swen0171 

I can't stop buying mid-level 80s production mountain bikes. Surely, I'd also buy rare, handmade 80s mountain bikes but I don't run across them in the $50-$150 range. I tend to keep the tall boys (unless they break like my old 1988 Diamond Back Arrival) or if a tall friend needs a commuter (1990 GT). I also buy bikes that are too small. Usually I justify this because I think my wife may ride it (she likes her mixte too much) or I can't let those beautiful Suntour or Deore bits go.

So, post your average mountain bikes here. What do you do with yours? Commuter? Dirt? Trail riding? Wheelie bike? Grocery getter?

I'll start with my most recent purchase:

1988 Fisher Montare with Deore. Nice shape. A bunch of miles on this bike but obviously well cared for. Came with Scott aero bars and all I've done is swap out the bars for a vintage alloy set and put on some fat 2.4 Maxxis tires. I love these tires on old rigid bikes. Front fits but I'll need to dish the wheel 2-3mm to get the rear to fit. Running a 2.2 Big Apple now for test rides. This one is a keeper. I'll pull it all apart soon and do a complete rebuild.

Note the 1986 Univega Alpina Uno frame (I believe) in the background. That came with first generation Suntour XC Sport and super relaxed geometry.





Great pink decal



This is a 90-91 (?) Trek 6000. Not my size. I bought it for the nice Suntour XC LDT groupset. Really nice front brake and levers too. Solid wheels. A quick tune and I could turn this around on an early spring weekend for a little profit (paid $75 and it's complete). But then I think of those beautiful brakes and how the average thumb shifters could save a future project.

Note the 1993 Bridgestone XO-3 (26-inch, Ishawata triple-butted tubing, cantis, same geometry as the famed orange XO-1). That has been the tractor for my son's vintage Adam's Trail-a-Bike for the last two years. It needs a more glamorous role but it's so much fun to ride with the big Surly bars.



And here is the GT I built for a friend last fall. Totally rebuilt for commuting. Saved the wheels, derailleurs, cranks, and stem. Everything else new. Surly Open bars, Late-80s XT thumb shifters, modern canti in front. Looks more balanced with a rear rack.





There are a couple more hanging around that I'll pull out and take pictures of. Until then, what do you have???

The Thin Man 

It's been fascinating what interests me and how that has evolved over the year. A decade ago, I was all race bike. Italian. High-end. Then I floated into touring/rando but now, I too am enamored by the usability and utility that an 80's ATB can provide as a daily commuter or general hauler and mode of transportation. Plus, you nailed it on the incredibly lucrative pricing and excellent component selections coming stock on these frames. And, to echo (almost everything) you said, I too buy frames smaller than normal in hopes it will fit my wife although knowing it likely won't but gives me reason and justification to "save another."

Your Fisher is lovely. Wonderful example of a true gem with loads of potential. Although, I'm starting to wonder what the reasoning was behind yellow as such a popular color for this decade? Trend/fad or was there a reason? To keep with the same vein, please have a look at my Schwinn High Sierra.

thumpism 

Cimarron frameset built up with oddball stuff I had on a different frame, soon to be drop-barred.
1_Cimarron profile.jpg

clubman 

84-ish Norco Bigfoot with super upgrades like Girvin Flex stem and rapid-fires. Hoo-wee

swen0171 

Ha! I was going to say the same thing. Yellow and red are the two bike colors I could pass on and it seems that 80% of all the bikes I find are yellow or red. My old Arrival was yellow. My wife looked at the Fisher and said "That looks familiar!"

swen0171 

Wow. That is a beautiful build. I had a tan and brown High Sierra from the same year, but it was too small and I traded it. I love the roller cam brakes.

I've got a mind to do the Rivendell Bullmoose bars on one of these soon. Looks awesome.

swen0171 

Besutiful build and bike. It's such a nice Green! Are those the Rat Trap Pass tires? I run those on my Surly LHT (26 inch) commuter.

swen0171 

Great lines on this one. And amazing parts. I have an original suspension stem from a Bridgestone MB-1 and this gets me thinking.

So happy I'm not totally crazy (or not the only one

9volt 

Is a Cimarron really mediocre? It's on my short list of bikes to find this year.

Here's another yellow MTB from the 80s. Really too small for me but I like it anyway.



I tore down and went through this late 80s Novara Ponderosa recently. It has an interesting frame, will try to get some close up pics later.

Roger M

My Ross Mt Rainier. From kid towing to bike camping to grocery runs. It's been around for the longest of my C&V purchases.





