Building and riding mountain bikes from the good old days

[weaponsgrade]

Originally Posted by avalonracing

Kokies, you are doing the Lord's work.

Amen

[Red Tornado]

All these bikes with bar ends. Comfortable for your hands, and doubled as great tree hooks.

[cachagua]

I too rode and loved 80s mountain bikes, and I had a lot of trouble understanding when people talked about how mountain bikes had changed. (They said "advanced", but I'm paraphrasing.) But someone here explained that mountain bike riding was very different too, and looking at a couple of mountain-bike parks around where I live, and watching youtube videos, I began to see what was going on. The terrain you ride through, and the techniques that terrain requires, dictate a different design of bike.

Air is the same everywhere on earth, and an F-15 is a helluva lot better plane -- no argument about it -- than a WWII Spitfire. But a loop-the-loop made of wood slats or a 40' dropoff are simply different places to ride than a creekbed full of cobbles and sand, and the bikes appropriate for the two environments may not be comparable in a way that you can say one's "better".

Myself, I don't want to ride 40' dropoffs or loop-the-loops, I want to ride that creekbed. So to me, a Wicked Fat Chance is about as good a mountain bike as money can buy. You can say that an 80s-style mountain bike is as inappropriate for this or that mountain-biking venue as a time-trial bike would be, but I'd say that nothing's more appropriate than a bike meant for the place you plan to ride it.

If there's any good thing that's come out of the bike industry's frantic maneuverings over the last few decades, it's that there's a lot of choice. For example in the early '80s there were two sizes of tires, practically speaking: road bike tires and mountain bike tires. Now there's a tire every few millimeters from 23s to probably three times that width. Every other piece of equipment for your bike has exploded in variety too. You can put together a bike that's insanely well-adapted to nearly any ride you want to do.

Which I guess is what people mean when they say "horses for courses."

[fiamme red]

Originally Posted by rinconryder

These make for decent townie bikes but honestly the old bikes and brakes compared to the new stuff make them like death traps. If you come off a new bike and ride an old bike you realize just how far things have come - at least I did when I rode my friends stumpjumper.

I had a great trail ride today on my 1987 Ritchey Deathtrap... er, I mean Ascent Comp. Somehow I survived.

[C40_guy]

Originally Posted by pdmtong

Truth. when you are riding a rigid six-speed with a U-brake in trail hiking shoes and cat-eye toeclips there's a different level of skill involved from today's close your eyes point and shoot

That said, glad still alive and no longer riding those 32# beasts

Well, I'm still riding one of those beasts. Only time I really feel left behind is on technical hills, either going up or down. Otherwise it's fine.

[rinconryder]

Originally Posted by fiamme red

I had a great trail ride today on my 1987 Ritchey Deathtrap... er, I mean Ascent Comp. Somehow I survived.

you should try something from this millennium and take it to the next level!!! My point here is merely that the bikes from the last 10 years or so are light years ahead of older bikes as far as what they will allow you to do. You can ride flatter trails and have a great ride on 26, 27.5, 29, rigid, hard tail, full suspension, or whatever you like. BUT, once the hills start pointing up, then most noticeably down, the newer equipment is a huge advantage over the older stuff. In no particular order here is what I have observed after riding MTBs for years...

1) Disc Brakes are way way way better than rim brakes when it comes to MTB. They allow you to carry more speed and brake faster and more predictably into corners or when things feel like they are getting sketchy.

2) Wheel size. I rode a 26 inch single speed that sent me over the handlebars several times that I easily cleaned on a 29er solely because of the approach factor of 29 inch wheels. I love 29ers, could take or leave 27.5 and will never ride a 26 on anything of consequence again.

3) Suspension. Is probably the last on my list of significant of upgrades as I feel it has saved me from my own poor line choices than anything else. But the pedaling platform provided on the newer FS models is way better than the stuff that was available in the early 2000s. I had a 2003 Specialized Enduro that would have pedal bob like no other but when you get on something like a DW design bike it's amazing.

