rochester21
Dirt Disciple
Bought a 1996 blue M500 for about 60 euros. I understand this model isn't very popular, but let me say, the frame/bike is actually quite good. If you can get one for less than a 100 euros, it's a good deal.
The frame feels stiff, the ride position is pretty racy and the bike is quite fast on the road. However i wouldn't recommend it for actuall off road use because of the stiff frame and fork. Frame weight-average. The main thing that drew me was the made in USA badge and oversized tube diameter. Admit it, not that many big american companies built frames back home, and few do it today. Taiwanese frames have no character.
As it is, the m500 is a perfect commuter or even sunday bike if you upgrade to a XTR groupset. Despite my initial impression, the frame isn't fatiguing to ride on medium distances(i'm using the original fat tyres) and it is quite enjoyable, more so than the average mountain bike frame oferings from today. But maybe i am biased.
Stock components are decent and pretty light, but i am currently replacing the sram gripshift shifters and coda brakes with much nicer shimano lx compoments from the same year.
The stock coda hubs are also pretty sweet, but i'm also replacing them with the lx version. So basically i am upgrading most of the groupset.
When done, it's going to be awesome. Pictures will follow at some point in time. Until then, my advice is not to avoid this bike while dreaming for a m2000 etc.
I'm really unaware of the differences between the m500 and the more expensive frames from the era, my guess would be that the differences are minimal, apart from the components themselves which can always be upgraded. I actually bought a donor bike for mine.
PS Sorry for the lack of pictures, it's still winter outside and the bike is stored in an attick, looking like a really cool "barn find" (=^.^=)
The frame feels stiff, the ride position is pretty racy and the bike is quite fast on the road. However i wouldn't recommend it for actuall off road use because of the stiff frame and fork. Frame weight-average. The main thing that drew me was the made in USA badge and oversized tube diameter. Admit it, not that many big american companies built frames back home, and few do it today. Taiwanese frames have no character.
As it is, the m500 is a perfect commuter or even sunday bike if you upgrade to a XTR groupset. Despite my initial impression, the frame isn't fatiguing to ride on medium distances(i'm using the original fat tyres) and it is quite enjoyable, more so than the average mountain bike frame oferings from today. But maybe i am biased.
Stock components are decent and pretty light, but i am currently replacing the sram gripshift shifters and coda brakes with much nicer shimano lx compoments from the same year.
The stock coda hubs are also pretty sweet, but i'm also replacing them with the lx version. So basically i am upgrading most of the groupset.
When done, it's going to be awesome. Pictures will follow at some point in time. Until then, my advice is not to avoid this bike while dreaming for a m2000 etc.
I'm really unaware of the differences between the m500 and the more expensive frames from the era, my guess would be that the differences are minimal, apart from the components themselves which can always be upgraded. I actually bought a donor bike for mine.
PS Sorry for the lack of pictures, it's still winter outside and the bike is stored in an attick, looking like a really cool "barn find" (=^.^=)
