Got my 950 from the thrift store. It was expensive at 40 bucks (they usually go for 10 to 15 bucks, so someone knew it was a good bike). My wife thought I was crazy for buying it. I love riding it (same tires as this guy's paramount) and rips. I love working on bikes, and went through everything, grease, cables, cleaning, new bars, seat, etc. But, all the shifters, brakes, etc. still worked great. It is a fast little bike! Light and strong.
Us old guys who started riding in the 80s still really enjoy these bikes. I get where you are coming from. But in a fashion, folks new to riding are probably in your camp and you are 100% correct. I just really enjoy doing restoring & riding old bikes.
At a certain point,a bike is a bike. Not every bike is a gravel bike.......some feel the need for every ride to be a gravel ride on a gravel bike..........its about the latest "hip marketing scheme" the industry has come up with.............along with 1X.
As an old guy who started riding in '80... I'm in Russ' camp on this. I find Modern bikes tend to be more comfortable and easy to ride. I also find them (mostly) easier to work on, for example, I don't need 3 different tools to remove a bottom bracket and swapping stems is trivial (I don't miss having to snake a handlebar out of a quill stem). I do get the appeal of "Vintage" stuff (cool old books are my bag). FWIW, I still ride that '80s MTB, and meh...really loved it then, love my "modern" bikes more.
@@jed7644 It's all relative. On one hand, I could say I started riding in the 80s if you count my plastic three wheeler! :D. I started riding as an adult in the mid to late oughts though... a twenty year difference just based on how I frame it. For some reason, I only start with my adult riding time and ignore my BMX and department store bikes that came in between.
@@bradsanders6954 Where do hipsters ride gravel bikes? The ones I see ride bullhorns and super narrow flats on fixies and single speeds.. hipsters are buying up all the 70s road bikes, not the 90s MTBs.
I am in the group of bicycle lovers who has plenty of space, all the tools, and the the dough to modify, repair, and maintain my small stable of 90s mountain bikes. I enjoy riding my vintage bikes as much as I like riding my modern Lynskeys, All Citys, and Surlys. I bought three vintage steel Gary Fisher frames online and built them up using a combination of parts from the bin and parts from online vendors. In doing so, I became a better bicycle mechanic. The joy that comes from building one's bike is immeasurable. Long live all bicycles.
'90s mountain bikes make for some of the VERY best expedition touring bikes. Great CroMoly steel frame, with a robust frame design and sturdy wheels, right there. Add racks front & rear, mudguards, lights, some nice panniers and you are right tour the world.
When buying a 90s mtb, I find it best to consider the price as frame only cost. If any other parts are salvageable, that’s a bonus. The sweet spot seems to be those years when threadless headsets were becoming more common, with a modern square taper bb/crankset, but before everything went aluminum with a short travel suspension fork. They make great urban commuters and bikes that can be locked up in cities without drawing too much attention from thieves. Shame the prices have sky-rocketed over the past few years.
I've found those old Deore derailleurs and loose ball bearings were built to last. Other than contact points and consumable parts, the only parts that consistently need restoring or replacing are trigger shifters
Sounds like a better project for someone like me who has been working on his own bikes since the 80's. It's my recent bikes that are making me have to continually buy new tools.
From a shop owner perspective, I fully agree. The number of bottom bracket tools we've had to buy over the last few years for new standard rivals the number of freewheel tools once needed.
Funny actually, I've started working on bikes in the last few years. When I see 'vintage' road frames or 90's bikes, I avoid them because I know I won't have any components/tools to work on them.
As an old bike enthusiast I have lived through all of these points. But i still love taking something unloved and about to be thrown out and turning into a work of mechanical art. I still do wish could afford something modern but I spent all my money on parts and tools.
Nothing quite beats a 90s MTB with really well adjusted center pull cantilever brakes (buttery smoothness only riveled by disconnected brake levers paired with braking performance better than most OEM mechanical disc brakes), perfectly adjusted cup and cone bearings, lightning quick shifting, and good hand built wheels (particularly if you used butted spokes and a tubeless rim) for commuting, light bikepacking, and flat bar gravel biking. Modern MTBs are just a tad over-built and too race-oriented, same goes for many modern gravel bikes. It is also way easier to completely strip down 90s MTBs down to the individual ball bearing and bushings than modern stuff. Modern stuff is more robust and work better, make no mistake, but are far more complex and less adjustable. I also find 29ers a bit cumbersome and prefer the zippiness of old 26" bikes. I really enjoy polishing old components like the Deore DX 650 groupset to a mirror shine, just because I can.
@@nicojar Cantilevers are really hard to set up. Once they are set up they work extremely well. You can get them to have an extremely light lever pull until pad contact. OEM disc brakes can be absolutely, unimaginably terrible. I'm not talking about proper disc brakes, I'm talking about cheapo disc brakes and/or V brakes. Those just don't work well no matter how you bed them in. All the examples you provided are far more expensive than an old MTB, even with upgraded tubeless wheels (26" tubeless rim wheels are still being made). I should know, I have a modern Breezer Thunder 29er. That thing is really comfortable for long bike packing runs, is extremely overbuilt to confidently take the load, and is extremely stable fully laden. It also costs more than 3 times my friend's old Marin Pine Mountain (repairs included), and twice my friend's 2007 Jamis Dakar (new tubeless wheels, hydraulic brakes, and pivot bearings included). The vast majority of bikes nowadays are race-oriented. If you have the budget, then anything modern will absolutely stomp the older stuff. However, if you cannot afford proper modern stuff then I'd argue older MTBs will outperform anything you can buy new.
Reasons NOT to buy a modern bicycle: - shortage for replacement parts - replacement parts are very expensive - modern frames and parts tend to be less durable and long lasting
I still have my 90s Univega Alpina Pro. I use it for my 1.2 mile commute to work. That little two and a half mile round trip cures me of any urge to take it beyond the city limits where my Surly rules.
Those old univega really were stretchers. Long top tubes with even longer stems. But they had some nice frames and forks, iirc my Alpina 5.7. weighs fork and frame 1.9 kg.
Just stumbled across this video as well... I bought a Univega Alpina S6.3 new in '94 (the one with the "splatter" paint scheme), and it's still a great bike! Because life got in the way, I've only put about 4000 pavement miles on it (I put a "street" freewheel & tires on it after I got it home), but it's been kept indoors its entire life, and still looks and rides like new. I look at new bikes and think about getting one - then I look at the price tags: naw...
I got a 1989 Bridgestone MB-2 a couple years ago and I love it. It’s my all-road bike. I loved it so much, a year later I found a 1989 MB-4 in a rad 90’s colorway. 26 inch is not dead!!
I agree with everything. in this period I have lots of free time and absolutely zero money, so going for an old Scott Sawtooth (probably '92-'93) was the way to go it's been kinda fiddly to raise the bars a bit, but in the end I got myself a nice durable steel bike with 3x7 cantilever groupset, which is easy to maintain, with relatively cheap and easy to find spare parts - more often than not buying another whole used bike with the parts you need is cheaper than sourcing new parts. does it have the best handling? what do I know, probably not, but let's just ride reasonably priced bikes and especially ride what we have Anyway that's all thanks to you Russ, before going party pace I used to wear spandex and torture my butt on 23s, while getting my feet either frozen in the winter or boiled in the summer in the one pair of spd shoes I could afford
Got a DB ascent from the 90’s two months ago for just $20 on market( ik I totally stole it) it was in great condition besides for the classic gunky 3x7 sti shifters. Short long story, converted in 1x10, throw some kyote bars and that was it. End result, the thing totally rips! Can’t wait to ride it through all the season!
