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1989 Jamis Dakar Comp - Pink, Purple, Prestige.

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1989 Jamis Dakar Comp - Pink, Purple, Prestige.

Old 02-20-13, 12:56 PM
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Originally Posted by frantik
...I'm still pretty confident that this bike is a 1989 model year, but thinking there is a possibility it may have been a 1988. I sent an inquiry through the Jamis website, I'm hoping they can provide a little more info
It's improbable that it is a 1988. As stated earlier, in post #10, I have a 1988 ad that shows the Dakar with a chainstay mounted U-brake, solid color and fillet brazing. While it's not the Comp version, it's unlikley they would have used fillet brazing on one and not the other.

Also, I found a 1991 Jamis product list and advertisement in and it's looks like we can eliminate 1991 and, by extension, 1992. There was no Dakar Comp in 1991 and the ad shows the Prestige tubed Dakar Sport as having TIG construction. Once they'd gone to the cheaper, lighter and more versatile TIG welding, I'd doubt they'd step back. So that should narrow it down to 1989 or 1990.

If you really want to determine the year, I'd suggest you pull the fork. The fork is almost certainly a standard Tange item, so it should have a date code on the steerer.

FWIW, the more I look at it, the more it looks like a KHS frame. The top of their Montana series used the exact same color scheme, except they did not use the magenta head tube. They were also lugged, at a time when TIG construction was almost an industry wide practice.
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Old 02-20-13, 02:00 PM
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Originally Posted by T-Mar
It's improbable that it is a 1988. As stated earlier, in post #10, I have a 1988 ad that shows the Dakar with a chainstay mounted U-brake, solid color and fillet brazing. While it's not the Comp version, it's unlikley they would have used fillet brazing on one and not the other.

Also, I found a 1991 Jamis product list and advertisement in and it's looks like we can eliminate 1991 and, by extension, 1992. There was no Dakar Comp in 1991 and the ad shows the Prestige tubed Dakar Sport as having TIG construction. Once they'd gone to the cheaper, lighter and more versatile TIG welding, I'd doubt they'd step back. So that should narrow it down to 1989 or 1990.
I only thought perhaps 1988 because of the plain deore (not Deore II) components shown on the bike in the CL ad, and the fact my bike also has a plain Deore FD and many components with early 88 date codes. I still think 89 is more likely.

The Jamis history on their website says the Dakar went to lugged construction in 1987 so that's weird an ad from 1988 would have fillet brazing. I assume one of them is incorrect.. probably the history page

I'm not 100% sure the model name is Dakar Comp.. it could have been plain Dakar and the "competition series" decal may not be part of the model name

If you really want to determine the year, I'd suggest you pull the fork. The fork is almost certainly a standard Tange item, so it should have a date code on the steerer.

FWIW, the more I look at it, the more it looks like a KHS frame. The top of their Montana series used the exact same color scheme, except they did not use the magenta head tube. They were also lugged, at a time when TIG construction was almost an industry wide practice.
that's interesting about KHS.. i believe ThriftyBill has suggested Univega mtbs were also built by KHS. My Univega and this Jamis have almost identical dimensions, with the only significant difference being the seat tube angle which is much steeper on the Jamis. There is no indication of country of origin on the Jamis but the univega was made in taiwan

I'm hoping I hear back from the Jamis people with more info, they said on their site to wait 5 business days and it's only been 2 or 3

Last edited by frantik; 02-20-13 at 02:07 PM.
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Old 02-20-13, 02:30 PM
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T-mar - your earlier post said the Dakota had fillet brazing. I think the Dakar went to lugged construction in '87. Here's a pic of an '88 Dakota I owned a while back that matches your description. Unlike Frantik's Dakar, this bike was heavy and rode like a brick. Wish I had kept the hite rite before I sold it though.

