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Anyone Still Have Their '90's Steel Mountain Bike?

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Anyone Still Have Their '90's Steel Mountain Bike?

Old 04-27-12, 04:47 PM
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megalowmatt
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Anyone Still Have Their '90's Steel Mountain Bike?

I still have the one I bought new in '91 from a place in town that offered free tuneups for life...until he went out of business a year later. lol

It's a ParkPre "Hammer". In fact it's what got me back into cycling and commuting ~4 years ago. I remember cleaning it up and realizing the shifters were shot so I took it into a local shop where they put on new shifters and tuned it up. Put the semi-slicks on there and commuted on it for several months until I realized I "needed" something better....i guess that's the way it goes.

I have to say it's still in pretty good shape for as much as I used it back then and rides really nice.

Anyway, here it is:



...complete with the original "scrot bag" seat bag my friends used to refer to it as.

Dig that splatter paint job! I think I did a pretty darn good job of matching the bottle holder. lol





Tange stickers...(I still have no idea as to what those mean)





I've thought of giving it away or selling it over the years but glad I didn't. Every time I take it for a ride around the neighborhood I'm reminded how nice it rides. These things really do make for nice commuters. Hard to imagine it's over 21 years old and I'm 21 years older!

If you've still got one of these I would love to see some pictures!
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Old 04-27-12, 04:52 PM
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I've still got my 95 Trek, still going strong.

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Old 04-27-12, 04:55 PM
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I still have my 1993 Cannondale "Beast of the East" aluminum mountain bike. Bought it new off the shop floor (R+E Cycles in Seattle), and I still use it, mostly for rides with the family. It was pretty sweet at the time but is so 1990s now. Still looks pretty much like this one, only bigger and a bit more dinged up.

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Old 04-27-12, 05:17 PM
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I had a 90-ish Specialized Rockhopper that I used to pull my kids trailer. When they grew out of it, I gave it to my goddaughter. But she's now ready to grow out of the trailer herself. I should give her dad a call and see if he wouldn't mind giving me the RH back. It would be great to just leave up at Lake Tahoe for riding around the trails.
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Old 04-27-12, 05:21 PM
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I love 80's-90's steel! 'Twas a tragedy when everything moved to aluminum and radidfire shifters
Heres my 89'? Rockhopper Comp. All Deore: FT MT60 cranks, Biopace 28/38/48. 6-speed index thumbies that are pure heaven to use. Dont believe the U-brake haters...they rule! weight is low and out of the way....mine only need adjusting with normal pad wear. Mods: Nitto Technomic stem (tall). Big Apple tires: 2.35 front/ 2.15 rear on factory 28mm wide rims. KoolStop Salmon pads. Blackburn MT-1 rack

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Old 04-27-12, 05:23 PM
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I've been posting this pic a lot lately, but what harm can one more do?

1989 Specialized RockHopper

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Old 04-27-12, 05:24 PM
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Nice bikes!
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Old 04-27-12, 05:26 PM
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Andy_K - your threads are what got me thinking about posting mine
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Old 04-27-12, 05:27 PM
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Originally Posted by megalowmatt
I still have the one I bought new in '91 from a place in town that offered free tuneups for life...until he went out of business a year later. lol

Tange stickers...(I still have no idea as to what those mean)



Tange is a Japanese tubing manufacturer of excellent reputation and the double butted MTB tubing used on your bike was widely used during the era in which your bicycle was produced.

If the bike fits you well and you enjoy the ride you really don't need anything "better" as what you have is a pretty decent bike.

I ride a number of late 80's and a 1990 mountain bike... my earlier Kuwaharas are my primary commuter and touring bike while my custom built Moulden is as sweet a piece of steel that was ever filet brazed, it is light, stiff, and a blast to ride.

It has some new parts and the flat bars got swapped to drop bars and is heading off for a coat of new powder very soon.



I did not get it new and a friend gave it to me as he found it to be too stiff and harsh but he was running high psi slicks... for road and urban riding I swap the knobbies to semi slick tyres and can ride this bike all day.
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Old 04-27-12, 05:28 PM
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I've still got a Mongoose Hilltopper that I bought in 1996. The 7-speed grip shifters are virtually falling apart. The cranks are worn as hell. The brakes squeal and provide uneven pressure, but they still stop the bike. The rear cassette is just plain ugly. And the low-end (even in 1996) Rockshox fork is spongy as can be. But it rolls. And I have too many good memories (including riding across most of Europe on it) to let it go. So it gets pulled out every summer and becomes a loaner bike for the interns in my office. Ugly as it is, it still makes me smile.
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Old 04-27-12, 05:30 PM
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Sixty Fiver - it's too late...I've gone off the deep end with bikes over the last 3 or 4 years, although I doubt I'll ever match your collection.

