thanks for the nice comments everybody
Originally Posted by
3speedslow
Great score !
Is the whole front wheel/back wheel mismatch gonna drive you crazy like it does me on a bike ? Like I said elsewhere, I hope this is a keeper bike. I have heard Jamis is an older bike company that was originaly known as Jeunt,French spelling j-something and It is still owned by the same family.
Yes, it's definitely a keeper! The wheel mismatch doesn't bother me too much, though it would be cool to have them matching.. the hub looks too modern for the bike.. though honestly i wouldn't mind upgrading to a modern wheelset
As far as the Jamis brand, in my research I learned Jamis was an independent company that was bought in 1990 by G. Joannou Cycle. One of the original Jamis employees still works for the new company apparently. This bike was produced right around the time of the acquisition.
Originally Posted by
TimmyT
I'll use your deore xt trick on my local CL.
LOL i was thinking maybe i should have kept that to myself
Originally Posted by
T-Mar
Actually, post 1987 is prime teritory for a U-brake. They were really popular in 1988 and 1989. In fact, a 1988 Jamis ad shows the Dakota having a chainstay mounted U-brake, fillet brazing and solid color finish. What's the serial number?
I thought by 1989 under chainstay brakes had almost been eliminated. I know Diamondback dropped them for the 1989 model year on all but one low end bike.
I found this 2009 Jamis catalog which has some pictures from past years:
http://www.jamisbikes.com/catalog_ar...IS_CATALOG.pdf You can see the 1989 Dakar is solid red and has rear cantis. The Jamis site says "Yes, the fillet brazing of the original Dakar was indeed exquisite, but these bikes are being raced and the racers are begging for lighter bikes.".. that's interesting the Dakota was filet brazed
I looked for a serial # and could only find a 3 digit # which I will PM you
Originally Posted by
cyclotoine
I am thinking '89 is the earliest possible. I would guess '91-'92.
Have you checked the date code on the derailleurs?
The derailleurs are a bit dirty and i can't see the codes, but the front derailleur is plain Deore (as opposed to Deore II which came out in 1989), plus it's partially covering the tubing sticker so it makes me think perhaps it's not stock. All of the date codes I could see are for 1988 EXCEPT the thumb shifters which are NL and NG, which does suggest the bike is a 1990 model year at the earliest. I was thinking maybe it was possibly early 90s.. I don't think it's any later than 1993 though, since apparently Jamis changed their logo that year.