SwimmerMike 

Picked these up yesterday.

A 1985 I believe

This one should be an 83 or 84

2cam16

Score!

SwimmerMike 

I was pretty happy with the deal, I was lookin for a bike with a full deer head set up. The guy had two advertised and I got a 2-fer on them. Definitely some rust and clean up required, but I did a short test ride on the bigger one today and it worked well. I was mostly looking for some components to make a touring set up, but these may be keepers as mt bikes.

partyanimal

1985 Orient Express

merziac

+1, these should stay just as they are.

georges1

some of my vintage mountain bikes
1997 scapin deddaciai dr zero with full shimano xt 780 t 30 speed transmission, mavic xm 819 with dt swiss hubs and continental 2.2 tyres

1997 kona kilaeua reynolds 631 with full shimano xt 780 t 30 speed transmission, mavic xm 819 with dt swiss hubs and continental 2.2 tyres

1993 merida al bon front glued aluminium 6061 trinagle and rearcr mo4130 seat and stays with full shimano xt 780 t 30 speed transmission, mavic xm 819 with xt hubs and hutchinson toro tubeless 1.8 tyres

shoota 

Wow never seen one of these! Sure wish that picture was clear..

georges1

superb bike,I always wanted to buy one of those as a frame set. Enjoy your bike

georges1

I will take better pictures and post them on thursday

georges1

I am now eying a reynolds 853 frame for a 4th MTB built ,already have all the shimano XT780T parts I need for drive train and brakes, will go again with continentals for tyres and ritchey hand bars, seatpost,flite saddle but forwheels I am going to buy mavic a pair cross max slr. That is a project for 2023

georges1

more cleaner pics of my kilaeua from1997






This is my favorite ride and it has a slightly more lively frame than the scapin

georges1

more cleaner pics of the merida al bon

georges1

A pair of interesting links of the 1990 to 1999 Specialized line of of full rigid MTBs ,1990 to 1999 Kona line of of full rigid MTBs ,1990 to 1999 GT Line of of full rigid MTBs , 1990 to 1999 Trek line of full rigid MTBs and interesting link about interesting bike rebuilds

pdfiddler

1993 is the last year for antelope. 1994 is first year for MT Track, Single Track and Multitrack.

fishboat

That's one heck of a website! I hadn't run across that one..thx for posting it.

curbtender

McCycle

1991 Specialized, LX/XT, presta valves, Armadillo tires, rock solid bike.

RustyJames 

Since MTBs aren’t my normal area, I’ll ask dumb question #1,341,757. Why do all early MTBs seem to be equipped with rear racks from new? BITD I thought of them as oversized BMX bikes. It’s entirely possible (100% chance) that I am way off base but I would appreciate enlightenment.

DQRider 

That's an easy one. None of the early MTBs came equipped with rear racks from the factory. But they did have threaded eyelets for mounting racks, baskets, fenders, or whatever other accessories you like on or near the dropouts. Unlike racing road-bikes, lightness and speed were not the primary focus - versatility and toughness were. I'm sure there were some pure racing MTBs that deleted these mounts, but now we are talking dedicated Team cross-country or downhill bikes.

So to answer your question, just about everyone I knew who bought an MTB in the early 1980s, added a rack so they could carry stuff, and most racks had the added function of preventing the skunk-stripe down your back from a wet rear tire.
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Pompiere

I think it has to do with the fact that a lot of the early mountain bikes were sold to people who didn't want a "racing bike" for everyday riding and commuting. The flat bars and more upright riding position appealed to the casual riders. Hybrid bikes came along later, when the manufacturers realized how many people were buying mountain bikes to ride on the street.

RustyJames 

Thanks for the explanation DQRider. The utility of MTBs is what’s drawing me towards them. When I nabbed my Mean Streak I had no idea any of the MTBs used curly lugs which will always sucker me in.

Pardon me while I step away and scour classified ads for a set of Bullmoose bars…

gthomson

Can't remember if I already posted to this thread but I would probably never find it if I did! Regardless, made a few updates since I picked this up during the first year of COVID. Was in amazing condition and a great price, lucky me. Originally bought to replace my 1992 Trek Antelope (which had seen better days) to be used as a grocery getter but then started viewing post like these and thought - it could be so much more!

New chain, new cassette, swapped out the handlebar stem for something a little more comfortable. It rides pretty nice but I wish it was a tad bigger.

cyccommute 

For the same reason(s) that most bikes don’t come with racks on them. It’s partly fashion…bikes look “sporty” in catalogs without racks…, partly snobbishness…”a rack makes me look like a nerd!”…,and partly giving the consumer the latitude to pick their own accessories. There are a few bikes that come with racks but, frankly, they don’t add much value. I’d rather pick my own rack than let some designer pick the cheapest one they can find.

Early mountain bikes had rack mounts but as the mountain bikes got more racy (and more toyish), the manufacturers left off the rack mounts. That’s largely due to the snobbishness and fashion aspect. I’ve also noticed an odd shift in the way that mountain bikes are used now vs how they were used at the beginning. I overheard a conversation a couple of years ago where a guy talked about going for a loooonnnngg mountain bike ride…of 12 miles! I’ve done numerous single day rides of up to 100 miles on my old rigid mountain bikes. Theoretically, a dual suspension bike should make it easier to ride long distances but that doesn’t seem to be the case

I have a dual suspension mountain bike (two, actually…well, three) and I don’t ride the dually all that often. I can’t carry stuff on one of them so it’s strictly a “play bike” . The other one is in Tucson where it gets more mileage because it’s my only bike there. The other “dually” is a Moots soft tail that has a rack on it and I use it for my bikepacking bike.

2003 Specialized Epic. Owned 12 years. Has 630 miles on it.


Another Specialized Epic (the one in Tucson). Owned for 5 years. Has 270 miles on it.



1998 Moots YBBeat. Owned 14 years. 2300 miles.



It’s also one of my winter bikes. It’s the one I use with studded tires. The Moots, by the way, didn’t come with rack mounts. But the magic of titanium is that it is simple to add them. It cost $40 per mount and took about a month to get it done.



My old 1984 Miyata Ridge Runner. Owned for about 6 years. I only started keeping mileage in the last 2 years of ownership but I put 3100 miles on it in the last 2 years of its life.

cyccommute 

What are you looking for? I have the old set off my Miyata. PM me.

Korina

From my outsider perspective, the activity of mountain biking has evolved with the technology, so when full squish mountain bikes came along they had to invent rock gardens.

Obviously for long mtb rides you need a down country bike. Duh!