I've seen that blue bike posted before. Great looking ride.
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Old 04-27-12, 05:34 PM
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Originally Posted by megalowmatt
Sixty Fiver - it's too late...I've gone off the deep end with bikes over the last 3 or 4 years, although I doubt I'll ever match your collection.

I've seen that blue bike posted before. Great looking ride.
I can't wait to see the new powder... it won't be my blue bike any more.
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Old 04-27-12, 05:54 PM
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My early 90's Trek 830. Been my main commuter for quite a few years. 1300 miles on it last year and another 300 so far this year. Going to tear it apart for some much needed love this weekend. Cheers!
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Old 04-27-12, 05:57 PM
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Originally Posted by Kojak
I still have my 1993 Cannondale "Beast of the East" aluminum mountain bike.
Well, if you're going to bring aluminum into the picture, I may as well throw in my 1999 Kona Muni Mula.



That may, just possibly, be outside the general spirit of this forum.
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Old 04-27-12, 05:59 PM
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1995 Mongoose IBOC. I'm not the original owner, but bought it from him and morphed it into my daily commuter. It still looks like this picture, the only changes being a larger crank up front (went from the original 42-32-22 to a 50-39), and I've removed the fenders for the summer. Might get it powdercoated next winter; I recently got an old Schwinn LeTour powdercoated and it looks fantastic, plus its a lot cheaper than a paint job.
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Old 04-27-12, 06:03 PM
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Originally Posted by Sixty Fiver
I can't wait to see the new powder... it won't be my blue bike any more.
What's the new color?

I have thought about painting mine over the years but the groovy '90's splatter has a certain charm.

Thanks for the info on Tange.
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Old 04-27-12, 06:33 PM
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Nineties? I still have my '87 Schwinn Cimarron LE. Doesn't look the same anymore since I put mustache bars, front/rear rack, fenders and a full group of the old Cannondale panniers on it.
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Old 04-27-12, 07:03 PM
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90's Giant Iguana 650

The only original parts left are three water bottle screws and the frame - everything else has been upgraded a few times. I have always heard this was one of the prototypes Bontrager's factory built for Giant before they bought them out - an exercise in designing something that could be ramped up into mass production. Anyway, there are some subtle welds and buting that is slightly different than any other Iguana 650 I have seen from later years. It had full Shimano STX-RC on it when I first got it. Don't let the large shock fool you, I had it rebuilt by Marzocchi to allow a 4" sack preload to bring it back down to a max 2 1/2 inch travel when I am on it. The geometry just wasn't made for such a big fork travel and so now it does not when I am on it. Ultra smooth frankenstein collection of SRAM, XT, XTR parts with a 53-11 XTR top gears pushed by an XTR 175mm crank for the hard packed trails of Arizona deserts. Put slicks on it and it does well on the road, having ridden it to the Hoover Dam from Phoenix one year. On the trails it rides like a little BMX bike that I can throw every direction underneath me; 21 lbs.


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Old 04-27-12, 07:29 PM
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I still ride a 1991 team stumpjumper (tange prestige tubing and suntour greaseguard gruppo) and I recently picked up for cheap an old specialized stumpjumper comp.
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Old 04-27-12, 07:35 PM
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Originally Posted by Andy_K
I've been posting this pic a lot lately, but what harm can one more do?

1989 Specialized RockHopper

It can't do any harm... That's a really nice setup. It must be a threaded fork with some kind of threadless adapter stem....
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Old 04-27-12, 08:25 PM
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'93 Giant going strong Fixed the frame with new tubing after a crash, modded it for rear disc, repainted twice...

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Old 04-27-12, 08:28 PM
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'94 Steel Mountain Bike

Converted it to a commuter about 10 years ago. I still use it as my main Winter ride. I do love steel.
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Old 04-27-12, 08:33 PM
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Still have my old steel "Roadmaster" 26" 18-sp MTB, likely from Walmart, that I got for Christmas 1992 just before my 13th birthday. It sat in an outdoor storage area outside my house from 2005 up until last weekend. Now it's been laying out in the backyard all week. I think it's too far gone to salvage, will likely put it on the curb. Might gank the wheel reflectors off of it or something before I put it out.

Checked the weight last weekend, it comes in at 37 lbs!

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Old 04-27-12, 08:36 PM
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Still got? LoL I went out and bought one..
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Old 04-27-12, 09:22 PM
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Amazing how many bikes you can have over the years just using the same frame and changing out bits and pieces as they wear or break. Especially w/ a mtb where if you use it as intended, you'll end up replacing everything on it eventually.

The pic's a few years old since it's now sporting ergon grips instead of Ourys, a new RD after the original got caught in the rear wheel while mtbing, and Crank Bros. Mallets instead of the Shimano SPDs in the photo.
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