@@NZHarrySingh I replaced the original tapered square bottom bracket with a modern Shimano external BB and Deore crank set (converted to 1x using a Wolftooth 36 narrow-wide chain ring)... Rear mech is an old-but-high-quality (90s era, I'm guessing) Shimano that I had in the parts bin, tied to a bar-end friction shifter I sourced online. Not a difficult job at all with proper tools. I was once a professional bike mechanic, though, so I suppose it's relative to your comfort level working on bicycles. That's the beauty of youtube, though, there are bound to be several videos of every step.
@@NZHarrySingh Depends on spacing and rear hub. If the rear hub is a freewheel then you will need a new hub (or rear wheel). For shimano 7-10 road and 7-9 MTB the rear derailleurs are interchangeable. If it is a cassette then you should be able to just put a 10 speed cassette (unless your unlucky and it is a true 7 speed hub). Now if you are keeping with flat bar shifter you will need a new shifter for index or use friction if you got that setting. If you are going with drop bars and you rear mech is shimano you can just get shimano/ microtech / sensah /ltoo drop bar shifter and your good to go. If the bike is steel and you started with a freewheel you can just spread the rear triangle a bit to fit the new/used/rebuilt wheel (you can re space the rear triangle but that is not necessary). Your 7 speed crank and chain rings will work on an 1x10 a narrow wide chairing would help with chain drops if you want to remove the front derailleur, other wise keep the derailleur on as a chain guide.
@@NZHarrySingh wasn’t really hard to be honest, and definitely not need to be a professional bike mechanic as @zalsentzer (no offense), just need the right tools, parts, youtube and to be a bit handy. In my case I used a 90’s old deore triple crankset 110bcd converted to 1x with a 38t narrow wide chainring and combined with 10 speed deore shifter and deore xt derailleur with clutch, and lastly a 10 speed 11-42 deore cassette. To fit the cassette I used a different wheelset that I have it from another bike with a 135mm hub that could take 8 speed or more to avoid having to touch the frame. I know It’s sounds like a lot and it could be an expensive conversion but if you look in the right places it can be done for $150 or even less.
One of my favorite things to do with these old mountain bikes, is putting engines on them. They usually have plenty of room in their frames. Picture this: You are on a hike in the middle of the woods, when you begin to hear the sound of a chainsaw off in the distance. The sound is rapidly approaching, and crests the hill behind you. That's when you realize, that's no chainsaw! That's some hooligan with a little too much free time on his Diamondback!
None of these reasons seem particular to 90’s bikes Russ. Each era of bikes has their own peculiarities. I have three vintage mtbs and have found all the tools, parts, readily available. Conversely - I’d have to get new tools if I bought a disc brake, external bottom bracketed bike. I love your content as always, but feel like the title is a little misleading. Here in Denver metro, still abundant as ever. Maybe more accurate title would be “five frustrations I had with 90’s mtb’s.”
A well rounded and balanced commentary. I love my early 90s Diamondback Axis, kitted out with drop bars and a 1x8 drivetrain. Works great as my daily commuter, a touring rig, and also a dirt/gravel bomber. Bought it for $200 and probably have another $200 into it. It's fun, one-of-a-kind, fits me great, and gets a lot of compliments.
Instant gratification is hard to come by in cycling with the exception of buying a new bicycle. Building your bicycle is an equal part of cycling as an experience. As you know when you build your bicycles there is an intimacy that develops. Your bicycle stops being that shiny toy / Instant gratification and becomes a family member and part of you. This kind of experience is lost on those who buy the newest bicycle only to ride that for a season and then sell it for the next newest bicycle. It is kind of a racer mentality that has splashed on the yuppies and other non-racers. The same also generally do not work on their own bicycles. I find this to be a huge divider in the cycling community. Soul bicycling vs. ego bicycling. I choose Soul. Cheers M8
An interesting thing I've noticed in the last 10 years is the disappearance of the frame or frameset as a purchase option. Given how much a bike needs to be adapted to suit the rider, building your own bike should be a lot more common these days than it is.
@@devononair I noticed while searching online nowadays majority of frames come with a fork pre-installed thus rare to find a frame that suits me without a fork. What if I just want the frame and not the fork, no options to remove fork. Kind of sucks but I will just get with the times and buy the frame and fork then sell the fork if need to.
Pretty fair assessment of the hassles. To avoid some of them, get one with a 1 1/8 steerer tube. I got a 96 GF Hoo Koo (triple butted True Temper) and replaced the Rockshox fork with a Surly Troll fork. Unfortunately, Surly has stopped making them.
There were lots of great lightweight all around steel frames back then in regular production, I don't think there's anything like that now unless you get a custom.
To be clear, the Paramount in this video has a 1-1/8 steerer tube. But since it's threaded, it requires a 25.4mm quill stem, unlike the 1" threaded steerer tubes that take a 22.2mm quill stem. Agree that a 1-1/8 non threaded steerer tube avoids some hassles.
I agree! As someone who follows both of your channels and rode through the 90’s on a Pro-Flex, it’s nice to appreciate them for all their short comings too. My friends laughed the first time they heard chain slap while we rolled through a trail on my 90’s Paragon.
Still have my '82 Klein, as the original owner. But after riding the cockpit of a contemporary mountain bike (custom LaMere), the main factor for not riding my Klein is the safety factor. The Klein, and in fact all mountain bikes of that era, has the long stem/forward weight that puts much reliance on the handlebars for support. I have to keep a firm, conscience grip on the bars, and the two times that I fell off the bike was when the grip was loosened, the hands came off the bars, and the forward weigh caused an immediate crash. The contemporary mountain bike is so much more secure feeling.
Modern bikes simply have far more refined geometry, not to mention equipped to run larger more forgiving softer tires,, don't get me wrong I love and own,ride, and maintain many vintage bikes. But what works-Works😊
I found a '93 Novara "Pro Ultimate" MTB with Tange Ultralight tubing and built it out last summer with 2.3 RH tires, Velocity A23 rims, wide drop bars, and spare parts bar-end shifters and V-brakes. Only kept the seat-post and original MTB triple, $950 all told. It does exactly what I wanted it to do- handles steep forest service road rocks & ruts and is pretty damn light for a steel frame. AND it's newer than my 650b '83 Trek conversion ; ) so I don't miss brifters and disc brakes bc I've never gone there...
Just found a 1991 Scott Boulder for free. Recognized the old DX and LX parts and took it home. After cleaning and adjusting it runs like new. Like it. Have a 2019 29 inch hard tail full XT that I never use. I like these small light bikes. Quality of gearsets are really good.
Hey! I haven’t tried to convert a 90’s mountain bike to a gravel bike but I did try to convert a 90’s hybrid bike into a gravel bike. It was from an era when companies would quite often take their road bike frames and put cantilever brakes on it. It’s pretty cool how many modern parts worked on it and it turned out cheaper than a new bike would’ve cost. Love your videos and keep up the good work 🙂👍
I love my rock hopper, part of the pleasure was building it up from a frame. I couldn’t afford this bike as a teen so as an old fart I get to play bike shop. I am expecting spokes in the mail tomorrow, so I get to build a reliable modern wheel set for it to replace the co-op get me riding wheels. This will be my fifth set of wheels I have built for the family fleet and that always comes with the challenge of knowing when to stop. This is a fun bike for me. I encourage everyone to look for the bike that’s right for them and go for it. I tried for the past three years to become a roadie, I just didn’t get the joy from childhood on those delicate machines. This thing brings back the joy!
