I recently picked up a Diamondback road bike that came with the original sales items, including the catalog. There doesn't appear to be a scan of this online so I went ahead and scanned the information-containing pages and put a PDF on Dropbox and the image files on my Wordpress linked below. I used a scanning app on my phone since I don't have access to a large format scanner so some of the images are a little wonky but can still be easily read. The specifications pages are also only readable in the PDF, not sure why the images for those pages did not upload at full-resolution, I may retry that later tonight when I have time. Anyway, I hope this is helpful to someone. It's surprising to see 16 mountainbikes and only 4 road bikes!

Direct Dropbox Link.

https://drandalls.wordpress.com/2016...dback-catalog/

The market really started shifting towards ATBs in the late 1980s. As ATB sales increased, road bike sales decreased. Consequently, ATB models increased and road bike models became fewer. It got even worse in the 1990s, as hybrids started taking over over the entry level market. However, we should be thankful to the ATB market. Without it, many manufacturers would not have survived.

If you don't mind sharing with another site, you should contact retrobike.co.uk and add to their catalog archives:

Catalogues | Diamond Back Archive | Retrobike

Hi Tom, it seems you and I are the only people who use the ATB acronym with any regularity

Do you have any criteria that you would use to differentiate an ATB from an MTB?

In my little mind, they're ATBs until the chainstays got short... so like 88 for a lot of mainstream bikes.

Where I live, Diamondbacks pop up fairly often and appear under-valued. Having more info about them is much appreciated. Thanks for scanning this.

Thats fantastic to see!
As one who has picked up a couple DB MTBs over the last year and there were no catalogs or spec sheets online for either of the two years, Im sure you adding the '95 catalog will be appreciated.

MTB implies that they are primarily for mountainous terrain, which I think is a misnomer. I think all terrain is more accurate, at least from a C&V perspective. These days, there are all kinds of sub-categories/disciplines (free-ride, x-country, downhill, etc.) Maybe I'll start calling them ORBs (Off Road Bicycles) and confuse the heck out of everybody.

I think the one thing that really drove home my personal distinction was attending a "mountainbike race" at Lake Placid. Me and my buddy drove down, expecting some really grueling climbs, as we had previously competed in several road races that included Whiteface Mtn. However, when we got there, we looked at each other in disbelief. The course was a small, criterium style circuit at the base lodge. It was off-road but certainly wasn't mountainous, having maybe two feet of total climbing per lap! Needless to say, it was tailor made for a couple of ex-roadies.

That sounds tailor made for me as well Not having to be more than 2 miles from the truck at any one time -- plus that much closer to the beers and the babes when its concluded !

Love the catalog scans -- brings back memories

I've seen "Dirt Crits" advertised from time to time.

These days there are several STXC (Short Track Cross Country) race series around here. They're typically CX type courses but without barriers.

thanks!

Resurrecting an old discussion, but thanks for posting up these manuals. I just scored a garage find Topanga. It's not showroom clean, but it is in decent shape and was never abused. Everything on it works as designed and intended.