MB-1, not from the 80s though..

bikemig 

I don't think any of these bikes are mediocre! But I agree that vintage MTBs are terrific swiss army knife bikes and they can be found at really attractive prices esp. when compared to similar quality and era road bikes. Two of my favorite bikes are my 1987 stumpjumper comp and my 1993 Trek 950:

OTS 

Here is my winter ride mid 80's High Sierra

2cam16

I wish I had one from the 80's. Here are my two 1990 Hardrocks. First one is gone. Second one is one I acquired a month ago. Rustbucket. Did what I could to bring it back to life. Plus DX and LX components. Almost done.

OldsCOOL

A step above mediocre (ok, I'm biased) is the '84 Univega Alpina Uno given to me by the original last year. This is my favorite trail bike. Has Ukai high flange wheels, indexed 3x6 Suntour XC Sport 7000 derailleurs. The '80s paint in excellent condition and color sets it off.
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Pompiere

I don't ride off road much but I too have a hard time turning away a low cost mid level mountain bike.

I have had this Schwinn Sierra since 1986. I bought it to try out the new mountain bike fad. Since then, it has had a child seat, then a trail-a-bike, and now it has drop bars to try some gravel riding.

Last year, I picked up a pair of 1986 Ross Mt. Hood bikes from a local antique dealer. At first I only bought the grey one, but after watching the green one sit outside all summer, I went back and got it too, thinking my wife might like it. They were both in nice condition, only needing tires and cables.

thumpism 

Specialized Fat Boy 1.95, probably 25 years old.

exmechanic89

Some great rides in this thread. I love older mtbs too - cheap to buy these days, and very versatile. I have a '91 Stumpjumper Pro I built up from a bare frame which weighs around 22lbs, it's a fast, beautiful machine. For my wife we found a '93 Trek 930, which is a really sweet ride too. In the summer we usually do several 40+ mile rides together, and the bikes work really well for the rough roads we go over. As much as I love the road bikes I own, I really like having the ability to ride trails and off road as well. Some real deals to be had on old mtbs.

John E

Now I'll have to ride my Schwinn tomorrow, instead of one of the road bikes. With our recent inclement weather, it is probably the sensible choice, anyway. Patriotic Team USA red-white-and-blue, and I bought it used from a San Diego firefighter.

1988 Schwinn KOM

fleslider 

Heres a couple, I have a love for old Diamond Backs.

almost all original 1986 Ascent

and then another one in progress

1989 Diamond Back Apex

nashvillebill

'88 Univega Alpina Uno as purchased. Cost me a whopping $65, Zefal pump included. I think I've got maybe another $50 or so in it with a new chain, riser handlebar, and brake cables.

thumpism 

It was one step up from the High Sierra for a few years and is only the frameset with non-stock parts hung on it. These other bikes turned out in original condition are much less mediocre than my patchy Cimarron. And I like those yellow ones.

DiegoFrogs

These are "mediocre?!?!"

Here's my early-days Ross, probably a "Force One" model, perhaps 1983 or so, "Amlite" tubing, or something like that. I suspect it came with the gold-anodized wheels pilfered for other projects, since the wheels on it when I bought it were mismatched, and the rear of very low quality.

Derailleurs also probably not original. Lower quality Shimano SIS rear that works okay, lower-quality Sunrace front that doesn't seem to work well with the triple. I'm debating replacing them this summer if I go back to the USA for a couple weeks. I already have a nicer seatpost that should work. One of the brake studs broke off last summer, but I was able to figure out a workaround by grinding down a nut that fit a replaceable stud, and putting it in the weird box that it was swaged to.

IMG_1333 (2).jpg

swen0171 

By mediocre I was really just making a distinction between hand made Gary Fishers, Ritcheys and other super collectible MTBs. I don't think any of these bikes are even close to mediocre. That's the point for me. Can't believe the high quality of these production bikes. Especially compared to how expensive steel bikes are today.

I've been looking for a tall Cimarron (of the years with the fillet brazed head tube) for years!

swen0171 

That teal and pink Mt. Hood was my first mountain bike. Brought it to college at ASU in 1988. Got it on sale at the end of the summer, I don't remember how much it was but the huge, pink "suggestive" stem seemed to be a reason for the discount. But I loved that bike, and the color and stem. It was so 80s and that bike rode really well. Got stolen within a few weeks and I've been looking for a tall one since.

cb400bill

I had a 85 Raleigh Tamarack Mountain Tour for a while. 650B tires offered a nice cushy ride. I never really warmed to it and passed it on.