Looking for an early 90's hybrid, with no suspension, that can handle some occasionally trail rides with the family but 90% on the road. Ready to move on from a dropped bar road bike, back issues and I am 48 years old. Looking for a 20 -21 inch frame. Is 25 lbs the bottom here? I do not like the aluminum ride and trying to keep the price on the lower side so no Ti or carbons. Not that fond of working on Cantilever brakes but they do work well.

What might be on a short list? Thinking Trek 750/790, Schwinn Crosscut, maybe a Trek 970/990 MTB or Specialized Stumpjumper. Also like the mid 90's Marins but I do not see many for sale. What possible gems am I missing? Lighter is good for spinning up the hills...

Crosscut is over 25 pounds, ditto the 950/970, depending on the year. My 1992 weighs in at about 29 pounds. 48 is young compared to many of us on here.

A lot of steel rigid frame MTBs are in the 29 pound plus range, even the nicer ones. My wife's TIG welded 1994 Trek 950 is lighter than the 1992 lugged steel 1992 model I have.

If you really want something light, you could consider a flat bar conversion of a road bike.

Just finished building up a 1992 Paramount Series 70 MTB, came in at 24.5 pounds, per my bike scale. Its a small frame though. (published weight was 26.8 pounds, but I used newer wheels and lighter weight slick tires).

Focus a lot less on models, and focus on frame material and component grade. Several brands made MTBs with Tange Prestige frames, which is a great start. Paramount series 50, 70 and 90 all had Prestige frames.

Which wheelset did you end up using? I've been thinking about getting a lighter weight set to swap on to my cimarron for longer pavement-only rides.

I'll have to look. I know they have modern LX hubs, with 8/9/10 speed freehub. I really just rely on whatever I have "in stock". I grabbed these mainly for the nice LX hubs. And I mounted slicks on them, which cuts the weight down. I am running them 7 speed, with a spacer behind the cassette.

Used MTB wheels are plentiful and usually very cheap. Good to have a spare set with alternate tires.

I got my Cimmaron down to 25 1/2 pounds with a similar move, more modern wheels, much lighter tires, and a lighter saddle. When I started, it was pushing 30 pounds.

If you want a really light weight, steel frame, flat bar bike, I would just convert a road bike instead. Use a MTB style riser stem (BG uses them extensively), and that will get the bars higher. Who knows, you might just be happy with higher drop bars.

25 lbs stock for a CrMb framed hybrid/mtb is a tough call. My 94 Crosscut was claimed to be 26 lbs from Schwinn. I've modified mine some to think it's close to 25. Lighter wheels, crankset, derailleurs, can bring it down more.
As pictured, it sported 35mm tires.

I think the Bianchi Volpe is another fine hybrid.


2012-05-04 -001 by WNG005, on Flickr

I have one of those Trek MTB frames in the basement, with aluminum lugs & carbon tubes, that I never really did anything with. I got it dirt cheap off CL a few years ago, from a college kid who was going home. It didn't have a fork, and there's a pretty unusual deal near where the FD goes, which threw me off a bit, and I haven't seen it on any other bikes. (?) Maybe some day, I'll throw some wheels on, if I ever find a decent fork cheap, and just run it as a 1x8 or 9 or whatever.

FWIW, my 1990 790 is pushing 30 lbs with all of the stuff on it, probably about 25 lbs in the nude. I also have a 1991 Novara X-R which is running about 27 lbs naked (no fenders, racks, bags, and other stuff).

Ritchey P23, as the name implies, 23lbs.

You did not say price, just lightest.

plus 1 for the Paramount 70. I just picked one up to convert to a drop bar. it allready has slicks and weighs just under 24lbs as recieved.

it feels rally light and quick too. got mine for $120.00 I think the schwinn name keeps the price down. this one sat on a local for sale list for about 6 months.

Interesting how yours has Schwinn decal on the DT, while mine has Paramount on the DT. Good pickup on yours, I spent $120 delivered just for the frameset w/headset (family build, and I wanted to stick with a Panasonic built Paramount). Mine did have original fork, but no wheels, crank, bars, stem, etc., etc. Building up a MTB from a frameset takes a hefty parts bin to make any financial sense at all.

nice looking build, and I don't want to hijack this thread but the fok is a MARIN triple butted CRO mo, and while I'm not thrilled withthe color I do like the narrow taper. it loos more "roadish" if you know what I mean. also the pic angle doesn't show it butthe top tube is more horizontal than it looks.(19" frame) I also wish mine had the Paramount decal instead if the schwinn one. maybe I'll repaint someday. what is your Serial #? mine is 2B02683 or 8 for the last digit. I have no idea how to decode it.

Royal

Lighter gets expensive, and certainly the only old mountain bikes that hold any value are the exotic high end (usually lighter) models. First one that comes to mind is a Ritchey P20. You should be able to change the bar/stem and still keep it a few pounds lighter than the above mentioned bikes.

My Giant ATX 780 was probably the lightest MTB I've had, never weighed it, but around 25-26 lbs sounds about right.

