KeithPeck

New to biking. Bought a 1988 Diamond Back EX Ascent in like new condition and want to preserve it (7sp) but also thinking of being able to swap-in high-end wheels and groups for solo treks in rough terrain. Seems it has 130 mm dropouts. Money is not an issue. I have been trying to understand spacing of different wheels. If the wheels fit than the groups can be swapped? Old school and height of tech?

Tacoenthusiast

Just add a second bike

Miele Man

If the wheel fitsthen yes you can change the groupset to a higher number of cogs. Up to 9-speed can most likely be done without having to change the front crankset. However for 9 rear cogs and up you'll need a new chain and shifters. At 11 cogs you'd need perhaps to have the rear triangle respaced/cold set to take a wider axle locknut to locknut.

What I've done on a few bikes with a 7-speed wheel is put on 8 of 9 cogs from a 9-speed cassette and then a 9-speed chain and either friction thumbshifters, 7-speed index shifters with a friction mode too.

Going to 10 cogs or more gets expensive quickly and at the point you might be far better off saving for a new bike or getting a used one.

Cheers

fietsbob

Think Electric motor conversion,, starts at $1500 ...

70sSanO

The suggestions could be all over the board when it comes to upgrading. Especially for a 130mm drop-outs, relatively narrow rigid fork with a 1” steerer, 3x7 thumb shifting hardtail.

I think you need to take it out on some terrain to see how it rides and get an idea what you need to change.

You could keep the 3x or go to a 2x or even spread the rear dropouts and go 1x to 10 speeds. You have no suspension and will probably be hard pressed to get any wide tires on the bike. I have a 26er with a 1” steerer, so, good luck finding a suspension fork if you feel you need it:

It can be a fun bike, I can tell you I went the 2x7 route with a Marzocchi Bomber fork from the 90’s with a 1” steerer. But I don’t use mine as a gricery getter. You will want new wheels with a cassette, if your current one has a freewheel. Swap out the canti’s for V-brakes. If you don’t go modern, hunt down 90’s XTR (900, 950I components. I use 8 speed triggers on mine and re-spaced the cassette.

Bit if money is now object, go 1x modern and mod the frame for disc brakes and keep the old paint scheme. You can run period correct stem, handlebars, crank and just add the go fast stuff around it.

John

Ironfish653

MTBs have come a long way since the 1980s. For ‘rough terrain’ like technical single-track or downhills, you’d be better served by a more modern bike.

Now, if you’re talking about more of a fire road gravel grinder, then 80’s MTBs make a great base for that kind of bike, and are well suited to drop-bar conversions as well. https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...nversions.html

You could easily upgrade to 9-speed, or even 10-11, although finding 10-11sp rim brake wheels would be difficult, since it’s not really a combination that was ever in production. Speaking of brakes, you wouldn’t be able to convert to disks without welding on the frame, but V-brakes would be fine provided you updated the levers too.
7/8/9 speed Shimano is pretty interchangeable, provided that the number of speeds on the shifter and the rear cassette are the same.

Having said that though, swapping wheels, controls and drive groups is not really a thing you want to be doing every other ride, or weekly, or whatever. You will probably find, as many of us have, that you’d be better served, with fewer compromises, and, ironically, less expense, by having another bike.

shelbyfv

It will probably be a fun bike but it's not special in any way and no need to "preserve" the bike or the 7 speed group. Ride it as is and when you wear stuff out or find that the components limit you (unlikely) then you might consider upgrading.

shelbyfv

Also, your 7 speed freehub is unlikely to support 8 speed or higher. Going the other direction, a 7 speed cassette plus spacer will fit an 8 or 9 speed freehub. There is much more to this, including 8 of 9 on 7, so ask if you have specific questions. Welcome to BF!

DorkDisk

The easiest thing to do is to find a 135mm 8sp wheel, spread the frame, and you can run old and new drivetrains. If you want to build a new wheel, you can try a 130mm road hub and not spread the frame to run up to 10sp.

You can mix old and new, I have a 96 MTB with XT 2x10 on mid 90s Ringle hubs and Microshift thumbshifters.

KeithPeck

Thanks, everyone. A lot to think about. Yeah, maybe I will start with upgraded wheels and V brake,

RiceAWay

If Money is no issue then by all means buy a Trek or Specialized. The Diamondback is not a great rider.

70sSanO

I have a ‘95 Trek 970 and if money really isn’t an object, there’e some great 90’s Mtb frames to build from.. Moots, Ibis, Bontrager Race Lite (what fun!), Merlin, Yeti, GT Xizang...

John

KeithPeck

This sounds reasonable. I think I will do some small upgrades on my existing bike and go wild on sometime that will accept current components. I'll look into the 90's bikes.

Thanks

70sSanO

• Well, the 90’s represent what I think is the golden era for mtb and I’ve been fortunate to have been able build up a couple of decent frames from the era after the kids were grown and use good components and build them the way I wanted to build them.

However, from a riding perspective, I would have been better off going with a more modern 29er or 27.5 mtb. And now that the lowest modern cassette cogs are the size of frisbees and big wide tires you can ride up and over anything. Modern forks and disc brakes are better. Going with a wide range 1x setup covers whatever you need.

You will have to decide as someone new to biking if retro offsets performance.

Have fun!

John

katsup

Does you ascent have the under chainstay rear brake that was common in 1988?
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I'd echo what others are saying, leave it as is and just ride it. It's was more of a mid level bike.

ramzilla

If you've got 130mm dropout spacing you can install either a 7, 8 or, 9 speed drivetrain on it. 7 speed is still the most affordable system. Shimano makes 2X7 STI shifters and Microshift does too.

RiceAWay

If you're buying a 90's bike made sure that it is a steel bike that can have the rear triangle spread to the new 130 mm standard. Those bike that were mentioned - particularly the Santa Cruz guys were REALLY good bikes and much better than most you can get now.