Diamond Back Topanga 1990 Finished 22/6

i think mine had 300 lx stuff on it exage hubs tho

Wow loads of replies, thanks.

To answer a few of the questions....

Yes I am getting on with it; headset and hubs stripped and degreased, brakes changed and new inner cables, a fair bit of cleanig done. Still got to do the bb and pedals, change rear mech and more cleaning.

Original rear mech would have been 300LX for sure, the rest of it is. I might well put one of these on as I have one spare.

Don't know about long term plans as it's a little big for me but it's fine for road use so I think I'll use it for dry days commuting for the rest of the Summer. I've actually rode it to work today, it goes great and everything works perfectly even though I've not even touched the gears yet.

I'll get some photos up tonight and hopefully someone will be able to nail the year it was made.

Cheers, Chris .

Here's a few update photos, I'd really like to find out 100% which year this came from. It's still work in progress, nothing done beyond the stuff I mentioned in the last post. Saddle and post borrowed from my other Diamond back until ebay provides a replacment (other post was too short, even for me).

The following may help date the bike; 26.8mm seatpost, 1" headset, 68mm bb and AVR tubing.

I've had a look at my 91 brochure, now, and I'd go with this being a 90.

The 91 model, according to the brochure - and the picture of the frame tubing decal - didn't have AVR main tubes, but "100% CR-MO mountain tubing".

Colour was a solid grey, with bright pink forks ("Rich Grey - Neon Pink Duo") and mainly pink decals on the main tubes. Forks were curved but did taper (unlike all the models above it in the range).

Brochure doesn't list the BB shell width, although it does for all the bikes above it (ie Ascent upwards) - and they're all 73mm BB shells.

300LX groupset, Weinmann 2121 rims.

As I said, I think yours is a 90 model - which I'd see as a plus - the paintjob on yours is nicer, and according to the brochure spec, your frameset possibly higher spec'd than the 91 model.

edit: proper bargain, that

That's great Neil, thanks very much for taking the time to research this for me. 1990 suits me just fine, the older the better to be honest. I'll update the thread title in a bit and lose that question mark.

I initially thought this was too big for me,but having ridden it a few miles now, I don't think it is. I'm guessing that this predates the more modern compact design of frame that I'm used to. I'll have to get the tape measure out on a few top tubes and see how it compares.

Just thought I'd add that this picture in this thread (looking at the paintjob and forks on that 1990 Diamond Back) is also supportive of yours being a 1990 bike.

Earlier, and it should have had straight blade forks.

As to the sizing, my 91 Apex (19") is a little on the large side for me, but is still fine for most things. My 91 Axis (18") is more of a comfortable fit, and both my 95 Apex are 18", too.

The tips' supply of Topangas seems to have dried up lately but with their AVR tubing, 'reasonable' 300LX, they made brilliant Cambridge Cash Converter fodder. I think I rescued about 12 of these over the pre-retrobike years, repaired them and sent them out for a new life in Cambridge.

Better than languishing at the tip in the metals skip...

Not all years had AVR tubing.

This 90 version has AVR main tubes - the AVR framesets higher in the range, would have AVR tubes throughout.

That's no criticism of them, though - good, solid, bikes. Just wanted to point that out, because often people want to know the exact year and spec.

Beautiful job Mr. weeman_mtb

A bit of switching about here and there and it looks transformed

I see you still need the grips and controls moved to the ends of the bar though! Unless you are putting bar ends on there of course, or summink

I love those pink clip straps! Little touches really make the whole

99p? Haha! Ebay can be great sometimes

Excellent retro skills all round!

- PS agreed on the detail and depth of Neil's research - good job, very interesting and impressively thorough

Thanks for the comments Hydorah, it's not quite finished yet but nearly there.

Original owner had hacked the ends of the grips off to put barends on so I'm leaving everything put until I sort out some new ones.

Pink toestraps were another £1 (only bid) item from ebay and they were nos too. I actually bought them before the bike strangely enough.

I fetched the bottom bracket out yesterday which was surprisingly rough, all the other bearings bar the lower headset have been perfect. Cleaned, greased and put back for now but I'll be replacing it soon enough.

Basically I've got too many bikes by far and this was really a spur of the moment bargain. I totally realise that the bike and its components are not exactly top of the tree but I really like it. I'm just going to make it the best I can without throwing any money at it and just enjoy it for the Summer.

No reason why I shouldn't finish it this week and get the final piccies up, don't hold your breath for any exotic locations though, I live in the Midlands .