I still have my 1998 Specialized M2 that I bought new in 98 in Great Falls MT. I have kept it upgraded and running great over the years, 100mm of front travel and 20lbs with Crossmax wheels. It sits along side my 29er Enduro/Trail bike and I ride it few times a month for base miles. My kids and GF even put miles on it from time to time.
You're not wrong. I came into MTB around 91 so I grew up on them. I have gotten 3 fixable 90's bikes from thrift stores for less than $50 each. They were mid range bike shop bikes in their time and aren't XT level bikes so I don't feel the need to chase original parts and just replace what needs replaced with modern mid range components. I ride them as an ATB so set them up for my needs. I'm not trying to hit most of the trails that I ride my modern MTB. There's a couple that are fun to take them on, bringing less bike to a trail adds a little technical and fun element but nothing serious. So I wouldn't try to sell anyone on one though. If it's you, it's you. If not it's cool too.
Hello Russ, My wife and I still have our 90's mountain bikes, a Paramount PDG 30 and my Bridgestone MB-2 which I use daily this time of year for getting around on our eastern oregon farm which includes a steep vineyard. I recently changed the bars to the VO left bank that look like the new bars you put on the PDG 20. Very comfortable but with the change in my weight distribution, I have lost a lot of handling on the steep switchbacks that I encounter. Its great on a flat trail but now bad on the steep stuff. Can no longer make sharp turns on a slope. They are great bikes.
Pretty accurate! Other factors apply - the frames can be top notch for daily road use - but when you load them they're unsafe because they're not shocked - they're just springy. It's very worthwhile to upgrade the rear to 11 speed Deore 5100, but not the front drive. I now have a 33 speed Trek Antelope. It fits me great, it's very light, but I have high BMX bars and a giga-seat on it. I may put full fenders on it and a street-legal moped kit to license it for an 80cc 2-stroke that used to be easy... I bought free-hub mag wheels to kill the woes of the former freewheel and spokes era, and I may eventually update the crank. But it will never be a heavy, long, stable e-cargo bike.
I work at a bike salvage collective and this is the thing I have to explain more and more about old bikes. They need SO MUCH. they are OLD. things get old and rot like plastic in the sun! It's so so great that you point out how this is a thing if you have a place to help and lots of time.
I've only recently started actual mountain biking, but I have been riding mountain bikes since the 90's. Whenever I needed a new bike my choices were a fragile road bike, a nerdy looking hybrid, or an entry level mtb. I always went with the mtb.
Everything you said is all part of the joy of going through an old bike. I grew up when mountain biking 1st started and I could not afford most of these older bikes. I have well over 30 of them now and the nostalgia of riding one each time brings a whole different kind of experience that my more modern bikes bring. Every time that piece of history brings back so many memories of bike shops from the nineties and me drooling all over myself. I’m 90’s bike rich now.😂
Really hit the nail on the head! Rode the heck out of my old '80s MTB and loved it through the '90s (50cm seat tube and 58cm top tube, yeah just a tad aggressive) I still ride it, but it just doesn't measure up to my newer "all road" bike in any aspect (well, it does beat it in weight...by about 8#, lol) And with the tools, ugh! freewheel remover collection: SunTour, Shimano, the other Shimano, Campagnolo, ?? not sure but I needed it once. bottom bracket tool collection: "pin" wrench for the left cup (IIRC there were 2 "standard" diameters), lock ring wrench, "big" wrench for right cup, Headset "thin" wrench collection. And on older bikes, some had English gauged hardware... And cost is right on, there is almost always some hidden issues when fixing/servicing/upgrading old bikes and even used parts add up pretty quickly, if you can find them (or a decent substitute).
ME TOO! I have a similar machine that I bought new in 1999, and I still have it. I had it overhauled at the LBS earlier this spring, and I've been enjoying it again... :)
Great video, as usual, Russ! Luckily, I live in a place that seems to have lots of 90s mountain bikes for sale and they sometimes are offered at reasonable prices. I restore and rebuild them as a hobby and get a lot of joy out of returning them to a near mint condition and getting them back on the road or trail. So, I have the tools and the time, so that's not an issue for me. When I need to replace a quill mtb stem, I will sometimes use a quill to threadless adapter. I find that a 90s mtb with a modern cockpit is usually quite comfy. Keep up the great videos. Thanks for putting yourself out there. -Mike's Bikes Work
Having the same experience with a 1989 Schwinn Impact my Father-In-Law gave me. At first glance it looked very similar to my gravel bike, but I've gone through all the things you discussed! Still trying to dial in the fit a year later, not always as simple as it sounds. Overall cheaper than a new bike, but only if you know what you're doing. Unmatchable style though, the Schwinn gets more compliments and envy than any other bike I own.
There are shops not real far from here that have boxes and boxes of used parts for these older bikes..............trying to buy new will be a pain and pricey.
I wasn't into mountain biking in the 90's. I bought my first full suspension 29er MTB in 2014 and started racing XC after I gave up dirt bike racing which I was doing in the 90's. Fast forward to 2023, I had a friend that was going to trash a 1996 Gary Fisher Mamba and I told him I would take it. This old bike is so much fun to ride at my local MTB trails. I love the feel of this bike and it always puts a smile on my face. Naturally it's no downhill shredder but these bikes wasn't designed to be. It's geared more towards your local intermediate single track trails. The only thing I did was put some new tires on and tune it up. Everything from the 3x7 to the narrow bars. It's just fun. I think many people think you have to have a new bike or the latest technology to go fast. Rider fitness will always overcome any technology that's on the market. In my opinion it's about having fun and enjoying every pedal stroke on whatever trails you are riding.
A 90s MTB is like that year of Toyotas when they first introduced fuel injection into new models. The right mix of simplicity and hi-tech. Same with music.
I love this whole project, and the hard snark that it comes from. I appreciate the very reasonable takes you have here, your downsides are measured, and I am looking forward to the flipside video. Keep up the fun content.
I got into bikes over a decade ago when I was much more poor. It was spotting good quality 90s mtbs at thrift stores, garage sales and on Craigslist which got me into the whole cycling scene. Back then people didn't verify the market prices of old bikes as diligently as they do now. I remember picking up the last gen Single Track Trek that had a lugged true temper frame for only 40 bucks! Yeah, I've got friends into vintage clothes and vintage vinyl records and just like us retro bike guys you're constantly sifting through all the bargain bins of your local 2nd hand seller.
Heyyyy. Thanks for the mention Sir! I'd agree. Don't buy a 90s MTB!.... Because I want them all ;) No but really, I'd agree with points there. They are getting expensive! Bargains are out there - I've definitely found a few - but as you've said there, it really depends on your area! Sometimes I really struggle to find the next project. I am being picky now with groups and frames but yeah - some bikes are so expensive. I understand the high end bikes of the 90s but a beat up Marin Palisades with rotten tyres, rust everywhere and disintegrating grips and saddle is not "rare" or worth £200+ like some people seem to think.... ooft. As for tools though, I think most of the time a 90s ride can be fixed with basic tools. I've done a real budget build before where I spent £100 on the bike, repairs and tools to show there was an low budget entry in to the bike repair realm. But hey - I think you made some really good points that people should consider before jumping on the 90s train. Thanks for the video!
