95 DBR WCF pics

[stephank]

Finally (almost) set up the way I want it

1995 original Deore XT

1997 XTR

Carbon Main Tubes

The new gears/drivetrain set up is working a treat.
In the cockpit it's 9spd XTR Rapidfire shifters to match 1997 XTR fr & rear brake levers.
As for the other hardware: new SLX chainset and external BB and old PD-M959 pedals

Marazocchi MX Pro forks add a bit of weight but work great on the trail.
I'm toying with the idea of getting something lighter, needs to be a short fork not to skew the geometry any more.

 

[fingers]

I love these old Db's , good looking machine there, sensible choices suit it well

 

[jimjim2012]

agree. A great looking bike. Maybe some judy fsx forks or manitou forks would suit it. They are lighter for sure. Or maybe a rigid fork.

 

[stephank]

thanks guys, some good suggestions jimjim2012.

I'm never going to go fully rigid, I saw a picture of one of these bikes that had a rigid fork and had hit a huge hole and the whole downtube/Head tube lug was destroyed!
It was on ebay... in it's sorry state! There's also 2 other issues with fully rigid for me:
with a rigid, the extra bumps agravate my dislocated shoulder problem.
I also ride with a lot of guys on Full Sus bikes, it's hard enough riding some stuff as it is without going fully rigid

I'm thinking of maybe getting black Fox F80 from 08. I'll put the current MX Pros on my hacker that I'm building up. A Diamond Back Ascent EX from 1996.

Have you ever wondered what a sanded down version of the WCF looks like?

Take a peek, I found these pics online:

 

[jimjim2012]

oooohhh. nice.

that's giving me ideas on what to do with my weird coyote fs frame. just too scared to break out the sandpaper.

 

[stephank]

You can see why Diamond Back went for the paint over option... the bonds are none to pretty :?

I like the industrial stripped down look of the build, it's a cool looking machine.

 

[BG]

indeed looks very nice .

I'm going to retire my Y33 this year. The paint on the main frame isn't so flash so thinking of sanding it down and going nude like the Y22 I fell in love with back in '96.

 

[BG]

Oops. Double post.

Why does it sometimes do this?

 

[jl.]

I so lusted after one of these! However, as I was at Uni at the time and it took me 2 years to save for a Diamondback Apex.

I've still got it with a very similar set up. Riser bars, a shorter stem and heavier tyres went on in 1999. Mx Pro went on last year along with Avid discs at the front. It's made it heavier and although it's better for general trail riding it's lost a bit of it's racy, sharp handling zing.

I've since bought a modern full suser and so am gradually turning my Apex back into a cross country bike. I'm looking forward to this.

BTW does anyone know if there's a disc brake adapter available for bikes like these?

 

[stephank]

It's made it heavier and although it's better for general trail riding it's lost a bit of it's racy, sharp handling zing.

BTW does anyone know if there's a disc brake adapter available for bikes like these?

I agree. When I was XC racing back in the late 90s I used to have a pair of 97 yellow/black Judy SLs and the straight bars with XTR v brakes on the front but that all went for the current build. Risers and chunky forks and all the rest of the mods I made have turned it into a very fun "ride anything" machine but that featherliteness has gone.

I'm also thinking to go lighter again, new wheels and forks will do it.

I've seen a few Disc conversion contraptions for old pre disc bikes. They don't look very pretty but they do exist. I like the front disc back V balance except when it's really wet and the rear brake decides to stop working altogether as v-brakes tend to do in those conditions.