Scooper

I always liked the late eighties Schwinns, particularly the Paramountain and Cimarron.

SlimAgainSoon

Diamondback Ascent ... early 80s. A really nice frame -- made in Japan, I think -- and a smooth and comfortable ride. It was a light bike for its day.

I still have it. Last year I set it up as a singlespeed -- on long-term loan to a coworker.

cs1

I seldom see really nice Schwinn MTB's come up for sale. Personally, I'm looking for a lugged Waterford frame to build up.

The Golden Boy 

My "old" bikes.

I think it's a 1990 Trek 820- used to belong to my sister, my wife now rides it:




This has been my bike since 1990. 1987 Schwinn High Sierra.





I just picked this up earlier this year- 1984 Stumpjumper Sport.

Smokinapankake

You want something interesting get yerself (if you can) any version of the Nishiki Alien, or even more rare would be the Alpinestars elevated stay frames. Very distinctive.
The alpinestars came in alum (almega) and cromo (cromega) frames. Man oh man I lusted after the almega XTR version when XTR came out in 1992......

Cyclist01012

I've got a 1988 Giant Iguana that is in the middle of a rebuild. Getting it ready to do a vintage mtb race this summer. It's going to be set up with a set of the profile mtb aero bars and vintage rubber Onza porcupine in back and a speacialized ground control in front

Sixty Fiver

I am pretty sure those higher end Schwinns, if they bear a "made in Japan" sticker, were manufactured by Kuwahara for Schwinn.

BobHufford

I see High Sierras quite often and Cimarrons perhaps once a month on average. These '80s "production" bikes are typically great bargains. I gave $75 for my '87 Cimarron (lugged and fillet-brazed) and $25 for a NOS High Sierra frame (black chrome - TIG and fillet brazed). The Cimarron (along with the Paramountain) were made at Schwinn's Greenville, MS factory. The '87 High Sierra proudly claims to be "Made in Taiwan".

Waterford frames seldom come up and are usually priced pretty high when they do.

Here is a sneak peak at a recent acquisition ... a '90 Paramount MTB frame (Waterford built). One of 100-120 or so ...

Bob

velo-orange

I have a 91 Wicdked Fat Chance converted to Singlespeed. It's not 80's vintage, but it's my favorite bike of all time. and close enough to be included in this little thread.

The Golden Boy 

Bob, let me know if you run across a 17-17.5" 87 Cimarron...

You lucky devil, you.

BobHufford

Will do ...

Too bad we can't go back in time a couple of years when I sold this:

cim01.jpg

Here is a Waterford frame ...

https://atlanta.craigslist.org/atl/bik/1601578121.html

If anyone runs across an '89 Cimarron frame in a 22", let me know (five bottle braze-ons!).

Bob

The Golden Boy 

Whenever I do a search on the intArwebz, I run across that...

*sigh*

ish

Ye Olde 1981 Stumpjumper

Sixty Fiver

That Stumpy is absolutely beautiful.

LesterOfPuppets

For the most part, early 80s rigs were more cruiser like and had incredibly long chainstays for that Cadillac ride. By the late 80s frames had generally shortened and tightened up quite a bit for a more nimble but somewhat more harsh ride. If you're not averse to sloping top tubes, by the mid 90s MTBs had gotten quite light and rigid bikes were still to be found, and ones with sproingy forks were still setup for short travel forks, so the geometry wasn't totally wack yet.

I think that Yeti is the hottest bike in thread so far. My Mongoose is the nicest rigid MTB I've found yet. I really like Dad's 1993 Bridgestone MB-3 because of the lugs, but it's quite a bit heavier than my Mongoose.

This is my dream MTB:

Sixty Fiver

That Stumpjumper has frame angles that are as slack as an English roadster... a customer has one and it is a beautiful riding bike and in similarly minty condition.

I educated her on the collectible nature of her specific model as well.

Smokinapankake

Lots to be had, some ar egetting harder and harder to find...
Fat City
Ritchey
Mantis
Manitou (Pre Answer, i.e., back when Doug Bradbury was welding them)
Off Road Toad
Mountain Goat
Yeti
Ibis
any of these command primo price where I live.

Sirrus Rider

I'll add one. Alpine. And for those who like Aluminum then Cannondale.

IdAngler

Should add Klein to that list

jmeb

Like many around here I'm a huge fan of this vintage MTB as the great-utility-bike. I've got a Schwinn High Sierra in Smoked chrome I adore, built a Miyata Shredder (1 year only model with Tange oversized tubing and neon green paint) for a friend, and a Muddy Fox Seeker for the SO.

Yesterday though I saw one of the coolest mtbs from that era I'd ever seen and had never heard of: a Novara Outback. Check out this lugwork, pinstriping, tubing, and snazzy derailleur

bikemig 

No. 1; they are totally cool platforms to build on. I have two: a 1988 specialized stumpjumper comp that I've put drops on and a 1991 specialized team stumpjumper that is almost entirely original other than the saddle and trekking bars. To the OP, get a specialized stumpjumper if you want a classic vintage MTB:

jmeb

The problem in discovering this era of MTBs is that really rad ones are always available cheap...recently for 125 on my local CL:

LesterOfPuppets

That is so killer! Gotta find one! Novara is REI store brand. I've had two of their TIG'ed MTBs and both were quite nice.

flynn_gabriel

i have several in my stable. An 1984 Bianchi grizzly, a 1983 diamond back ridge runner, an 1986 specialized rock hopper, an 1988ish diamond back assent. Plus many more but I'd have to go look to know exactly what else. The grizzly, ridge runner and rock hopper are all 100% original.

neo_pop_71

I'm going with Scooper and the Cimarron on this one, American made double butted lugged and fillet brazed CrMo frames are almost impossible to match for the money spent! I own a few Cimarrons, I've yet to own a Paramountain (same lugged and fillet brazed frame as a Cimarron but made by Paramount and sold as a frame and fork option to be ordered) but one day I will. Some Cimarrons come up for outrageous prices and others are practically given away. You have to do some research to find the oddities, such as the 1986 was the only year to have a fillet brazed fork as opposed to a lugged constuction or as BobHufford mention the 1989 having 5 water bottle braze ons... for that dream touring bike!
Here is my 1988 Cimarron LE, it's my do everything bike and I love it but I had no love for Schwinn Green so it got a makeover...


Smokinapankake nailed this if you want high end steel and a unique look! I've owned a number of Nishiki Aliens and Ariels from 1988 to 1990, all are full double butted 4130 CrMo frame/fork, and some like the 1989 Alien and the 1990 Ariel were made in Japan using Tange Prestige steel tubing (the same tubing used on the higher end Stumpjumpers from the same period). I've rebuilt my Alien so many times, it's an ideal single speed platform given the feathery weight. Presently, it's set up as a 96'er with a 1x9 drivetrain with a fillet brazed Rick Hunter Supercrown 29'er/CX fork, the rigid set up and very forgiving frame make short work of mist single track. My 1990 Ariel is also Tange Prestige, light and responsive, this one is built up as a dirt drop gravel grinder and is fully capable of going from the pavement, to the gravel, and off in the dirt. Both bike represent a hot little window in mountain biking history when elevated chainstays were the hot ticket with the pinnacle being the Yeti Ultimate. My Ariel is a poor man's Yeti Ultimate with a nod to John Parker thanks to my daughter's Yeti inspired color palette... not a bad spray job for an 8 year old (it was last summer's dad/daughter project), proud father!!!
Here is the Alien and the Ariel...


The bottom line being the higher quality frame is what you should look for, a lousy frame comes up short, be patient and a gem is bound to show!

Good luck and have fun!