ralphs

Here's my 1994 Hoo Koo E Koo. Found it in a corner of a body shop. It had been in the corner for a long time, was covered with a combination of paint overspray and dust, but it cleaned up nicely. Apparently, purple was big back in '94. Purple bar ends and quick releases are stock; not sure about the "peace sign" brake straddle cable carriers. It also has two Gary Fisher bottle cages. Not shown is the purple rear light (unfortunately broken) and purple-trimmed seat bag.
It's on my project list to rebuild the shocks, as they are collapsed. It also had what appeared to be the original tires (front is still on in the picture), pretty bad shape.

rumrunn6

how old does it have to be, to be vintage?

YetiLuv

Good question…how old?

Maxey

Keeping in mind this is just one man's opinion, I'd say if it came stock with disc brakes it's probably too new to be considered vintage. I hope this opinion doesn't cause any controversy, but I think it's a logical cut off for vintage status.

cyccommute 

Mountain bike vintage is different from road bike vintage. Much shorter time line. A 2000 mountain bike with discs is definitely vintage. That GT looks like it might be a 29er which isn’t vintage.

cjefferds 

Here is my recently acquired 1984 Stumpy Sport. Bone stock original right down to the tires.

Maxey

You make a fair point about the shorter time line. By 2000 many MTBs not only had discs, but some had full-suspension. Still, when I think of a classic mountain bike I think of cantilever brakes and a fully rigid frame, which is how early MTBs were almost all configured into the early '90s, though by then front suspension was coming on line on some of the higher-end models. In any case, there aren't any hard rules on what constitutes a vintage or classic, but I still say stock disc brakes are disqualifiers on a vintage MTB -- again, this is only IMO.

Natronious

Lovely they are

rumrunn6

awww shucks, I got rid of my 26ers

Smokinapankake

Make sure you add this lovely example to the "Bullmoose Handlebars" thread!

madpogue 

Disc brakes, 29-ers, through-axles and 1xGazillion gearing would all be disqualifiers to me -- TODAY. But as time marches, what will be the criteria 10-20 years from now? This very section of the forums is over 20 years old; some bikes that could rightly be featured in threads today would have been brand new or close to it when this section started. For example, I see a lot of bikes here with v-brakes; none of them would have qualified as "vintage" 20 years ago. I reckon we'll see how the sands shift as time passes.

rogerm3d

With the shorter timeline of mountain bike's its harder to decide where vintage is but my easy qualifier would be 20 years or 26" wheels. I think that mountain bikes have been around long enough now though that we can even start breaking up the timeline into different eras. I would define the MTB ages with no suspension as the birth/rise of MTB (in road bikes the pre 50s era bikes), Maybe add clunker era in for the invention of MTB. The early to mid 90s would be the MTB bike boom (solid index shifting, front suspension, and early crude full suspension. Late 90s through the end of 26" MTB would be the transition to the modern era with disc brakes becoming common, the introduction of tubeless tires, and full suspension becoming more refined (in road bikes this would be the late 80s-early 90s with the racing of steel frames ending and brifters becoming the standard).
Of course we will debate this forever

Maxey

I can't really disagree with your assessment, broken down as it is into finer subsets/distinctions than before. Yep, it will be debated by those who care about these things, but being more precise about the different eras and the following evolutions surely helps.

curbtender

There was a time when all that mattered was if it didn't break or would brake better.

'02 nrs

1994 Schwinn hightimber SS in dark,dark, metallic green w/org. angle adjust 2 bolt faceplate stem.just completed rehab.

acoustophile

Smokinapankake

My 1985 Peugeot Canyon Express that got powder coated several years ago:


At the time it was running a different fork while the original got modified to a threadless steerer. That's why the fork does not match the rest of the bike. I would like to get some mid fork low rider mounts brazed in and then powdercoat the fork to match.
Running Deore LX M563 7 speed gear with the exception of the front crank and front derailleur, which is a M735 XT version. I'd like to find a nice LX crank and front der. just to keep it all "pure"...
3 water bottle mounts, dual eyelets at both front and rear, loooong chainstays (18"), and a pump peg at both the top and bottom of the rear of the seat tube spells t-o-u-r-i-n-g to me.

FujiSam

Just picked this up and finished getting it in modern working order with new spokes/nips, sealed BB, brake pads, and sealed headset. So smooth and ready to grind some gravel and do some touring!

Shimano XT hubs, front derailleur, shifters, brakes, levers; Tourney XT cranks with Takagi chainrings. SR MTE-100 seatpost. Suntour XC pedals. Ukai 26x1.75 rims. Other sweet stuff.

My understanding is that this was the top of the line bike from Ross for this year and wow does it show! The (vertical!) dropouts are gorgeous, all threads and tubing/lugs are flawless to spec, head tube, lugs, fork crown, bosses, cable stops... it all just feels so stout and well made.
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gthomson

Stunning bikes on all 3 posts. Love the chrome finish and the crowned fork on that Ross.

Smokinapankake

Be sure to add this to the Bullmoose Handlebars thread!

cegerer

I haven't been able to find a photo and I have long since sold the bike, but in the 80s I had a Cannondale SE2000 like this except silver. Rear-suspension only 'Suspension' stem in front. It was a fairly horrible riding bike. Maybe the worst I've ridden When the suspension compressed, the wheelbase increased significantly. So when cornering it sort of felt like a rear tire was going flat and you'd have to make small steering corrections! It also felt like you had oval chainrings. Just a very strange machine.

mixteup

Here's another one, I believe it's a '95 - I just finished going through this for my wife.
I really love the color, but the frame is too big for me, so it's officially HER bike, as she has longer legs :~)

All the catalog shots show this bike with a rigid fork, so I think the Mag 21 must have been a dealer option, or something.
Anyway, the shocks were in perfect shape, and with clean up and an oil change, they're holding air and feel good.
A lot of the components are branded "Coda", but they're all from different makers - For example, the crank set is a Sugino, the brake levers are DiaCompe's, etc.

georges1

I have the same frame than you but in a much taller size, mine will get XT/XTR 30 speeds and custom assembled mavic 521 with hope hubs

georges1

I think it is a bike a manufactured later than 1985 more in 1992/1993 because at that time in 1985 1 1/8 headset tubes weren't the norm neither were suspended forks. Great and nice bike Coda was the brand name for Cannondale parts on their bikes

mixteup

You are, of course, correct - And it was a typo on my part.
The bike is a 1995 , not an '85 - Here's a link to the catalog page:
https://vintagecannondale.com/year/1995/1995.pdf
It did show it with a rigid fork, and the color was "Iceland Green" - I like that :~)