Diamond Back Axis

Axis

Retro Newbie
Hi forum!

This retro forum must be the right place for me. :) I just bought a Diamond Back Axis through eBay.

I do not know if it is made 91, and I do not know much about bikes - although being Danish, I probably should. :) I just know that the bike feels great. It has not been used much, I think, and hardly has any scratches.

Gears and brakes are Deore XT. The rest is Avenir. Must be original. I assume, that the only not original part is the Selle Royal saddle. The tires are semi slicks called Continental Goliath.

Are there any parts I should/could exchange? I do not want to spend a lot of money though, and the bike drives very well already.

Do anybody know more about the bike? I found the original brochure, but it does not say anything about the weight for example.

Also, it is 17" and I am 1.73m (5 feet :cool:. Does the bike have the right size or is it actually a bit too small? I don´t have that feeling when biking though.

And what tires would you recommend for winther time?

Sunny greetings from Berlin,
Martin
 
nice! 91 axis is the best Diamond Back in my opinion! always wanted one as a kid, and will still grab one if it pops up for sale here in australia. what colour is yours, black or orange?

has it got the tioga t bone stem?

show us some pictures if you can!

enjoy!
 
Here it is (funny black and white):

http://www.ebay.de/itm/280931332282?ssP ... 1423.l2649

The green bike, DB Team, was the top model, as far as I know.

It says TT bone or something like that on the stem (it is the part that connects the bike with the handle bars, I suppose).

I am not sure if it is actually a 1991, but it looks exactly like the one in the brochure.

I am amazed how fast I can drive with this bike - it is a lot of fun passing hard pumping young people on their flashy bikes! Retro forever! :)
 
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Nice to hear that the bike has a good reputation - even as far away as Australia! :) This was also my impression from the resarch I did before buying the bike.

But what about the size - is it OK?

The bike dealer who adjusted the gears, told me that 17" is the right size for someone who is 1.65m. I have a strong feeling that he wants the bike - he is exactly my size too... :)

Today I then realised, that the front wheel thing that makes sure it is attached to the bike, was loose. No wonder that the front wheel suddenly felt unstable. That´s just ridiculous! And probably dangerous too...
 
nice. pretty sure that is a 1991 model, if not only slightly earlier at 1990. l

at 5 foot 8 yes, you might be slightly too tall for it. an 18inch frame might be more your size, but if you are happy and feel comfortable on it, then don't worry about it.

make sure there is still enough seat post left in the frame so that it has the minimum insertion amount. ie the bottom of the seatpost should be at least an inch below the line of the bottom of the top tube, to prevent the possibility of cracking the frame
 
Yeah, I am almost certain that it is the black and white Axis from this 91 brochure: http://www.mtb-kataloge.de/Bikekataloge ... Back91.pdf

My old MTB was literally falling apart, so I had to quickly find a new one at a reasonable price.

On eBay I found 1 bike per week that I liked in Berlin, so there was not much choice. At the moment there is actually some guy in Berlin trying to sell his Axis (19") through an eBay ad. He wants 500 € though!!

I also think 18" would have been perfect, but so far I am very happy with the Axis. :)

Thank you for the advice with the seat post. I will have a look at it once I find the right gear (at the moment it seems to be gone). The post is stretched to the max, I think, but I do not know if there is an inch left...
 
I've got a couple of later '93 Diamond Backs (Ascent and Axis Pro), both measure approx 17" C-T but have relatively long top tubes of around 22" C-C. If yours has similar proportions then at 5'8" you should be fine.

That's a great bike you've bought there, Diamond Backs are under rated IMO, even the lower end ones such as my Ascent make a superb lightweight bike with some upgrades.
 
Yeah, I am surprised how light the bike is. The most astonishing for me is, that it rolls really well. When I for example aproach a red light, other bikers keep pushing, whereas I do nothing - we still get there at the same time! :)

I have tried to measure the top tube. It measured 52cm or 20,5", if I measure correctly.

Sometimes I have the feeling that it would be nicer if the handlebars were just an inch further ahead of me. On the other hand so far it has not been a problem. Normally I bike relatively short distances (max 20 km) as fast as possible.

Would it be a posibility to have handle bar ends like these: http://vip.hyperusa.com/~dougs/gpsmaps/bike11.jpg

What is the problem with riding a MTB that is slightly too small?
 
if it feels slightly short, then consider getting a stem that is slightly longer. ideally another Tioga T Bone of course, which should not be too hard, they seem to pop up on ebay regularly enough.

here's a nice new 150mm version that could be just the thing

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Tioga-T-Bone ... 589551fb33
 
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Thank you for the great idea! I just measured the T Bone and from the back of the back and to the front of the front, it seems to be exactly 150mm! :eek:

I also measured the top tube of my old MTB and this was exactly 52cm - just like my new one! :shock:

I have been driving my old bike, which I got from a bike dealer, for 5 years. Here the stem is 130mm, so actually my new bike is an improvement! :LOL:

Maybe both are a bit too small for me, or maybe I should stop thinking about this and be happy that the Axis is great fun to ride! :)
 
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