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Old 02-20-13, 04:49 PM
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Originally Posted by blilrat
T-mar - your earlier post said the Dakota had fillet brazing. I think the Dakar went to lugged construction in '87. Here's a pic of an '88 Dakota I owned a while back that matches your description. Unlike Frantik's Dakar, this bike was heavy and rode like a brick. Wish I had kept the hite rite before I sold it though.
Your're right, it was a Dakota in the ad, not a dakar. Thank-you for pointing that out.


However, I still feel the OP's bicycle is not a 1988. The 1988 Dakota, Diablo and Explorer all had chainstay mounted U-brakes which permitted incorporation of an OEM shoulder sling using a boss on the underside of the top tube. The OPs' bicycle does not appear to have this boss, let alone the U-brake. Given that 1988 was the peak of U-brake (and Roller-Cam) popularity, it would be strange not to incorporate it, when it is on their other models.
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Old 02-20-13, 05:31 PM
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Found the specs for the 1988 Dakar in a buyer's guide. They did spec a rear U-brake.
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Old 02-20-13, 05:53 PM
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Well i think the door is shut on 1988 I'm still wondering if my initial guestimate of 1989 was correct. I think it's more likely an 89 than a 90. In 1990 a lot of mtbs went to a less tapered fork (though in 1989 a ton of bikes also used Tange's straight fork) There's also no lawyer lips on this fork.
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Old 02-20-13, 06:14 PM
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My gut feel is leanings towards 1989 too, as opposed to 1990. The trend was towards putting the second set of bottle mounts on the seat tube. It's hard to imagine that they hung onto the double down tube mounts for an additonal two years. Again, the only other evidence the bicycle itself will probably provide, is to be found on the steerer tube. It's time to break out the headset wrenches.
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Old 02-20-13, 06:28 PM
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if i don't get a reply from jamis by monday of next week, i may do just that. headset probably could use some grease anyways, though the previous owner seems to have kept it maintained.. can't hurt to check though

btw what was the 88 component spec for the Dakar?
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Old 02-20-13, 07:03 PM
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Originally Posted by frantik
..btw what was the 88 component spec for the Dakar?
Tange Prestige, full Deore XT group, Araya RM20 rims, Specialized Ground Control tires, SunTour post (!), Nitto stem, Tange handlebar, Jamis Competition saddle, $895.95 US MSRP.
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Old 02-20-13, 07:19 PM
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Thanks.. so i'm guessing that CL posting got stripped of all the good stuff somewhere along the line and shouldn't be used for reference.

I'm wondering what happened to the wheels on my bike cause they are Dynolite by Sunrims, and are mismatched deore hubs. Maybe both of the wheels were stolen or tacoed.. either way, I need some premium wheels on this baby

The brakes are also Deore, but I'm not really "concerned" about it since according to the Shimano 89 catalog, the combined weight of the Deore shifters and cantis is 5g less than the XT set. It would be odd for the original owner to downgrade on something like that.

the FD is the biggest mystery since it doesn't match anything and seems unlikely to be stolen. There is a pretty big gouge underneath where the FD is mounted so perhaps it was broken.

I've got a Suntour XC seatpost, Ritchey Force stem and Jamis branded handlebars. Suspect they are all original though perhaps not the stem...

I did ask the Jamis folks if they could provide a spec list so perhaps they be able to help. I saw online someone else contacted them about their old bike and Jamis was apparently very helpful so i'm keeping my fingers crossed.
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Old 02-21-13, 10:02 AM
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Originally Posted by frantik
...I've got a Suntour XC seatpost, Ritchey Force stem and Jamis branded handlebars. Suspect they are all original though perhaps not the stem...
Actually, that's a pretty good indicator for 1989. The 1989 Dakota was spec'd with a Ritchey Force stem and a Jamis handlebar, though the post was an SR. It would not be unreasonable to spec the same bar and stem on the Dakar.
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Old 02-21-13, 12:01 PM
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Well then I'm pretty confident about a 1989 model year, though the thumbies having late 89 date codes makes me wonder. Still hoping for some info from Jamis
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Old 02-22-13, 01:05 PM
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Jamis got back to me.. unfortunately they didn't shed much light on the mystery... just confirmed it's likely an 89 or 90..