Very fair and thoughtful video, I would say a couple years after this one represent the true apotheosis of the form. Threadless stems and v-brakes really were improvements, to me at least. Cheers!
All very valid reasons. I picked up a 1987 Norco Bigfoot from Halifax, Nova Scotia and had it shipped to St. John's, Newfoundland. This was just before the the prices went up and the bike was well maintained. I've since swapped a bunch of parts to combat the low stack height and for utility purposes, and it is now my commuter bike. If I ever want to go for a ride and not worry about speed, but maximize comfort and kid carrying ability, it's the perfect tool for the job. I'm looking forward to your next video!
I think you missed a couple of thing that make vintage Mtn bikes cool. Particularly when it comes to lugged steel bikes. They are tough as hell. Simple to work on(serviceable),and just have a certain style factor that is hard to find in modern bikes. I was around during this era and yes there was experimentation/innovation that did not stand the test of time i.e. Biopace rings, and suspension stems, however if you can find old parts or adapt newer parts they make great bikes and are usually affordable. P.S I have been working on my own bikes since the 90s(so I have those old tools) ,basically because I want the work done right and cannot find or afford to pay others to do the work for me.
I’m a taller guy and I find that most 90’s mtb’s have 26” wheels. So, I have to find taller steering stems and seat posts to fit the bike to me. But, I never pay more than $40 for a project bike. The last one I found was sitting out by someone’s trash pile. The reason that I like 90’s bikes is because they are durable. I love working on these steel framed bikes and bringing them back to life. My biggest issue is dialing in the cantilever brakes.
Presumably you saw Russ's guide to cantilever setup? Just came out two days ago if you haven't! I went with v-brakes for my restoration but I have cantis on my touring bike.
@@petesmitt there were some oddballs, but those also weren't marketed as MTBs even if they were obviously based on upsized 26ers and used the same tubing. So yeah, i guess you're right.
I still have my Trek 970. I bought new in 91 . It is still a great bike, but my back hurts when I ride it . Just to aggressive, so I bought a Trek Dual Sport, which keeps me much more upright . No back pain . Just ride the Trek 970 sometimes on short rides
Two years ago a built my old 1992 Raleigh M50 mountain bike up into a drop bar 700c gravel bike, needless to say it took all kinds of adapters and fabri-cobling to make work. I rode it almost 2k miles the summer I built it, including a century ride on the Greenbrier River trail. It ended up costing about what a nice-ish gravel bike would have cost to purchase, but since I got it for Christmas new in 1992 when I was 14 it meant a lot to me to make it usable again. I absolutely have zero regrets!
Interesting points. I usually tell people to look for a mid 80's mountain bike as the area of experimentation hadn't started yet. As for your handle bars, we do the exact thing you tried. Barbara has that handlebar you experimented with (similar) and mine is a riser. Ours are set up for touring and therefor comfort. Both are super rugged (Barbara's is late 90's, mine is mid 80's. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Russ makes a lot of good points that you sometimes don't see explored in the videos on maintaining and upgrading or modifying these old bikes. I have a 1991 Trek 990 that I converted to a gravel bike. I've enjoyed riding the bike and have put several thousand miles on it in the last couple of years. As Russ points out, there are a number of areas where standards don't match newer components. I had to use shims on both the quill stem and seat post. I was able to get a set of Shimano Claris components to work for the brifters and the rear derailleur. In the end, I refurbed the front derailleur and used a Microshift bar end shifter. The Claris front derailleur would have required a custom clamp or some such modification that I wasn't finding available. This was to maintain a 3x8 drive train. I wasn't interested in some sort of kludged together 1x mullet, you lose too much gear range with most of those setups, and I wanted a practical, do-all bike, not just a groovy bar cruiser. I used a set of Ritchey Venture Max bars (one of Russ' former favorites). My original target for this build was to ride the Around the Rocks, a 154 mile circumnavigation of the Grand Tetons in a day. It is about half and half, gravel and paved. The bike, although maybe a little heavy (just over 30 pounds), worked out well for that ride. I've done some bikepacking and a lot of other gravel and paved riding on it. Would I do it again? I already owned the frame and a set of newer wheels for it. I bought the shifters and derailleurs as well as a new stem and seat post. It was an interesting project and has been a useful and fun bike. But, you have to like tinkering with bikes, have the tools, and have some lengths of patience and spare time to put one of these builds together.
I didn’t have to go out and buy a 90’s MTB, I bought my Specialized Rockhopper in 1996. Still loving it after all these years. Some of the changes you mentioned I have done over the years - like raising the bars. And you are quite right about the difficulty on getting some of the parts - particularly on the drive train. Lots of fun and lots of miles.
I agree with your point that they're better as DIY projects for tinkerers than practical bikes for most people. I love my 1995 Trek mtb but it's DIY passion project. I've put probably $800-900 into modernizing every component. I was lucky to get one with a 1 1/8" threadless headset so it works flawlessly with aftermarket forks and stems. Shorter stem, wide riser bars, new tires, wheels, and drivetrain make it an entirely different bike. It's very satisfying to ride something that's my own creation. Not about nostalgia for me considering I was not yet alive back then, I just think it's cool.
Interesting. I bought a Specialized Hard Rock (basic, no-suspension 3x7 MTB) in 1996 ($300 list, $250 on sale) as a commuter, commuting on the ferry to Seattle for a couple of years, rain, salt spray, snow, and ice, then in Missoula for a couple of years (snow, ice) and Hamilton, MT for 8 years (rain, snow, ice, subzero temps, summer heat), and rode my "Birthday Mile-age" on it through most of my 60s, most recently 90 km for my 76th birthday, back in Western Washington for the last 12 years. I've replaced bottom bracket (crashed through iced-over pothole in Seattle), SPD pedals, lots of chains and tires, but it just keeps on ticking. Crashed on railroad tracks in Seattle, ice in Missoula, death cookies in the Bitterroot Mountains, just got back on and rode. Tough bike, very basic, good commuter. Would I trade it for a "gravel bike"? Not sure, probably not. We also have a 1980s MTB tandem, which is a great touring bike and OK on gravel trails.
Don't much care what the bike is/was. I want -a steel-based frame -prefer vertical rear dropouts That's it. The only non-negotiable is steel: it is not as prone to sudden fatigue failure. Everything aside from the main frame is a consumable, and if the bike is well-worn, you may wish to consider new forks just for safety. A lot of 1990's bikes will end up in garage sales or city junk-day trash hauls. Last thing, a decent digital caliper (online for maybe $4) has been very helpful on my bike fixes.
Hi!! Super interested in your content! Thanks!! With the help of your videos I finally pulled a trigger and just purchased a SNC 4130 all roads yesterday. Can’t wait! But I wanted to ask : how can I get a party pace decal!?
I have an 86 Rockhopper. With new powdercoat Jones Bar, new old wheels, brakes and derailleurs, it’s a sweet ride. I just added a low power Swytch kit so now it’s got a motor!
I currently have a 1976 Fuji road bike converted to single speed cyclocross, a 1994 Cannondale full suspension, a 1946 Lignano, a 1987 Cannondale mtb (mullet), a Grove Innovation mtb tandem and a Grove Innovation (2000+/-) road bike custom. My favorite for off-road is the Fuji, and either the Fuji or the Grove Innovation for road. I really enjoy the older stuff.
