I had been watching this bike on Craigslist for a month. The seller initially was asking $350 but were listing the bike as a 1994 model. I knew it was never going to sell for that much, and I was right, as over time the price fell significantly. Yesterday the price dropped again and a Blackburn rack had been added. At that price I knew it would actually sell, so I picked up the phone. The seller had another person interested already, but that potential buyer ended up flaking... so today I went and took a test ride, and brought her home!

The rack was looking kinda beat up so I removed it then took the bike for an initial spin and some pics "as found"







Drivetrain is Deore II, Frame is Tange MTB. All original except saddle, tires and bar ends. The components work great, though the frame is HEAVY.. (~34lbs) It's the largest size frame they sold (22") and you can feel the weight. The complete bike weighs 2 lbs more than my 1986 Apex which is 20.5. I'm not sure where else the weight is coming from, I expected it to be a little lighter. Normally, a I'd consider an MTB frame this large as being much too big for me, but I'm interested in trying out a drop bar conversion, and so I picked a frame closer to my roadbike size than MTB.

I'm pretty sure the seller was a DKO flipper, but he did something really weird... he used a ton of sharpy to touch up the stem and various places on the frame.. ok, pretty cheap looking in the sunlight, but whatever... but the weird thing is he used sharpie on the "Made in TAIWAN / Designed in USA" decal to make it read "Made in USA". He also completely removed the Made in Taiwan badge from the headtube and used sharpie to cover up the scar. The reason I think the seller did this is because his CL pics showed the complete head tube decal. No idea why he would do it except to try to fool a buyer, or if he just really hates Taiwan

I already swapped out the saddle with something smaller and in better condition. Next it needs slick tires. I also need to tweak the cockpit quite a bit to get the set up I like. not sure how far down that road I want to go just yet if I'm going to do a drop bar conversion though. I definitely am going to swap in a shorter stem I have on hand because it's a giant stem with a giant TT. One thing interesting about this geometry is that it feels like most of my weight is resting on the back wheel in a "normal" mtb posture.. so much so that the front wheel "washes out".. but leaning forward into a more roadbike-like posture gives you good balance.

Not 100% sure about what I should do with this bike since it's a tiny bit too big and really heavy. If I don't end up liking it, considering stripping the parts and swapping in some off a cheapo mtb.. probably could resell for what I paid regardless of the components. But first i'm gonna put it through its paces and see what it's made of

Is this coincidence? I'm stalking this, with roughly the same idea-road tires, maybe a road triple crankset:

Funny you should see the beast of a frame that showed up on my doorstep today. The idea was similar road tires but moustache bars, just because. However if I had a boat it might make a good anchor. more to come.

you've got good taste 1990 Apex with blue smoke fade.. just like the good old Ironman my 1989 Apex could match the 1989 black Ironman too lol. in 1989 Apex also came in full purple smoke.. In some ways I'm glad this one doesn't have that paint job because I might not have had the patience to wait for the seller to bring his price down LOL

Isn't that like 10 lbs of saddle on there?

You'll probably need a much stubbier stem to run road bars, I'm guessing.

It looks nice and the components look well kept in particular the shifters. Well worth swapping out components if the size doesn't work out. It's like my old Mongoose MTB, looks good like I should be doing something with it but cant get over the weight of it.

LOL trust me i was thinking the same thing about the saddle.. unfortunately the ton of bricks is elsewhere

and luckily happen to have a pretty stubby road stem that I might try out

yeah you're right, the components actually look like they've fared pretty well. the nice thumb shifters were one big reason I was interested in this bike.

here's a few more pics

Frantik, how long is the top tube? It doesn't appear to be that long. I'm just curious because I ride the same size bike.

Congrats, frantik! I was hoping you'd be able to snag the larger one (19" would definitely be too small for me, and 20.5" just barely stretches me out enough). I think with a normal stem and drop bars (and slick tires, and a good saddle), everything will come together for you.


