Looking for vintage MTB
08-23-20, 12:09 PM
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Looking for vintage MTB
So I’m hoping to find a vintage MTB with XTR drivetrain. I’d like to find something that is still considered to be an excellent ride. It seems many full suspension designs were just odd - thinking some Cannondales, Ibis, Trek Y frames. There are some Moots, Yeti, etc. I’ve found, but they’re also quite expensive still.
So what 90s MTB would still be considered a great rider?
So what 90s MTB would still be considered a great rider?
08-23-20, 12:20 PM
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There are a reason those old sus designs were retired.
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08-23-20, 02:52 PM
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Hate to send you somewhere else, but go to mtbr and post on the Vintage, Retro, and Classic subforum and ask there.
I built a couple of 90’s hardtails 6-7 years ago. You basically have 2 options, buy a complete bike or buy a frame and build it. I chose the latter, but parts have become increasingly more difficult to find, and a lot more expensive, these days.
Good luck!
John
I built a couple of 90’s hardtails 6-7 years ago. You basically have 2 options, buy a complete bike or buy a frame and build it. I chose the latter, but parts have become increasingly more difficult to find, and a lot more expensive, these days.
Good luck!
John
08-23-20, 03:07 PM
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Hate to send you somewhere else, but go to mtbr and post on the Vintage, Retro, and Classic subforum and ask there.
I built a couple of 90’s hardtails 6-7 years ago. You basically have 2 options, buy a complete bike or buy a frame and build it. I chose the latter, but parts have become increasingly more difficult to find, and a lot more expensive, these days.
Good luck!
John
I built a couple of 90’s hardtails 6-7 years ago. You basically have 2 options, buy a complete bike or buy a frame and build it. I chose the latter, but parts have become increasingly more difficult to find, and a lot more expensive, these days.
Good luck!
John
08-23-20, 03:22 PM
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Schwinn homegrowns were good bikes
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08-25-20, 12:20 PM
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I have in my shop one of the 97ish Specialized Ground Control full suspension oddballs.
08-26-20, 10:16 AM
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Probably not with XTR, but my early 90's or so Diamondback Axis steel bike, built from frame up, rides great. Had it as a SS with magic ratio, geared and now electrified.
08-26-20, 06:52 PM
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Up til the early 2000's, Specialized bikes with FSR. There are others, but those, you can find easily enough. They are four link systems that use the placement of the linkage pivots vs. the moments from the crank and brake to cancel out the bob and brake jack. The Horst link bikes like FSR are the root of one of the two major four-link families, where the floating link is the chain stays. The other early ones either didn't have this figured out, or wished to avoid the complexity, or wished to avoid fighting or licensing the patents. After that, from mid 2000's on, lots of people had figured out ways around the patents (like the exact location of the pivots or how the shock is driven), and from the late 2000's everyone can know anything thanks to the Linkage program.
The other, slightly younger family is two short links to the frame and the floating link is a big swingarm assembly, like VPP, DW-link, Maestro etc.
The latest beneficial ingredient has been 1x systems which allow the design to be optimized for anti squat around a single chain ring size and it's not bonkers wrong in very high or low gears.
The other, slightly younger family is two short links to the frame and the floating link is a big swingarm assembly, like VPP, DW-link, Maestro etc.
The latest beneficial ingredient has been 1x systems which allow the design to be optimized for anti squat around a single chain ring size and it's not bonkers wrong in very high or low gears.
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