I was migrating some old USB drive data and came across this picture, which I have been looking for for a number of years!
I bough the bike as a 1996 V-Link 3, in burnt orange with LX groupset and Manitou Mach 5 fork. At the time I was 16 and working at a petrol station as a cleaner for $4.60 per hour. The bike cost $2,000 new, it was a big deal.
Soon after, I was bitterly disappointed with some failures. The Mach 5 forks were terrible...I broke 3 crowns and got badly hurt along the way. I also cracked a swingarm and blew the standard spring type rear shock.
Luckily I was persistant, both at working after school and in hassling DB for warranty on these items. I believe I ended up with the first set of Manitou X-Vert R forks in Australia, at no cost. "Please stop hassling us for warranty claims!!!"
This set me in motion to make the bike more downhill orientated. I went to a single chainring and made my own chain guide using some sheet metal, some roller blade wheels and a mate's lathe to cut the grooves for the chain. It actually worked really well and cost almost nothing to make!
I laced some D521 rims onto the LX hubs with DT Alpine III spokes. These rims are the bomb! The IRC El Gato rear and Kujo front tyres were awesome.
Then I came across a StrataShock at a good price so added that. The adjustable damping was great, though it eventually leaked oil and developed some slop.
The LX V-Brakes did the job just fine.
I stripped the burnt orange paint and polished the frame, added a new sticker kit for the 1997 then V-Link 3.1. In the end I built that bike from the ground up, knew every bolt. Looking at this pic just brought back so many memories!
The bike was definitely insufficient at bigger downhill competitions, but things swung in my favour at a state Dual Compressor race where I took the win in 1998. The lighter bike with less wheel travel worked a treat in that sprint format against the big names on the big downhill rigs. That day is my best memory on this bike.
The photo was taken at the end of 1998 when I sold everything up to go to university. I regret selling that bike but at the time I needed the money for other things - which turned out to be a sound investment!
I bough the bike as a 1996 V-Link 3, in burnt orange with LX groupset and Manitou Mach 5 fork. At the time I was 16 and working at a petrol station as a cleaner for $4.60 per hour. The bike cost $2,000 new, it was a big deal.
Soon after, I was bitterly disappointed with some failures. The Mach 5 forks were terrible...I broke 3 crowns and got badly hurt along the way. I also cracked a swingarm and blew the standard spring type rear shock.
Luckily I was persistant, both at working after school and in hassling DB for warranty on these items. I believe I ended up with the first set of Manitou X-Vert R forks in Australia, at no cost. "Please stop hassling us for warranty claims!!!"
This set me in motion to make the bike more downhill orientated. I went to a single chainring and made my own chain guide using some sheet metal, some roller blade wheels and a mate's lathe to cut the grooves for the chain. It actually worked really well and cost almost nothing to make!
I laced some D521 rims onto the LX hubs with DT Alpine III spokes. These rims are the bomb! The IRC El Gato rear and Kujo front tyres were awesome.
Then I came across a StrataShock at a good price so added that. The adjustable damping was great, though it eventually leaked oil and developed some slop.
The LX V-Brakes did the job just fine.
I stripped the burnt orange paint and polished the frame, added a new sticker kit for the 1997 then V-Link 3.1. In the end I built that bike from the ground up, knew every bolt. Looking at this pic just brought back so many memories!
The bike was definitely insufficient at bigger downhill competitions, but things swung in my favour at a state Dual Compressor race where I took the win in 1998. The lighter bike with less wheel travel worked a treat in that sprint format against the big names on the big downhill rigs. That day is my best memory on this bike.
The photo was taken at the end of 1998 when I sold everything up to go to university. I regret selling that bike but at the time I needed the money for other things - which turned out to be a sound investment!