P.S. And if you don't want to keep the Biopace HP rings, gimme a holler...

I flipped this one a few years ago, it was pretty cool. It had a rear roller brake inside the chainstays, and built in spokeholders on the left chainstay.

I don't see any pics! AAAAUUUGGGGHHH!!! So here is one of mine - 1987 20.5" Apex

TT is ~59cm on this bike

yeah i think the TT length is good though i could use a tiny bit more clearance on standover. not a big deal tho. I actually am not a fan of biopace but would need to find suitable replacement rings first

Yep, I've got one of those


nice.. that paint job indicates a 1988 model year though (not 1987)

Pendantic note: the chainstay-mounted brake was a "U-brake", not a "roller brake" (those are a variation on drum brakes.)

And if you can stand over the bike in your shoes without crushing anything, you've got enough "standover."

Well I guess I meant "roller cam" brake, like this (without the drillium)

Actually, the 1986 model did some with a Suntour XC "roller cam" brake instead of a ubrake. they fit the same kind of mounts. Here is a pic of XC roller cam brake: https://bmxmuseum.com/forsale/23050

If i stand flat footed in my shoes with the frame straight up and down, I'm not "crushing" anything, but there isn't any clearance at all. But during normal use it's not a problem..

I'll be darned -- I thought they just used caliper or U-brakes back there. Correction withdrawn.

Nice touring frame!

(Nelson voice) HAH-HAH!

I'm currently tracking this Gary Fisher Aquila. He's asking $180, says rear derailleur needs some TLC, and says to make a "reasonable and responsible offer." I'm thinking $100, but going to wait it out for a bit.

Nice score. I really like those Deore II components, picked up another cheap 89-ish taiwanese mountain bike just for that group recently. I also just picked up an earlier apex (like yours and the other blue / sea green one shown) for the early XT Deerhead components, but I may end up keeping it together since it seems like a very nice bike.

I'm beginning to have too many vintage mountain bikes, but it's hard to pass them up when they're so cheap in southern california (where you can easily find them for less than a low-end hi-ten bike boom road bike). At least they're good platforms for setting up in different configurations, so they don't all look and ride the same

what are the spec on that?

Yeah I'd love to pick up an earlier model with all original deerhead stuff.. I have to admit I *love* my fraken-build 86 Apex as it is, but would be fun to have a 2nd "all original" to compare the stock set up

Hah, I know what you mean.. I was checking out socal's craigslist and saw tons of MTBs for rock bottom prices. There's actually a 1987 Arrival (Diamondback's first year aluminum frame) with Deore XT components selling for $95 down there in so cal..

Here in the bay area, some early MTBs are valued a little more highly (mountain biking was born up here after all) but on average MTBs sell for much less than road bikes, and there is very little difference in price between higher and lower end models. People don't know what to look for and assume vintage MTBs are crap because they use thumb shifters and have rigid forks.. which today are really only seen on BSO and other crap MTBs, so people assume it's just a crappy bike.

More and more people are trying to sell their 80s mtbs as "vintage", but 90s mtbs are a dime a dozen. I actually think if the seller had correctly listed this as an 1989 instead of a 1994 he might have sold more quickly and for a higher price.

Ha weird coincidence I just found an older Diamondback frame at the co-op that I'm going to build as my winter - beater. This thread has given me some great ideas.

Frantik, I'm not sure on the specs. He didn't list them nor say if anything was original. I have a soft spot for old Gary Fishers as my first mtb was a 1992 Gary Fisher Montare, which I still have.

Do you have any input on it by any chance? I'm not familiar with the Aquila model.

sweet what model DB?

Hmm sorry I don't have any input.. I know Diamondback pretty well but other brands I don't know the line ups. that's why I was asking about the components. It looks like there might be some black plastic covered cantis on there.. if so it's mid-range at best I would assume

Midlevel at best was my thought as well. I'll contact him this weekend to see if it's still available and go from there.