cinco

I have to nominate the 1983 and '84 Trek 850. The '83 has the snazzy panel-style decals, same as their road bikes, and the '84 is made from Reynolds 531 and has full deerhead Deore. I don't know if they were still using that tubing in '85, but when's the last time you saw a MTB with a 531 decal ? Still, I think I'd trade my '84 for the earlier one if I had the chance.

jettore

I've been riding this Peugeot for a couple months and it's been great. It's a Canyon Express with a nice double butted lugged frame. Sorry for the crappy pic, it's all I have at the moment.

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3373jones

Nice, mine is a ProCaliber w/bright yellow orange paint.

The BB has remained untouched - i don't have the tools. member'enjoybikes' apparently is repack a bb of the same vintage (i think a GF also), and said he'd keep me posted... although he said his LBS said they can do it for around $30 - which he said he might end up doing. mine is fine for now, but I'm sort of bummed I have to keep the same crankset ( i don't think i can figure out how to fit something modern something else on the square spindle).

scozim 

+1 on the Klein - mine may not be completely vintage but I love it. I also have an early 90's Scott Comp Racing and it's a pretty light steel frame mtb.

ftwelder

Nice bike.... I think you need a stem.... 'better hope I am your secret santa.


Fat? You need to ride a yo.. 23.0-23.5 TT

wrk101

I have two Trek 950s in the family fleet. Mine is a 1992 model, lugged TT frame. My wife's is a 1994, which is a TIG frame. I would search out one of the higher end Treks myself. They are pretty plentiful, and pretty cheap.

Here's my 950 with slicks. I have a spare set of wheels with trail tires. I recently picked up a nice Univega Alpina Pro, with a smoked chrome frame. I don't have a picture of it complete yet (I picked it up as a frameset).





Found a picture of the Univega, as found (OK, it came with a Huffy wheelset, which went to the trash). Triple butted cromoly frame, with cromoly stays and fork.

Poguemahone

I've ridden the early Treks and a couple of other early MTBs (but not a Stumpy). By far the best of the lot are the Rosses. Plus, many of them were all chrome, like this one:



The two to look for are the Mount Hood and Mount Whitney, I think. Bullmoose bars, very cool bikes and a lot of fun.

I ride about your size roadie, and prefer a 23" MTB. Really the biggest size many early MTBs were made.

surreal

Notes about sizing:

MTBs have higher bottom brackets, so they're seat-tube size is in no way analogous to roadbike seat-tube sizes. This is probably why, after the mtb book began, manufacturers in the States stopped using inches as the unit of measurement of their road bikes, and went to cm for road stuff and kept inches for mtb.

Also, over the years, mtb geometry has changed radically. You'll likely want different sizes based on what year you're actually looking for. I ride an 18" hardtail with 26" wheels if you're talking about the typical early 90s-present hardtail with rigid or 80mm fork, but i got a 19.5" '88 miyata, with the horizontal toptube and lugs, and it's just my size. It actually looks small, but the standover is right, and while the toptube is short (as they tend to be from this vintage), i can fix this with a longer stem. I think the 22", being the next size up, would've been a wee bit too big. A 22" "modern" hardtail would be way too big. FWIW, i ride a 56/57cm road bike. Further, if you're intending to ride it as a townie/camp bike, you'll likely want to err on the larger side of things. If you intend to ride singletrack, you'll probably want to err on the small side.

As for which bikes/what models, it's hard to say, really. Do you want something collectible/valuable, or do you want a beater? Do you want a vintage frame to build up, or a complete? I think i'd look more for features/geometry/size/components than for any particular model. I do like the early toyo-built stumpjumpers with the semi-lugged unicrown fork. I also like the earliest and the last mb-1s, with the biplane fork. These are pretty expensive, however, for beater duty. It seems like the conventional wisdom on this forum is that vintage MTBs are not collectible/expensive, but that's not actually true. It's just a different market between road and mtb, market-wise. I just bought a creature, a totally rideable beast, kind of rough looking, but my criteria were: my size, japanese, lugged steel, and sharkfin-style u-brake. I found one really quick. Best bet, think about what you want, then try to find which years/models offered your preferred criteria.

hth,
-rob

tugrul

In no way analogous? I suppose if were trying to fit stand over height, sure, but aren't we supposed to be concentrating on reach?

If the intent is to bike over irregular terrain, stand over would be more important, but I don't think that is the intent here. More urban or rail trail/beaten path type stuff.

ilikebikes

I've got a 1988-ish? ProFlex Beast, the pic is when I first got it, I hope it will look almost as good as the second pic I found on the webz.

gomango

My kids are into MB-1's and Stumpjumpers.

We bump into good deals occasionally.

Here's a 1983 Stumpjumper Sport that gets use constantly around here.

DVC45

Just sold this one. I miss it now.

RobbieTunes

[QUOTE=gomango;11780134]My kids are into MB-1's and Stumpjumpers.

We bump into good deals occasionally.