You raise some good points, and I generally love your videos. i have a few comments here. First, in the past year I've gotten two older "all-terrain bikes" - as they were marketed then - for nothing at the local trash collection site. One is a Miyata valley runner, the other a Schwinn High Plains bike. I did spend a few bucks on tools but the cash outlay was not great, and I found that degreasing, regreasing and a thorough cleaning went a long way to restoring function. The Schwinn is for a bikeless friend, the Miyata is pretty fun to ride on mellow routes. Are they perfect? Of course not. The geometry is not good for technical trails or extremely long hours in the saddle, they are steel and therefore heavy, and they are slow. If you look at the advances in mountain bikes in the past 2 decades, the lighter frames and longer, slacker geometries, dropper seats and other changes have made for bikes which perform much better and much safer on technical trails. This only matters if you are into those kind of trails and your focus is on, as one article put it, "performance and self-optimization rather than viewing nature and seeing new places". For tooling around remote country roads and old dirt and gravel paths for a couple of hours, they are fine. For many of us who just like to get out and ride, are not interested in technical trails, and do not care if we get there fast they work ok. Why race to get someplace else if you are already where you wanted to be? Current marketing aims to create a feeling of dissatisfaction in us whatever we ride, always touting the lightest frame material, electronic shifters, tweaks in geometry, aerodynamics - mostly pushing the hype of increasing speed and performance to sell new bikes. Long ago I came to the realization that my genetics gave me the performance of a beat up pickup rather than a Porsche, and I should just try to be be satisfied with what is "good enough" for what I want to do rather than fruitlessly looking for a perfection which does not exist. In addition to death and taxes, one certainty is that advertisers and manufacturers will try to make us think that whatever we have is not good enough. Anyhow, if the newest bling floats your boat, great, it keeps the industry alive. If you're satisfied with the bike you've got - also great. The main point is just to have fun.
By 1990, most road and MTB had switched to 1.125 threadless headsets. On my Diamondback Ascent, around 2002, I replaced a Rockshox Judy with a Duke and it had a disk brake mount. The biggest issue with the frame is that the chainstays can only accommodate up to a 2.1" wide tire.
Ha...I have a 1997 Performance M 007 that I call my 'traveler' bike. I throw it on the car whenever I'm car camping, etc. I put baldy tires on it and it's fully XTR components....I swear it's one of my favorite bikes! I have a Santa Cruz MTN bike, a high performing road bike, and about 20 other cruisers, etc....but I always go back to my 1997 M 007. It's SO light and easy to ride.....I love it.
You made some good points. I like the simplicity and quality steel frames in the 90s such as True Temper, Prestige Tange, Miyata STB…Thanks for your input
I feel you… buttt. Reduce, reuse, recycle yo! And thats my reason for buying old bikes. I always recommend people to check out something old before buying something new. Is it perfect? Probably not. But we don’t need perfect. Especially if your not putting 100 miles a week on your bike. Although, fit is important! You don’t want back problems haha
I tend to customize every bike I ride so the ability to buy an old ten-speed or early mountain bike cheaper is appealing. Plus I have learned lots of useful skills if the bike breaks down even on a ride odds are I can fix it.
All great points, Russ. I had a 93 trek 930 for a couple years. I really liked it, with some caveats. I got a fab deal on it, and had a buddy with a fab home workshop help refurbish it -- so I didn't run into a lot of trouble with the tool issue you mention, though I certainly see how one could. I ran it with a variety of handlebars over the time I had it, and liked really swept back bars the best. The point you make about the LOW stack is really true. I always felt like it was both too small (short) and too big (long) for me. I sold it to an acquaintance whose daughter gives it the proper love.
I also have fixed up a ‘93 Trek 930 (green w rigid fork) and it is pretty great. The seat cluster lug is comically robust. I was able to use a riser bar from a ‘91 Bianchi I used to own and with the stock stem it works great. Where I had to bite the bullet was the wheelset, which I replaced with a new one, way lighter with better rims and a freehub, so I could use a wide range cassette and switch to 1x. So as Russ says, not cheap as it all totaled $500 in the end but the frame was mint so I’m happy and the bike is great fun.
I picked up a '92 Trek 930 this winter. With mostly parts I already had I turned it into a really fun 1X bike that's very capable. The frame is LUGGED. As Grant P. said in the recent interview here, "you look at this bike and you know somebody cared."
My cousin works in some apartment complex as maintenance supervisor,he found a 90s trek mountain bike 8 years ago he gave it to me I put new tubes and tires still have it.
Good video, though I disagree with your central premise. The fact that it will probably turn out to be a project is a good reason to seek one of these bikes out. DON’T buy one if you don’t want to learn anything about working on bikes. But if you are mechanic curious, they’re a fantastic place to learn and really really hard to damage with mistakes. Also, 130/135 is pretty much interchangeable, and by the 90s very few even halfway decent bikes of whatever brand were still running freewheels. BUT avoid Suntour indexing just because replacement parts are really hard to find. Regarding price - what people are asking and what they’re getting are two very different things. I’m in Portland and even here a bit of diligence will get you a 90s Rockhopper or Hardrock for $75-$150 in a month of searching Craigslist and Offerup. Finally, the real deals are 90s hybrids. Unless you’re absolutely set on 26” wheels, you can get a similarly spec’d 700c “dad bike” that’s just as much fun, especially with the great selection of 700c gravel tires available.
i agree. some of Russ' frustrations with hunting are a function of where he lives, not the supply where more people live. The last three mtb's I've purchased have all been under $80. Replacing cables and housing is what you should do for any bike tune up, so not really a function of all 90's bikes. The parts, tools, etc... have all been pretty easy for me to find on ebay or amazon.
Agreed. 90's bikes, of which I have a few ( Miyata Ridgrunner and Specialized FSR) were so much more easy to work on than some of the more hi tech modern stuff. Even my custom pre Stumpjumper late 70's Marin County rig has the similar mechanics of 90's bikes. They were uncomplicated mechanics.
I've converted my Raleigh M50 to a street cruiser. Upright with 2.5 tires and 27 speeds Delore XT. Its the most comfortable ride for my 6'6' frame. Bit of toe overlap but not hitting tech trails.
All valid points. My first real bike was a Trek 800 ca. 1991. Out of nostalgia I recently bought a 1989 Specialized Hardrock Comp. It was in good shape but, yeah, I kinda forgot how bad the components were. Sealed bottom brackets weren't a thing yet. My old Trek would chew up bearings like a cow chewing cud. And the undersized headset would become "indexed steering" after hitting some hard bumps.
What's up Dude? I found a 90s Mountain bike, and I feel your pain in a sense. I found this bike on a second floor landing of the apt. building I live in that's in Phoenix, Az. It's a Bianchi Nyala, and you're right; finding parts is the only drawback I have for this machine. I road real hard back in the day. I'm 70, and during the 80s I had a Raleigh Composition GS that I road throwout the seasons spring thew Winter. This bike that I found I'm going to keep it for the joy of doing it; besides I'm retired and I've got nothing but time. But you are right. If you're just starting out, just buy a new bike. As for me; I have all the tools from back in the day! Good article and advice. Take it easy Russ! Peace!