Also, ignore the material and add the Cannondale H300, H400, etc. to the list. Same frame as their touring bike, and has a ride nicer than many steel bikes.

Yeah but, those Cannondales take 700c wheels, not 26". I keep looking for the right deal on one of those, or a Silk Path, which has a Headshok, and also uses 700c wheels. I see a few here & there, but nothing tall enough, at a cheep price.

Sorta looking to get away from a pure road bike style but will be on the road with it for most riding. Lighter is important for the hills on the road especially. I have riden some new hybrids and again did not care for the aluminum ride and do not think they would stand up to much off road stuff, really road bikes with flat bars. Rode the Trek 7.x, Cannondale Quick, and a Giant Escape. I also rode a new Marin Muirwoods and liked it, just out of the price range. So I thought if I like the steel bikes why not just get a high quality older bike. I like vintage and used to make a living spinning a wrench on them, but only paid attention to road bikes at the time. Yes, I would like a high-end hybrid/mountain bike and it starts with the frame. I just need some better brands/models to look out for on c-list. Needing minor work is a plus for me overall.

Thanks for everyone's input! The wife is on a Marin San Rafael and my son is on a light Nishiki Backroads just pick-up off of c-list for $50. Both are just under 25lbs.

Aluminum can be engineered to give a beautiful ride! The real problem is it takes engineering and expertise (read money) to build a decent frame out if steel, aluminum or carbon fiber. So as long as you keep looking at the bottom end of things - you'll be disappointed.

There were bikes in the 80's and 90's that sold for over a $1,000 which was a lot of money back then. The frames may not break any technology barriers compared to some of what's on the market today, but high end older frames are IMO, better than new low end frames today - regardless of material.

I'd second the recomendation to look for an older road bike and to do a flatbar conversion. My 1988 Miyata was 21.8 lbs with 23c tires and putting flatbars and 25c tires probably wouldn't change that. Tire width is the only real limitation on a road bike - 25 or 28 is pretty much the limit unless you trip across a touring model with cantis.

In the long run you're much better off with a frame that fits and a riding position you like rather than the lightest bike anyway.

Are you looking for 26" wheeled mountain bike or a 700c wheeled mountain bike?

I think the Univega Via Montega and the little known Via de Oro were pretty light but you don't see them for sale often. You might also look for a Bianchi Project 7 that shows a curb weight of 25lbs but it actually a 700c wheeled mountain bike.

2D 00057

Its a Panasonic serial number, not a Schwinn. Just look it up. "2B" = February 1992, "2D" = April 1992. The rest of it I think is a sequence number. So mine would be the 57th bike made in April.

We see that question all the time, on road bikes and MTBs too. It just isn't that easy. Look for components and frame tubing. That will tell you whether its a good bike. Brands changed model specs every year or two, often for the better, sometimes for the worse. And then they reused the exact model names and numbers, for dramatically different bikes. So an early 1980s Trek 720 was a top of the line touring bike. A decade later, the 720 was a lower end/mid grade hybrid.

And most often, the best finds are the model/brand you haven't heard of. Creating a master list of all the "best" MTBs would be a lot of work, and would most likely be missing a number of models. And who knows what surprise model might show up in your town/C/L?

Yep.. brand and model names don't mean much from year to year and keeping it limited to those may cause you to miss out. I scored a Jamis Dakar with Tange Prestige and Deore XT for a good price. It's a brand and model I had never heard of before but discovered it because I was looking for the right things. It weighed 28lbs when I picked it up and I hope with a new set of wheels and tires that I can shed at least 1-2lbs.. but even then I'm at 26 which is still pretty heavy for a road bike.

For mtbs, I say look for Tange Prestige and True Temper OX tubing if you want lightness. then be willing to upgrade for expensive weight weenie stuff. or go with a 700c hybrid from the mid 90s maybe

Why not a cyclocross?

thanks, wrk101. I knew it was Japanese but did not know it was panasonic. also to the cyclocross sugestion I second that too. I just built a miyata alumicross. it is a 700c but it came with a flat bar. it is an aluminum/steel frame there is a steel version called the quickcross and it has a lot of great reviews here. i converted mine to a drop bar. but both the alumicross and quickcross were flatbars from the factory.

royal

i trip out when i hear about people trying to get a super light mtb... why? are you also going to ride without water in the bottles? are you gonna ride super skinny light tires on it too? you could ride it naked and cut down a few pounds. i don't mean to be abrasive but it just does not make sense. weight-weenieism just barely makes sense for road bikes but for mtbs/hybrids that are gonna be ridden recreationally it is flat out bonkers

???? Drop bars were OEM on all the Alumicross models that I've seen (i.e. circa 1989-1992).

The Breezer Cloud 9 from around 1993 was advertised at 20.9 pounds. Stock. Can't imagine you're getting much lighter than that.

I think I still have a broken frame around here somewhere I scavenged from the local dealer's dumpster.

E:


E2: weird, specced with 28 hole wheels up front, but pictured with 32.