Here's a 1983 Stumpjumper Sport that gets use constantly around here.

+1, I'm a mid-80's 'jumper fan.
I've been running into more and more MTB guys in their 40's and older, and they aren't so big on suspensions....give them some Nuke Proofs laced to beefy Mavics and they're good to go.

Chris_in_Miami

Specialized "reissued" the Stumpjumper a few years ago as the Stumpjumper Classic, and it's a modern retro bike done right. It might be overkill for a cabin bike, but I've seen two used examples selling for very reasonable prices.

On a cheaper note, my 1990 Rockhopper Comp is a great bike, and it was surprisingly light before I outfitted it for commuter duty.

BluesDaddy

If you want a little schoolin', the MOMBAT is a good primer. Here is the 1986 Ross Mt Whitney page; then just roam through their collection.
You'll get some good ideas.

https://mombat.org/1986_Ross_Mt_Whitney.htm

Here is a good one to jump on:


https://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-PARKPRE-...item3cb24c486a
...or this one:

https://cgi.ebay.com/Specialized-Sunt...item4cf0ca9fe0
...stop the press!

https://cgi.ebay.com/Cannondale-Delta...item20b4ee4941

You're welcome.
PS: I'd pick the ParkPre.

mr,grumpy 

I have a big-arsed Cannondale MTB frame sitting down stairs. It purple. M500 I think. Bare frame and fork. I was going to build it up as a winter bike but that project got shelved. PM me if you want it it's yours

peripatetic

Ah man! My first bike was the lime green Rockhopper Comp from the same year--complete w/ U-brake and everything. I locked it in front of a friend's apartment, and they watched some thief carrying it off not realizing it was mine. I LOVED that bike, despite how much everyone ripped on the U brakes, and I really ogled and drooled over the Stumpjumper. That bike was the **** back in the mid-late 80s!

peripatetic

Oh, and two other brands you can look out for (though not easy to find):

Vintage Kelly. I saw one of these at the shop I was working in a few months back, and I was shocked and impressed at how well-balanced and light it felt (the frame was fairly compact for the 80s era from which it came);

Ibis. These, along with Kleins, were my major drool catalogs back then. They were very expensive for the period, but had these amazing paint jobs and a custom- or hand-made cachet.

surreal

I can see how my comment might have been ambiguous. What i'm saying is, even if you convert to like-units, a 20inch classic mtb is not analogous to a 20" classic roadbike. The seat-tube may be the same length, but the standover AND the top-tube will be significantly different.

Similarly, sloping top-tube mtb's fit differently from horizontal top-tube mtb's. Essentially, you will want a smaller size for the former than you would for the latter. This is b/c the seat-tube on the newer ones are shorter in relation to the height of the headtube, but more importantly, they tend to have considerably longer top-tubes.

In terms of standover, this will be decided by the preferences of the rider and intended use. I agree (and mentioned as much in my earlier post) that you won't need as much standover if you're riding asphalt and fire-roads. I also think it'd be a shame to buy a mtb that's too big for comfortable singletrack use. Further, I see no disadvantage to the typical amount of mtb standover while using the bike as a townie/"urban" bike. (The bikes designed for the modern concept of "urban" riding tend to have a radically sloped top-tube and oodles of standover, but i know whatcha mean.)

-rob

wilber.71

Southpawboston,

I've ridden a Ross Mt. Hood since 1989 and they are very tough bikes. Can handle whatever you throw at them. I recently had to have the fork adjusted after a nasty fly-over-the-bars curb crash. The frame builder said he had to work to bend the forks back because they were so stiff. It was a pretty hard impact, I'm surprised that the forks weren't more than slightly tweeked. I also can attest that an upper end Trek is excellent. I picked up an 830 for commuting to work. Very comfortable bike and quite nimble dodging rocks on the river trail. Liked it so much that when I found a 970 cheap, I drove 35 miles to snatch it up. The 970 has larger diameter tubing and better components. Deore DX hubs and deraillers. It rides stiffer than the 830. Would be an excellent all around bike.

Walt

dashuaigeh

If I remember correctly, for the higher model numbers, the Trek Multitrack frames would be double butted and made of True Temper OXII. Does anyone know at what model number this started?

nikkorod

Trek 920 30, 50 70 and 90's. I own a 92 Trek 950. Lugged Trutemper OX II. Rides great. Still sees regular action n the woods. Great bike.

balindamood

1980's mountain bikes were the most versital (and useful) bikes ever made, and they really have not been equaled since about 1990 IMHO.

A few of mine of which I have pictures:

1983 Fisher


1985 Rockhopper winter commuter (so-call Apocolypse Bike)


1985 Schwinn Sierra. I am embarassed to say that I put more miles on this bike annually than any other.


1982 Diamondback Ridge Runner, as found, an will be undergoing full restorationsoon.

southpawboston

mr,grumpy: PM sent!

tugrul

Can't really tell one way or the other with this one.

mongoose "tall mans" hybrid bike - $125 (stoughton)