I have been thinking of getting a 90's MTB for some time. The video covers good points. Fortunately I was able to work around pretty much all of them. I have been a bike rider since I had one with training wheels in the 60's went from Sting Ray with Banana seat, to 10 speed, Then when MTBs became available had a 90's MTB. I have upgraded over the years but have do not have any Modern bikes. No 1x and the newest are 2016 Let's look at the 5 reasons 1. I live in San Diego a pretty large market, so availability is not as much of an issue. 2 Expensive. that is true, but I think I overcame that, after watching this video last night, was on Craig's list free section this AM and found a 92 or 93 Diamond Back Traverse, for free. Picked it up around noon, granted it is pretty crusty, but like I said I have been thinking of this for a while, From a friend a while back got another 90s MTB the frame is too big for me but will be my donor bike, parts are in better condition 3 Tools, Like I said I am old enough to have worked on 90s bikes when they were new so still have some of the tools like cassette removers and for sure cone wrenches 4 and 5 the standards and geometry I can live with. Finally I have a bike cave and this bike and the donor were bikes #7 and #8. In my fleet 1999 Carbon fiber TREK hard tail 3x9. 2010 Stumpjumper Full Sus 3x9 2013 Stumpjumper full sus 2x10. 2016 Marin Bridgeway 3x8 City/Dutch bike. 2016 Specialized Diverge 2x8 Gravel bike. And finally a dumpster rescue single speed coaster brake beach cruiser. No 1xs yet but have aquired most of the a 1x11 drive train so one or more of the fleet make be transformed to a 1x.
It is not a 90's bike, but similar is beginning to happen with my 2008 Marin, which is a great bike. Even with a 2008, I have to do the work to source parts that match when I want to upgrade. You must have the interest in doing the mechanical work yourself and finding the right parts. The geometry is definitely more aggressive than the modern equivalent. The sportier appearance can be seen just by looking at it. The bikes going back even only 15 years looked beautiful and they do ride nice. I was not aware of the increasing collectors value, because I never wanted to sell it and don't plan on it.
I lucked out at my local non profit bike store with a 340 dollar fully refurbished 1988 stumpjumper. I love it so much but I want to get some riser bars and a shorter stem
I realize this is region specific but in the NYC area I've bought about 7 rockhoppers and stumpjumpers for $250 or less (complete and more/less roadworthy). A decent new gravel bike is usually well over $1k (if you can find one). An old steel mtb with maybe $100 or so of truly worth it upgrades can get you something very close so you can see if you actually like gravel (or touring or whatever) enough to later splurge. I think 'get a 90's mtb' is fine advice to a newer rider on a budget who doesn't need electronic shifting and 11-56 cassette to go out and ride some rocks.
Great video and spot on for all the reasons. Id also add that modern drivetrains are smoother, have better gearing range without the need for a triple, and shifting is much smoother/less finicky.
Love the video! As somebody who lives near old shovel I can agree that bikes are ludicrously cheap here. That said, these are really good points that anyone considering 90s vintage restoration should consider. Great job Russ.
I love my 1997 lightspeed Obid. I bought it brand new and I’m currently looking at a new moots 29r . I want to ride the great divide mountain bike trail next year.
I inherited a 90s mountain bike from my older siblings as I grew up and have never upgraded. Maybe someday I will, but so far it has been cheep to maintain at a LBS, adequate for gravel/rail trails/commuting/races I don’t plant to win, and I worry that it will end up in a landfill if I get rid of it. Also, less worried it’s going to get stolen from the rack at work. 🤷♀️maybe I would change my mind if I knew what I was missing with a “real” gravel bike? Who knows.
Have a 90's grass green w/ red Judy DH Rock Shox fork Mountain Cycle San Andreas that I bought dirt cheap a number of years back, still have it but not using it as much because I have a new one. If I have enough extra am thinking of converting it to a 1x and replacing the rim brakes to disc brakes and do a more subtle paint job.
Your comments are right on. I'm an old guy with three old bikes, 1989 Rock Combo, a 1987 Diamondback Ascent, and a 1995 Rockhopper. The Rockhopper in pristine condition and ready to ride was $50 locally. I wanted to change out the stem to reduce the reach and it was difficult as you mention to find one that would fit. I do have a 2013 Specialized Tarmac as my road bike, but the old ones are fun to ride and fit my needs and style as I don't do any technical stuff.
I have a 90-91 Schwinn Woodlands MTB. I’m the first and only owner. It’s now my commuter/gravel bike. Just had tuned. Only advantage it has is direct control on trails because of it being fully rigid and it’s surprisingly fast especially after I installed SPD pedals. So yes basically it’s a flat bar gravel bike.
I have this same bike (although the lugged model - & purple - woot, woot!), & had the same prob with the stem. I found the head tube to fit standard 1 1/8 threadless. I always enjoy your videos. Thanks for sharing.
I am on resto-mod of my fourth and fifth 90's mountain. My first in 2017 was the only one ready to ride after new tires. It became first resto mod when a LBS mucked up the bottom bracket and i wanted to DIM from then on. I don't think I have the interest once number 4 &5 are done (2023) to do more unless of course I run into the barn find of the century. You lay five great reasons not to dive into the hype. I am forever grateful that I started out flinging good money on an apprentice level tool kit at the start. It can also get you new riding partners when you fix up their old bike and back on the tread again.
Bought a Bridgestone steel mtb. For a short rider like me the longer top tube wasn't working. Tried every possible modification. Lesson learned. Had to sell it
yeah, people often make the mistake of assuming that they will fit because of the smaller "frame size" and misleading standover height (based on the arbitrary measurement of BB to end/middle of seat tube distance, which made sense in roadbikes but not as much mtbs - sizing in oldschool mtbs was mostly designed so at correct sizing the top tube would clear the inseam by like 4" or more to be more appropriate for the more dynamic riding expected) so someone might pick a 48cm frame that actually has a 56(!)cm top tube.
@@Exgrmbl i tried everything to alter the fit but it wasn't going to happen. I guess I can't have nice things. Lol. I do have a Niner gravel bike that fits perfectly id love to convert to an e assist but its all carbon🥺....No go!
I happen to love 90s steel mountain bikes! But I’m the kind of guy who loves to wrench on them and has gathered most of the needed tools already. Looking forward to the next video.
I have a 90s "hybrid" bike. A Bianchi Avenue from their Cross-terrain line, 700c wheels and a slightly angled top tube......I put some bull moose bars and some 38 schwalbe g-one tires.....it's kind of perfect, makes more sense to me than 90s mtb.
I've got a 1986 Fisher Comp that I need to start riding again! Got it when I used to work for Gary, right now I've been riding a Black Mountain Cycles Road+, it's night and day between the two bikes.
Nailed it. My lockdown hobby is diy wrenching on cheap, neglected mountain bikes. Yes some of them have painfully long/low front ends but they are totally rideable with bmx bars and look cool too.
@@lastfm4477 I wish I could. I only have experience with mid-90s Specializeds and they seem really low/long. Lately I’m into Diamondback and GT frames. They seem more reasonable and have a little livelier ride due to slightly shorter chainstay lengths.
I love 80s-90s mtbs. I like the geometry compared to specialized mtbs, it's more road like. I currently have an '83 Schwinn High Sierra. I hate the prices they go for, most of the time. All around decent urban bikes.
So glad I found this. Love your vids anyway, but today I'm trying to learn about a PARAMOUNT branded MTB I bought a year ago. Kinda figured Schwinn owned the paramount name, as there were many schwinn paramount roadbikes over the years. Mine is called a "Skid" Limited Edition. There is no Schwinn logo. It came to me in rough shape, but nicely equipped with Deore group. No decals identifying tubing either. Cool bike. I feel better about my purchase now seeing you put the time, energy and money into yours. Yeah, seatposts can be tough. Many an eager young guy or gal has been brought to the point of abandoning a build on account of not finding a seatpost to fit.