Yes, you can go out and have a fun ride on anything. But for many MTBrs, myself included, part of the fun is pushing the limit and seeing how fast you can go and the newer stuff definitely helps in that.

[RFC]

Originally Posted by rinconryder

you should try something from this millennium and take it to the next level!!! My point here is merely that the bikes from the last 10 years or so are light years ahead of older bikes as far as what they will allow you to do. You can ride flatter trails and have a great ride on 26, 27.5, 29, rigid, hard tail, full suspension, or whatever you like. BUT, once the hills start pointing up, then most noticeably down, the newer equipment is a huge advantage over the older stuff. In no particular order here is what I have observed after riding MTBs for years...

1) Disc Brakes are way way way better than rim brakes when it comes to MTB. They allow you to carry more speed and brake faster and more predictably into corners or when things feel like they are getting sketchy.

2) Wheel size. I rode a 26 inch single speed that sent me over the handlebars several times that I easily cleaned on a 29er solely because of the approach factor of 29 inch wheels. I love 29ers, could take or leave 27.5 and will never ride a 26 on anything of consequence again.

3) Suspension. Is probably the last on my list of significant of upgrades as I feel it has saved me from my own poor line choices than anything else. But the pedaling platform provided on the newer FS models is way better than the stuff that was available in the early 2000s. I had a 2003 Specialized Enduro that would have pedal bob like no other but when you get on something like a DW design bike it's amazing.

Yes, you can go out and have a fun ride on anything. But for many MTBrs, myself included, part of the fun is pushing the limit and seeing how fast you can go and the newer stuff definitely helps in that.

Yes, I agree that modern MTB's are superior for climbing, descending and extreme conditions, although I spent a lot of time riding a rigid steel MTB in extreme conditions, including getting stuck in a very steep river valley and having to climb out with the bike on my shoulder. We didn't know anything else.

The old XC MTB's were sort of built on a road bike model with high seat and low bars. For moderate conditions, they did very well. And that's my level of MTB riding.

You've seen this before. Here are a few photos. 1. My mid 90's Ti gravel grinder MTB perfect for canal trails and jumping off of curbs. 2. Russian Titanium Red as both a gravel grinder and SS bomber. 3. 1989 Fisher Procaliber (I had two. One to a Thailand collector and the other to a West Coast collector).

IMG_0359 by Robert Copple, on Flickr

IMG_0361 by Robert Copple, on Flickr

IMG_0355r by Robert Copple, on Flickr

SRP Canel (34)r by Robert Copple, on Flickr

Fisher GG (11)r by Robert Copple, on Flickr

IMG_0007r by Robert Copple, on Flickr

[bouldergary]

New spin on my old Lotus

[Ronsonic]

I like that beastly beautiful Lotus.

[HTupolev]

My '84 Stumpy...

Originally Posted by Spaghetti Legs

On the other hand I don’t think a modern road bike has too much of an edge over a good 80’s race bike, except for better gearing availability.

Even the gearing issue was as much tradition as technology. There was nothing particularly race-unsuitable about the "touring" parts at the time, which allowed for much better low-end bailout at practically no functional compromise.

[pdonk]

In anticipation and to fund my incoming road bike, I sold my "modern" dualie (2012 Lapierre pendbox based dualie) and am left only with my 1996 Dekerf Team SL and my 1989 brodie climbmax.

Here are my threads about them
https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=181686
https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=10250

I still ride my dekerf off road from time to time, and for the trails where I live it is fine and fun, if I was to go to moab again or get back into ultra long trail rides I'd likely get a new bike.

For the brodie, just got a new stem from Paul Brodie that raises the front end significantly. I doubt I'll be riding it off road any time soon, but thinking about making it into a gravel bike.

[rwsaunders]

My '83 Stumpy lives to ride again and I'm currently on the hunt for some fatty, bad arse, skinwalls. There could be a drop bar conversion in the future as I like what Tupolev his done with his '84.