did not work and the DX shifter/lever combo was so worn out that I upgraded to Deore XT cantilevers and Deore XT shifter combos.

Like tyres, I regard grips as consumables and installed basic new black ones, in this case Ritchey grips.

Seasons Greetings

I finished this build in summer 2022, had it stashed away for some time and very little time or opportunity to ride it. But this winter (2022-2023) I made an effort and even changed studded winter tyres on it and went for a wintery spin.

I’m a total amateur in filming and in this video below I was practising close-ups and slow-motion of the components. The filming is done with a GoPro MAX 360 and edited with the GoProQuik phone app.

How does it ride then?

My normal ride is a modern 29″ full-suspension bike, 2021 Mondraker F-Podium Carbon DC. It is always a bit of a throwback to get on a 26″ hardtail – especially with a rigid fork – but after some 15 minutes one gets used to the old skool.

No wonder many people build gravel bikes from these 26ers.

The ride is a bit harsh and the steering a bit nervous, but these things climb well and are pretty agile in a Finnish forest singletrack, be it ice, snow or normal summery conditions. It’s no wonder many people build gravel bikes from these 26ers.

Here is another clip of the bike and some wintery views on a foggy day in Helsinki,

What’s next?

This Wheeler is now ready and gets a place in my permanent collection for now. Few months after the finish of the build I had plans of selling this, but whenever I actually had a look and feel of it, I realised that this was too cool to let go.

Regarding my next project, I have 1992 Kona Fire Mountain, a steel frame with a stuck alloy seatpost that I wrestled with. More on that later!