I have a Diamondback Ascent of the same vintage. Its set up as semi upright single speed beater/ studded tire winter bike. One wrinkle is the 1 1/8th threaded fork the tales a 1" true quill stem. They are little harder to come by. I use a 2 bolt 80mm "dirt drop" riser stem that cost about $20. I cant tell from the pictures if your option is the same stem set up. I think I paid $25 for a bike shaped pile and spent at least $200 in total and I counted scrounged parts off of 12 different bikes when it was all said and done. I've got a lot of miles out of this bike but I've seen scores much better bikes on craigslist and such since I built it up. So I would suggest waiting till a touring bike with racks and bags shows up for $2-300 and be prepared to put another $100 into it. And find the nearest bike co-op and go check out the bikes, parts and shop time.