Unfortunately I was not able to find information about this bike, as this bike was produced by JAMIS when it was owned by a different company. Our records here only go back to 1991 and I was not able to find this exact bike. It looks similar to our 1991 model, so it is likely 1-2 model years older.
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Old 02-22-13, 02:23 PM
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Originally Posted by frantik
Jamis got back to me.. unfortunately they didn't shed much light on the mystery... just confirmed it's likely an 89 or 90..
So, break out those headset wrenchs. I'll expect a report within 24 hours!
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Old 02-22-13, 02:44 PM
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*grumbles*... what am I looking for on the fork?
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Old 02-22-13, 03:20 PM
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Frantik,

Wanna sell those Michelins that are on your Jamis? I will make you a good offer.
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Old 02-23-13, 09:05 AM
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Originally Posted by frantik
*grumbles*... what am I looking for on the fork?
There should be a two character date code, where the number indicates the year and the letter indicates the month. Example: 9C would indicate 1989, March.
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Old 02-23-13, 09:44 AM
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I know that in that time period manufactures liked to outfit a bike with one group and then upgrade the RD to the next higher group, for instance if you had a bike spec-ed with Deore LX the RD would be a Deore XT or a bike with Deore would have a LX RD and so forth. I have never seen them jump two levels though say from a Deore group and put on a XT RD. I am thinking your bike was all XT and as you said they changed out some of it for just Deore. If it were mine I would just keep a eye out for the XT parts that are missing and replace them. I wouldn't make it a drop bar either ( But I believe I am a bit older then you, it's about comfort now ) & I have a stash of NOS Scott bars I think would work out really nice on that Dakar, maybe with a riser stem.

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Old 02-23-13, 01:59 PM
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My LBS didn't have a headset wrench they could sell me, will call up a few other shops in the area

Originally Posted by Glennfordx4
I know that in that time period manufactures liked to outfit a bike with one group and then upgrade the RD to the next higher group, for instance if you had a bike spec-ed with Deore LX the RD would be a Deore XT or a bike with Deore would have a LX RD and so forth. I have never seen them jump two levels though say from a Deore group and put on a XT RD. I am thinking your bike was all XT and as you said they changed out some of it for just Deore. If it were mine I would just keep a eye out for the XT parts that are missing and replace them.
At the time, Deore was directly below Deore XT, so it's not totally crazy to have a mix of Deore and XT. It wouldn't surprised me if the bike was sold with a mix of XT and Deore, though I still suspect the FD is a replacement, though I haven't taken a look at the date code yet. The headset is XT so obviously they weren't trying to cut too many corners.

The person I bought it from said they bought it from the Jamis dealership and that they upgraded them to the Dakar from the Dakota because the paint job wasn't selling... that makes me wonder if the Jamis shop frankensteined the bike, but that seems unlikely. The crank arms and brakes are plain Deore. The XT brakes and the Deore brakes from this period were almost identical so I can't really see someone swapping out their XT for plain Deore. The crank arm also seem like something that wouldn't be swapped out, but maybe since the chainrings are not biopace, the whole crank was swapped instead of just the rings. I kinda suspect it was mostly XT with plain Deore brakes.

The wheelset is definitely is not original and I've already ordered a new wheelset with XT hubs, RM-17 rims and 32 double butted spokes. Should be somewhat lighter than what's on there now.

I wouldn't make it a drop bar either ( But I believe I am a bit older then you, it's about comfort now ) & I have a stash of NOS Scott bars I think would work out really nice on that Dakar, maybe with a riser stem.
For me, flat bars are the least comfortable option. I have a trekking bar I may try out on it, but I suspect eventually I'll go with a drop bar. I haven't really decided
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Old 02-23-13, 11:08 PM
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Well the mystery continues.. the RD has a date code of OE which is early 1991. Makes me think perhaps the frame was sold as a frameset and built up by the owner and/or the shop after sitting around for a few years. Front derailleur has a date code of MC which is the same time frame as the crank and brakes, but is MT-60 (Deore) even though the brakes are MT-62 which was Deore II.