Got lucky and just two weeks ago bought a 90s Raleigh Portage (Canadian built) for just $50. Needed a lot of tuning and new cables but it was pretty much to the same standards as the Raleigh road bikes from the 70s and 80s. Since those are the type of road bike I ride I had all the tools and rebuild was pretty straight forward. I'm liking the change of pace the MTB bike provides but I agree with everything in your vlog, I had to get a new stem and bars to be a little more upright. Good info Russ, keep pumping them out.
All your points are valid. I love '90s mountain bikes, and I've had several over the years. The ones I got were all very affordable. There's no way I'd pay big money for one today. Many of the old chromoly are really nice, and will last damn near forever, but you have to watch out for those weird standards, and outdated designs. I sold a Gary Fisher HK-II a few years ago. It was beaten up quite a bit, so many of the parts got modern upgrades. That bike also came with a 1-1/4" threaded headset, and a weird bottom bracket that took cartridge bearings held in with C-clips. I'm sure they're durable, but good luck ever finding replacements for them! I'm also not a fan of exposed shifter cables that go under the bottom bracket. Top tube cable routing is a blessing. I bought a used Rocky Hammer Race a couple years ago, that had been converted into a commuter bike. I converted it back to a proper MTB. Despite the adventures I've had with it, I'd much prefer something with modern geo that can take a dropper post. The new flatbar gravel bikes being made these days may look similar to bikes sold 30 years ago, but they have the modern features and handling we've come to expect from bikes these days.
I recently purchased a 1989 Bridgestone mountain bike. I've been working on it for a few months now but I know I'm going to like it once I can ride it. Not to mention all that I've learned in the process. I would definitely do it again (in probably 1/4 the time!)
I love your videos very much since, I have been an avid cyclist since the late seventies (When I say avid, I mean, the time I started to take cycling as a very serious level with, bike racing, cyclocross, and bike touring). I still have a couple of me old vintage bikes. I actually updated the frame sets with properly welded on disk brake mounts, and installed external threaded bottom bracket bearings, and basically mixed old with new. Yes, it took a great deal of modifying of the frame set but, the final results gave me a very classic bike, and totally fun to ride. With all of the modern technology, fancy material for frame building, I still love the old chromoly frame sets like Columbus, Rynolds, Champion, and Tange tubing of Japan. These older frame sets are always fun to modify, and build up into some fancy old school mixed with modern. I must say one thing. One must have a passion for bikes, like meself to, invest time into such projects. It can be done, if done correctly. So at the end of the day, there can be some very beautiful bikes to be had even if, they are from the eighties, and nineties. Keep your videos going. I love what you do. You do display a great passion towards the world of cycling, and you cover lots of great, and very interesting points about cycling. I also enjoy your bicycle shop tour, interview videos.
Too late! Just pulled a 1990 Trek 930 from the dumpster. It will become my commuter here in Breckenridge
Awesome 👏
Half my bikes came from dumpsters. Wtf is wrong with people, at least sell it or put a free sign.
Love my Trek 930 commuter
Trek Singletrack 900s are classic.
Got my 950 from the thrift store. It was expensive at 40 bucks (they usually go for 10 to 15 bucks, so someone knew it was a good bike). My wife thought I was crazy for buying it. I love riding it (same tires as this guy's paramount) and rips. I love working on bikes, and went through everything, grease, cables, cleaning, new bars, seat, etc. But, all the shifters, brakes, etc. still worked great. It is a fast little bike! Light and strong.
Us old guys who started riding in the 80s still really enjoy these bikes. I get where you are coming from. But in a fashion, folks new to riding are probably in your camp and you are 100% correct. I just really enjoy doing restoring & riding old bikes.
At a certain point,a bike is a bike. Not every bike is a gravel bike.......some feel the need for every ride to be a gravel ride on a gravel bike..........its about the latest "hip marketing scheme" the industry has come up with.............along with 1X.
I don't buy into the latest fad ether.
As an old guy who started riding in '80... I'm in Russ' camp on this. I find Modern bikes tend to be more comfortable and easy to ride. I also find them (mostly) easier to work on, for example, I don't need 3 different tools to remove a bottom bracket and swapping stems is trivial (I don't miss having to snake a handlebar out of a quill stem). I do get the appeal of "Vintage" stuff (cool old books are my bag). FWIW, I still ride that '80s MTB, and meh...really loved it then, love my "modern" bikes more.
@@jed7644 It's all relative. On one hand, I could say I started riding in the 80s if you count my plastic three wheeler! :D. I started riding as an adult in the mid to late oughts though... a twenty year difference just based on how I frame it. For some reason, I only start with my adult riding time and ignore my BMX and department store bikes that came in between.
@@jed7644 What's funny?
I'm currently working on a time machine so that I can travel back to the 90s and warn people about gravel bikes before it's too late.
What will hipsters ride with no gravel bikes?
@@bradsanders6954 i think hipsters ride fixed gear 🤔 glampers ride gravel 😁
@@bradsanders6954 Where do hipsters ride gravel bikes? The ones I see ride bullhorns and super narrow flats on fixies and single speeds.. hipsters are buying up all the 70s road bikes, not the 90s MTBs.
Gravel bike wasnt a thing before but some MTBs ran and offered dirt drop mtbs.
Don't forget to warn them about that Elon Musk, he's a bad egg!
I am in the group of bicycle lovers who has plenty of space, all the tools, and the the dough to modify, repair, and maintain my small stable of 90s mountain bikes. I enjoy riding my vintage bikes as much as I like riding my modern Lynskeys, All Citys, and Surlys.
I bought three vintage steel Gary Fisher frames online and built them up using a combination of parts from the bin and parts from online vendors. In doing so, I became a better bicycle mechanic. The joy that comes from building one's bike is immeasurable.
Long live all bicycles.
Another Gary Fisher rider here. Blue Tassajara'86. I love days when I get on this pony.
I have all the money too! lol
'90s mountain bikes make for some of the VERY best expedition touring bikes. Great CroMoly steel frame, with a robust frame design and sturdy wheels, right there. Add racks front & rear, mudguards, lights, some nice panniers and you are right tour the world.
Did over a 3,000 day bike ride (living off a bike) 92 Cannondale M900.
When buying a 90s mtb, I find it best to consider the price as frame only cost. If any other parts are salvageable, that’s a bonus. The sweet spot seems to be those years when threadless headsets were becoming more common, with a modern square taper bb/crankset, but before everything went aluminum with a short travel suspension fork. They make great urban commuters and bikes that can be locked up in cities without drawing too much attention from thieves. Shame the prices have sky-rocketed over the past few years.
I've found those old Deore derailleurs and loose ball bearings were built to last. Other than contact points and consumable parts, the only parts that consistently need restoring or replacing are trigger shifters
The venerable Trek 800 series Antelope- lockup bike to rule them all
@@geoma-projects really, trigger shifters? Any indexed shifter ive come into has been easily fixed with some wd-40 and new grease. Saves 20$
Sounds like a better project for someone like me who has been working on his own bikes since the 80's. It's my recent bikes that are making me have to continually buy new tools.
From a shop owner perspective, I fully agree. The number of bottom bracket tools we've had to buy over the last few years for new standard rivals the number of freewheel tools once needed.
Absolutely this. I've been maintaining bikes since the late 80s but my gf's MTB has disc brakes and I live in fear of the first brake bleed :-)
Funny actually, I've started working on bikes in the last few years. When I see 'vintage' road frames or 90's bikes, I avoid them because I know I won't have any components/tools to work on them.
