What are some old school mountain bikes of the 80's?
 

What were some highly regarded mountain biking names/models of the 80's? I want to get into mountain biking and dislike the look of suspension bikes. Plus I want to shock people riding some outdated machine that I know I will love haha :D

For me it was the GT Zaskar. I loved 'em :)

ah thanks for that website. i really like the specialized stumpjumpers and the manitou hardtails!

One of the coolest bikes I ever saw, and should have bought, was a 1987 Kuwahara Cascade that had a sloping top tube... this would not be unusual except it was a handbuilt model with a lugged frame.

Odder still as I have a 1987 Kuwahara Cascade with a conventional lugged frame with a level top tube but other than this the parts spec was identical.

This means they made two models with the same name and would have had to make custom lugs for this second variant.

Mid eighties Kuwaharas are awesome bikes btw.

Mine is a 1992 hard Tail from REI - Novara. It's a great bike. I only use it around town but with the smooth tires, it is perfect for that use.

http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medi...680cropped.JPG

80s Miyata Trail/Ridge/Sky Runner.
Splined quad butted tubing hooaahh!
U-brakes! Bombproof!

The SR series Cannondales. The one my partner rode had some of the most elegantly curves seatstays, which were fabbed with side-oriented oval tubing rather than lengthwise. Friction thumbshifters of course. With its angled TT, that bike was ahead of its time.

What tires are those? And what rims also? That is some serious meat under that bike.

jim

I love my Marin Pine Mountain. (The Rock Shocks are a later replacement but makes hopping curbs a little less jarring.)
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...1-11-09012.jpg

Agreed.

This is my favorite at the cabin. Great on fire roads, it now has front and rear racks. I also mounted surf rod holders on the back rack for my fly rods we use in the Glacial pools in the BWCA. The family cabin is 1/2 mile away from a great "secret" access point. I now have these wheels on my youngest son's next project, a Surly Karate Monkey single speed. In the process of rebuilding a set of very nice Mavics I scored at least weekend's bike swap. They'll go on the Miyata Trailrunner.

We also have a 1983 Specialized Stumpjumper Sport and a Bridgestone MB-1.

We may like our Italian road bikes around here, but these MTB's really get the daily usage.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3469/...6533d179_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2780/...77ec7004_o.jpg

My very late '80's Yeti:

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/f...B/DSC02146.jpg


Scott

I've rode a mid/late eighties Diamondback Ascent EX, I like it pretty well, and it has rapidfire shifting, so you don't have to mess with gripshift or thumb shifters.

Love that Yeti Scott! :thumb:

This weekend I rode with a guy on a beautiful mid-90s Klein Attitude with tri-tone paint (red/yellow/white,) a beautiful and capable bike! :love: I was riding my my rigid '90 Rockhopper, which did pretty well on a 30 mile ride atop the levee.

You're probably not going to shock many people with an old bike, many MTBers still own and/or remember how good their old bikes are. I don't think there's a huge number of them on the trails, but the appreciation is there. You could try riding in a bikini if you want to be shocking.

I've got a late 80's Giant Iguana for a foul weather riding, it's basic, looks vintage and is pretty tough.

Gt

Those mid eighties mountain bikes are my favourite platform on which to build as many are basically what i would call touring bikes on steroids as they share similar, if not identical geometry and many of them were exceptionally well made frames. Trek 9x series, Specialized, and Kuwahara are among many that built some exceptional bikes in this era and many were hand built.

Mine... and I do like drop bars so much that my modern mtb will probablly be getting some.

This is a 1988 Kuwahara Shasta that has a handbuilt lugged frame made with Ishiwata triple butted tubes, I have converted to a fixed drive for all weather and winter use.

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikepics/uav1.jpg

My 1987 Cascade was Kuwahara's top of the line model and was handbuit with Ishiwata quad butted tubes and has lived life as an mtb and seen her share of off road, as an SS and fixed gear, and I just restored her to her former geared glory and have set her up for expedition touring and commuting.

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikep...scadetour2.JPG

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=137934
This '86 Diamondback Ascent was a great cruiser although a bit heavy.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=137935
This '93 Diamondback Sorrento was purchased for my younger son. Picked it up for $50 as it needed a bit of work. Spent a few hours lubing and adjusting then took it for a test ride. While I rode around, I was trying to figure how I could keep this bike for myself. Really light frame but also very stiff. Even with the stock 200GS components, it shifts as smoothly as my Ultegra-equipped road bike. I have been trying to find one for myself every since.

Schwalbe Kojak's. A great tire. They are light weight, despite their large size. I run them at fairly high pressure so they roll really easily and they climb really well. They add a bit of pneumatic suspension to the otherwise hardtail ride. But they give back any energy they absorb, so they do not suck the life out of your ride (and your legs).

Knobby tires have a place but it isn't on any bike used on paved surfaces. The Kojaks, if nothing else, roll quietly and smoothly.

The rims are Arayas. I would have to go look at them to get a model/part number.

The galvanized spokes are fine but after almost 20 years and living near the beach, they have begun to rust. A set of stainless spokes would be nice but these wheels have been absolutely bullet-proof, so I won't touch them until something goes wrong.

Sixty Fiver, I agree. Non-suspended, hence light weight and stiff, with stable geometry, these bikes make a very excellent touring bike. Mine has all the eyelets in all the right places and plenty of clearance for racks and fenders - front and rear.

I love big Schwalbe tires. I have never seen or used the Kojaks, but I am a fervent convert to Big Apples. Big Apples are the secret to all human happiness, I now believe.

How big are those Kojaks? I thought I saw that they were not offered in especially wide variants, but clearly that is not correct.

So those are just the stock rims? They look very wide (even by the wider standards of that day). Hmm. Might have to look into that. Setting aside the bizarro Pugsly-type rims, the widest rim I know of is a variant of the Sun RynoLite that is basically twice as wide as the normal ones. I actually like RynoLites, but the super-wide ones are awfully expensive.

jim

oh wow! you guys have some beautiful mountain bikes! Is sizing for a mountain bike the same as for a road bike?

Here's mine...
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/a...5/IMG_1912.jpg

I believe you're supposed to get a size smaller in bikes of the mountain persuasion.

This is my "84" Cannondale Alpine. I remember previous to this model Cannondale use to have a frame that extended out farther back and had a smaller 24 in. (maybe) tire to it. I remember they were made for bombing downhills. Anyone have a picture?

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=137966

Here's the one I just posted in the other mtb thread a little while ago. It's now retired to the good life of grocery grabbing.

http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/3188/dsc00261b.jpg