I will definitely pull the fork soon since the headset needs to be greased anyways.

I tore the bike down to the frame.. some significant rust on the stays and fork which will need to be addressed. I haven't seen such advanced rust on a bike frame, especially where the rest of the bike seems like it's in pretty good shape. The previous owner must have been riding through a lot of gravel and mud and then not cleaning the bike..





and this dirt is just from the RD.. a lot more mud collected after pulling the FD and everything else. Amazingly everything worked fine

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Old 02-24-13, 09:50 AM
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Originally Posted by frantik
My LBS didn't have a headset wrench they could sell me, will call up a few other shops in the area...
Hmm, a forum member for almost two years and 4000+ posts, yet no headset tools. There must be some kind of forum rules forbidding this sort of thing!
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Old 02-24-13, 02:04 PM
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Originally Posted by T-Mar
Hmm, a forum member for almost two years and 4000+ posts, yet no headset tools. There must be some kind of forum rules forbidding this sort of thing!
hah i knew I was gonna get busted for not having headset wrenches i always just take it over to the LBS and borrow theirs. last time i was there i asked if i could buy one but they didnt have any, and still don't i guess
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Old 02-26-13, 05:23 PM
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Got the new wheelset for the bike today Deore XT M730/M732 hubs with Araya RM-17 rims. the new wheelset weighs 2425g while the old one was 2630g, a difference of about half a pound. I didn't know how much difference to expect but that's decent (though I admit i was hoping for closer to a full pound difference). The green tires weigh 560g each, not super heavy but plenty of room for weight loss. Most of the tires i've been looking at are in the low 400g range, so with a wheel and tire change I'm looking at at least a 1 pound total weight loss. If I went with some weight weenie skinny tires i could potentially drop 2 lbs total.




also did some major clean up on the rust issues using phosphoric acid and a wire brush. The fork still needs more work and I think I may try out oxalic acid for the first time on it... that is, as soon as I can free the stuck headset nut went over to the LBS yesterday and tried wailing on it a few times, but it didn't want to budge. I put a bunch of triflow on it and will try again with a large crescent on the nut and a headset wrench on the top cup and hopefully that will do the trick

not sure what i should do about touch up in this area.. this part isn't so bad (especially when the wheels and cranks are installed) but the fork lost a fair amount of paint and the bare metal looks a lot worse against the bright pink vs the purple. I may leave these areas on the stays with just some clearcoat but the fork i may try to touch up with some nail polish or something.. not sure how good large areas look painted with a hand brush though.. might be better to just clear the other spots too


Last edited by frantik; 02-26-13 at 05:48 PM.
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Old 02-26-13, 05:27 PM
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Originally Posted by frantik
Got the new wheelset for the bike today Deore XT M730/M732 hubs with Araya RM-17 rims. the new wheelset weighs 2540g while the old one was 2770g, a difference of half a pound. I didn't know how much difference to expect but that's decent (though I admit i was hoping for closer to a full pound difference). The green tires weigh 560g each, not super heavy but plenty of room for weight loss. Most of the tires i've been looking at are in the low 400g range, so with a wheel and tire change I'm looking at at least a 1 pound total weight loss. If I went with some weight weenie skinny tires i could potentially drop 2 lbs total.




also did some major clean up on the rust issues using phosphoric acid and a wire brush. The fork still needs more work and I think I may try out oxalic acid for the first time on it... that is, as soon as I can free the stuck headset nut went over to the LBS yesterday and tried wailing on it a few times, but it didn't want to budge. I put a bunch of triflow on it and will try again with a large crescent on the nut and a headset wrench on the top cup and hopefully that will do the trick

Triflow is worthless for what you need. Hit it with some Freeze Off and be amazed.
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Old 02-26-13, 05:32 PM
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Originally Posted by realestvin7
Triflow is worthless for what you need. Hit it with some Freeze Off and be amazed.
thanks i'll pick some up
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