DanBF

I am looking into the purchase of either one of the bikes below. Could you give me an idea as to the average selling price for each? Which one is more desirable and why? What is the correct year for each?

I will use the bike for commuting. I heard that old mountain bikes are nice for riding on the street because the geometry is relaxed and that some people even tour on them.

Also I am not familiar with mountain bike sizing. I am 5'9" and have a 30in inseam. In a road bike I like 55-56cm. The black is 17" frame and the white is a 20".

bikemig 

These pics did not come through. Vintage MTBs can make fine commuters and touring bikes. They also tend to sell for less than an equivalent quality road bike. Impossible to tell the price or which one to get without pics but the stumpjumper is both the better bike and quite likely to fit you better. The 20 inch mtb is likely a little on the large side for you.

The High Plains I've seen are middling of the road MTBs; the stumps are Specialized's top of the line but typically there was more than one flavor of stumpjumper in every model year (they'd differ in components, perhaps the frame, etc.).

Get the stumpy; that's a top end bike well worth owning.

DanBF

Sorry about the pics. I've uploaded them now as Bike Forum Attachments. Bike Forums seems to resize the pics, I'll try to upload larger ones on my Photobucket account.

bikemig 

That's the 1991 team stumpjumper. I own the same bike. The price was right around $1500 when new. The equipment on that bike and the frame is all first rate top end stuff (or was back in the day).

It comes with a full suntour/wtb grease guard group (very cool stuff) and tange prestige main triangle frame tubing (DB chrome moly rear triangle and fork). That means that you can use a grease gun to shoot grease into the hubs and bottom bracket without actually having to take it apart to overhaul. You're lucky because that suntour hub takes a freewheel not a cassette. That matters because you can't get suntour cassettes but freewheels are easy to find.

I dunno what that bike goes for. I've bought used top end MTBs for well under $200. I've seen savvy sellers list them for well north of that. I sure as heck wouldn't sell the team stumpjumper bike for anything less than $300. Most of the posters here will tell you that's likely too much for that bike.

https://www.wtb.com/blogs/wtb/9259701...uard-challenge

https://mombat.org/Specialized_Specs.htm

DanBF

Ok, here are some larger pics:





When I zoom in on the larger Stumpjumper pic above it looks like the rear derailleur appears to be a a Deore DX instead of the higher end Deore XT. According to this chart the DX came on the low end regular stumpjumper. And according to this the low end Stumpjumper has a red decal instead of a gold one. Does that sound correct?

bikemig 

I looked at the catalog specs; this is the '91 plain vanilla stumpjumper, not as nice as the team but a very fine bike. It has shimano running gear so easier to deal with perhaps than the suntour on the team. The two have the same paint job which is confusing.

That seatpost is turned around backwards which is looks wonky. I wouldn't sweat all those details (like the decal colors). The 2d catalog is a European one; the first (Mombat) American. This is a shimano equipped stumpjumper and it looks like the 1991 stumpy per the catalog.

DanBF

So how much do you think a low end Stumpjumper would be worth? I see little patches of rust but nothing too bad. I think I would be happy with the lower end model anyways. It might weigh 2lb more than the Team but that doesn't bother me. Shame it doesn't have the original Turbo seat.

bikemig 

Well a low end Stumpy is a pretty high end bike. I doubt that the weight difference between the team and this is a full 2 pounds.

Assuming that the bike checks out, I'd value it right around $200-$250. I've paid less for top end vintage MTBs but that's by and large the price I've seen them listed locally on CL when a seller knew what he was doing.

DanBF

Thanks @bikemig for your help. I just noticed that you already answered my question about price in your second post. I've contacted the seller and hope to look at the bike some time this weekend. Will let you all know how it goes.

oddjob2

I have both and am 5'9" as well.

IMHO, the 17" Stumpy is too small for use as a commuter.
The High Plains makes a fine commuter and is a nice size fit.

Ha, it's the same seller for both. Is his price $125 each or for both? If for both get 'em both and don't even haggle. If $125 each, you might get him down to around $200, which is still a good deal.

I recently sold a Univega Alpina which I did not like in comparison to my High Plains for $125, fully refurbished.

DanBF

Well I got them today - both bikes for a total of $125. The Schwinn is in nice shape with minor nicks and scratches here and there. Everything functions fine. I'd say that it is in better than average shape for it's age.

The Stumpjumper is amazing. I can only find about three chips in the paint that are maybe 1mm or less in size. The decals are all perfect. What looked like rust spots on the chain stay and forks were actually small red "Specialized" decals. The most of the chrome bits will clean up fine. The only exception are the quick release skewers which are pitted. The tires will need replaced since the gumwalls have deteriorated from age. Everything looks original except for the seat. The frame is probably one size too small for me but I'm going to keep the bike for a while anyways for my girlfriend to ride.

I'll start individual threads for each bike here on Bike Forums. Thanks for everybody's help. I think I got a really good deal.

coolkat

Congrats! My friend has a twin to your Stumpjumper, set up as a 1x9 drop bar commuter. It's a super nice bike, though the frame is oddly heavy (my lowly Hardrock weighs less).