1989 Diamondback Apex

frantik

Retro Guru
I had been watching this bike on Craigslist for a month. The seller initially was asking $350 but were listing the bike as a 1994 model. I knew it was never going to sell for that much, and I was right, as over time the price fell significantly. Yesterday the price dropped to $150 and a Blackburn rack had been added. At that price I knew it would actually sell, so I picked up the phone. The seller had another person interested already, but that potential buyer ended up flaking... so today I went and took a test ride, and brought her home!

The rack was looking kinda beat up so I removed it then took the bike for an initial spin and some pics "as found"

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Drivetrain is Deore II, Frame is Tange MTB. All original except saddle, tires and bar ends. The components work great, though the frame is HEAVY.. (~34lbs) It's the largest size frame they sold (22") and you can feel the weight. The complete bike weighs 2 lbs more than my 1986 Apex which is 20.5. I'm not sure where else the weight is coming from, I expected it to be a little lighter. Normally, a I'd consider an MTB frame this large as being much too big for me, but I'm interested in trying out a drop bar conversion, and so I picked a frame closer to my roadbike size than MTB.

I'm pretty sure the seller was a "knock the dift off and flip it" kind reseller, but he did something really weird... he used a ton of sharpy to touch up the stem and various places on the frame.. ok, pretty cheap looking in the sunlight, but whatever... but the weird thing is he used sharpie on the "Made in TAIWAN / Designed in USA" decal to make it read "Made in USA". He also completely removed the Made in Taiwan badge from the headtube and used sharpie to cover up the scar. The reason I think the seller did this is because his CL pics showed the complete head tube decal. No idea why he would do it except to try to fool a buyer, or if he just really hates Taiwan

I already swapped out the saddle with something smaller and in better condition. Next it needs slick tires. I also need to tweak the cockpit quite a bit to get the set up I like. not sure how far down that road I want to go just yet if I'm going to do a drop bar conversion though. I definitely am going to swap in a shorter stem I have on hand because it's a giant stem with a giant TT. One thing interesting about this geometry is that it feels like most of my weight is resting on the back wheel in a "normal" mtb posture.. so much so that the front wheel "washes out".. but leaning forward into a more roadbike-like posture gives you good balance.

Not 100% sure about what I should do with this bike since it's a tiny bit too big and really heavy. If I don't end up liking it, considering stripping the parts and swapping in some off a cheapo mtb.. probably could resell for what I paid regardless of the components. But first i'm gonna put it through its paces and see what it's made of :D
 
Nice, I thought through 89 had the roller cams on chain stays with the spoke spares. Nice bike, is it you size looks kinda of small/
 
Slammin":2wqi9ms1 said:
Nice, I thought through 89 had the roller cams on chain stays with the spoke spares. Nice bike, is it you size looks kinda of small/

Nope 88 was the last year of roller cam brakes for Diamondback :)

The bike looks small? it's the largest size frame they offered that year: 22" / 57cm ideally I would ride a 20" but the 22" is not out of my range.

I want to do a drop-bar conversion which is why i picked a frame closer to my road-bike size than mtb size

here's a few more pics

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Nice, I did look at it on another computer and realized it was at least 20" or larger but for some reason I saw a stretched view initially. Very nice you have some great looking bikes. I love the celeste 85 DB Apex.
 
Deffo 1989 by the way.
Deore MT62 must be one of the rarest of all groupsets. Did they only run it for a year before DX came out?
 
makster":3eobpr9g said:
Deffo 1989 by the way.
Deore MT62 must be one of the rarest of all groupsets. Did they only run it for a year before DX came out?

yeah definitely an 1989.. that was the only year Diamondback offered the straight fork.

And yes Deore II (MT62) was 1 one year group according to velobase http://velobase.com/ViewGroup.aspx?Grou ... 26293c83d5

the groupset is nice.. looks good and functions well. the brakes are almost as good as v-brakes :D
 
Nice bike! That Deore II group is a personal favorite, I love the textured slants on the derailleur inlays. The parts in that group are uncoated I believe, and they polish up very well with some Mothers aluminum polish and a decent rag. It's almost sad how cheaply they can be had when the pop up on ebay here in the US.
 
shogun700":25uo8lyd said:
Nice bike! That Deore II group is a personal favorite, I love the textured slants on the derailleur inlays. The parts in that group are uncoated I believe, and they polish up very well with some Mothers aluminum polish and a decent rag. It's almost sad how cheaply they can be had when the pop up on ebay here in the US.

yeah mtbs and parts have pretty low demand in the US. I don't mind since it saves me money hahaha. nice tip about polishing up the parts.. I was thinking of maybe shining up the brake levers earlier today

So I swapped out the saddle for something lighter and in better condition, swapped out the giant stem for something a lil shorter, swapped the barends for a pair that weighed about half as much, and removed the pedal reflectors.

I just weighed it again I think the bike's lost over 2 pounds already!

Bathroom scale was telling me 31.5-32lbs. I'm quite not as disappointed with the weight now.. i think if I do a drop bar conversion it may get even lighter. I'm hoping for sub-30lbs.. not sure how realistic that is though

I took her out for a spin w/ the shorter stem.. she's definitely a keeper! Feels a tad faster and more "aggressive" than my 86 Apex. Looking forward to getting road slicks on there and finding a stem with less rise and a tiny bit less extension. the new stem is a lot better though!
 
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