Amped-up and ready to roll

Just thought I would share a few shots of my Amp Research B3. I bought it several months back and have since added new NOS decals (thanks again Brion at Amp Research!), I had the Risse shock rebuilt, added a polished stem to match the frame, and replaced the Sid that came on it with a nice Marzocchi X-Fly. I am still thinking about picking up a nice F3 instead but for now this set-up will have to do.

I had one of the first Amp B2 frames with the double down-tube built-up when they first came out in the early 90's and my buddy still has that bike and won't sell it back to me!! Anyway I know this mid 90's bike is not necessarily true vintage, but it does represent a piece of history in short travel suspension that actually still performs nicely for the XC environment that it was intended. In this day of all of the long-travel 26-30 lb FS bikes, its nice to be able to enjoy the light weight and agility of this bike as well as its inate ability to climb as the suspension helps enhance the traction on the way up.

Hope there are a few AMP lovers that might share my love of these bikes!

Lovely!

I'm loving the no-nonsense look and I always liked the AMPs. Good work!

Super-clean frame and build. I had to check my shop and make sure my B3 frame was still there! :shock:

If you're buddy ever decides to give up his B2 and you're not interested I'd be all over it. :twisted: Let me know.

That looks great, love the Bomber on there.

What are the pedals?

SWEET!

Mine's one of the first B3's, i was expecting a B2 but when the box was opened, it was a B3, shorter shock and oval down tube instead of the two small Ø tubes.

I took it for a ride after Simond introduced me and my bank account to this site at the start of this year, and it was such a shock. The ride was amazing! Just goes to show how advanced these bikes were for their day when 13 years on, my modern FS ride wasn't 13 years better, if you know what i mean.

The old girl's have a bit of a make over at the moment, she's all polished up waiting new stickers, the D1's are rebuilt with new seals and pads, just time needed now to get it all back together.

Nice ride. Frame looks very clean and well taken care of. I think an F3 shock would look great on it. I have a B2 with the double down tubes and love it. I also have an F3 fork, an original black Amp fork and a Marzocchi Superfly Z2 in silver.

As much as I like the looks of the Marzocchi, it is a good amount taller and raises the front end about 1" more than a Mag 21, Manitou 4, and the Amp forks, which in turn make the frame less agile since the head angle get more slack.

I was using my Superfly on a GT RTS and noticed a big difference when I went back to a Mag 21.

By the way, if you haven't owned an F3 shock, it's got some good and bad traits. Good: Very light, looks, does not biopace much when out of the saddle, no oil seals to worry about. Bad: Has a "J" travel...as you hit a rock or slam the front brakes the front wheel will first go back about an inch or so and then up, so essentially the wheelbase gets smaller for an instant. It feels unerving when going down steep rocks / downhills, especially when there's a tight turn afterwards. Also the spring is too strong for the damper to slow it down on the rebound after being compressed...so when you make a jump and the front wheel is off the ground, you'll hear a "thump". Either way I still use it, but I take it easier on technical situations....oh yeah I forgot, the Amp forks are laterally very stiff...about the stiffest I have encountered.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the reply's guys, I have been attending a conference and haven't had time to get back on and comment. I figured there might be a few Amp lovers out there so thanks for the feedback.

As to a few questions and comments the pedals came with the bike and are shimano DX which appear to be a 535 pedal body encased in a swiveling platform housing. Kind of weird, and I am certain bound fro replacement if by nothing else, a set of NOS 737's I have laying around.

Regarding the F3 forks...I am a big fan and ran an updated dual damper alloy F3 on my B2. The F3 is what really belongs on the bike, and will undoubtedly end-up replacing the x-fly at some point. The Risse is another issue for me, as I prefer the coil/oil amp shocks action over the Risse air. Luckily I still have all of the maintenance tools for the fork and the shock so keeping them in shape should not be an issue.

JR