As an old bike enthusiast I have lived through all of these points. But i still love taking something unloved and about to be thrown out and turning into a work of mechanical art. I still do wish could afford something modern but I spent all my money on parts and tools.
Nothing quite beats a 90s MTB with really well adjusted center pull cantilever brakes (buttery smoothness only riveled by disconnected brake levers paired with braking performance better than most OEM mechanical disc brakes), perfectly adjusted cup and cone bearings, lightning quick shifting, and good hand built wheels (particularly if you used butted spokes and a tubeless rim) for commuting, light bikepacking, and flat bar gravel biking. Modern MTBs are just a tad over-built and too race-oriented, same goes for many modern gravel bikes. It is also way easier to completely strip down 90s MTBs down to the individual ball bearing and bushings than modern stuff. Modern stuff is more robust and work better, make no mistake, but are far more complex and less adjustable. I also find 29ers a bit cumbersome and prefer the zippiness of old 26" bikes.
I really enjoy polishing old components like the Deore DX 650 groupset to a mirror shine, just because I can.
@@nicojar Cantilevers are really hard to set up. Once they are set up they work extremely well. You can get them to have an extremely light lever pull until pad contact.
OEM disc brakes can be absolutely, unimaginably terrible. I'm not talking about proper disc brakes, I'm talking about cheapo disc brakes and/or V brakes. Those just don't work well no matter how you bed them in.
All the examples you provided are far more expensive than an old MTB, even with upgraded tubeless wheels (26" tubeless rim wheels are still being made). I should know, I have a modern Breezer Thunder 29er. That thing is really comfortable for long bike packing runs, is extremely overbuilt to confidently take the load, and is extremely stable fully laden. It also costs more than 3 times my friend's old Marin Pine Mountain (repairs included), and twice my friend's 2007 Jamis Dakar (new tubeless wheels, hydraulic brakes, and pivot bearings included). The vast majority of bikes nowadays are race-oriented.
If you have the budget, then anything modern will absolutely stomp the older stuff. However, if you cannot afford proper modern stuff then I'd argue older MTBs will outperform anything you can buy new.
Reasons NOT to buy a modern bicycle:
- shortage for replacement parts
- replacement parts are very expensive
- modern frames and parts tend to be less durable and long lasting
I still have my 90s Univega Alpina Pro. I use it for my 1.2 mile commute to work. That little two and a half mile round trip cures me of any urge to take it beyond the city limits where my Surly rules.
Yep, agree 100%. I rode mtn bikes back in the 80's-90's. My wrists, neck, and elbows hurt just thinking about those bikes.
Those old univega really were stretchers. Long top tubes with even longer stems. But they had some nice frames and forks, iirc my Alpina 5.7. weighs fork and frame 1.9 kg.
Just stumbled across this video as well...
I bought a Univega Alpina S6.3 new in '94 (the one with the "splatter" paint scheme), and it's still a great bike!
Because life got in the way, I've only put about 4000 pavement miles on it (I put a "street" freewheel & tires on it after I got it home), but it's been kept indoors its entire life, and still looks and rides like new.
I look at new bikes and think about getting one - then I look at the price tags: naw...
I got a 1989 Bridgestone MB-2 a couple years ago and I love it. It’s my all-road bike. I loved it so much, a year later I found a 1989 MB-4 in a rad 90’s colorway. 26 inch is not dead!!
I agree with everything. in this period I have lots of free time and absolutely zero money, so going for an old Scott Sawtooth (probably '92-'93) was the way to go
it's been kinda fiddly to raise the bars a bit, but in the end I got myself a nice durable steel bike with 3x7 cantilever groupset, which is easy to maintain, with relatively cheap and easy to find spare parts - more often than not buying another whole used bike with the parts you need is cheaper than sourcing new parts. does it have the best handling? what do I know, probably not, but let's just ride reasonably priced bikes and especially ride what we have
Anyway that's all thanks to you Russ, before going party pace I used to wear spandex and torture my butt on 23s, while getting my feet either frozen in the winter or boiled in the summer in the one pair of spd shoes I could afford
Got a DB ascent from the 90’s two months ago for just $20 on market( ik I totally stole it) it was in great condition besides for the classic gunky 3x7 sti shifters. Short long story, converted in 1x10, throw some kyote bars and that was it. End result, the thing totally rips! Can’t wait to ride it through all the season!
I've got an early 90s DB Axis. Absolutely love it with a 1x8 drivetrain, drop bars, and brooks B17 saddle.
How hard was the 1x10 conversion? What drivetrain did you go with?
@@NZHarrySingh I replaced the original tapered square bottom bracket with a modern Shimano external BB and Deore crank set (converted to 1x using a Wolftooth 36 narrow-wide chain ring)... Rear mech is an old-but-high-quality (90s era, I'm guessing) Shimano that I had in the parts bin, tied to a bar-end friction shifter I sourced online. Not a difficult job at all with proper tools. I was once a professional bike mechanic, though, so I suppose it's relative to your comfort level working on bicycles. That's the beauty of youtube, though, there are bound to be several videos of every step.
@@NZHarrySingh Depends on spacing and rear hub. If the rear hub is a freewheel then you will need a new hub (or rear wheel). For shimano 7-10 road and 7-9 MTB the rear derailleurs are interchangeable. If it is a cassette then you should be able to just put a 10 speed cassette (unless your unlucky and it is a true 7 speed hub). Now if you are keeping with flat bar shifter you will need a new shifter for index or use friction if you got that setting. If you are going with drop bars and you rear mech is shimano you can just get shimano/ microtech / sensah /ltoo drop bar shifter and your good to go. If the bike is steel and you started with a freewheel you can just spread the rear triangle a bit to fit the new/used/rebuilt wheel (you can re space the rear triangle but that is not necessary). Your 7 speed crank and chain rings will work on an 1x10 a narrow wide chairing would help with chain drops if you want to remove the front derailleur, other wise keep the derailleur on as a chain guide.
@@NZHarrySingh wasn’t really hard to be honest, and definitely not need to be a professional bike mechanic as @zalsentzer (no offense), just need the right tools, parts, youtube and to be a bit handy.
In my case I used a 90’s old deore triple crankset 110bcd converted to 1x with a 38t narrow wide chainring and combined with 10 speed deore shifter and deore xt derailleur with clutch, and lastly a 10 speed 11-42 deore cassette. To fit the cassette I used a different wheelset that I have it from another bike with a 135mm hub that could take 8 speed or more to avoid having to touch the frame. I know It’s sounds like a lot and it could be an expensive conversion but if you look in the right places it can be done for $150 or even less.
One of my favorite things to do with these old mountain bikes, is putting engines on them. They usually have plenty of room in their frames. Picture this: You are on a hike in the middle of the woods, when you begin to hear the sound of a chainsaw off in the distance. The sound is rapidly approaching, and crests the hill behind you. That's when you realize, that's no chainsaw! That's some hooligan with a little too much free time on his Diamondback!
None of these reasons seem particular to 90’s bikes Russ. Each era of bikes has their own peculiarities. I have three vintage mtbs and have found all the tools, parts, readily available. Conversely - I’d have to get new tools if I bought a disc brake, external bottom bracketed bike.
I love your content as always, but feel like the title is a little misleading. Here in Denver metro, still abundant as ever. Maybe more accurate title would be “five frustrations I had with 90’s mtb’s.”
A well rounded and balanced commentary. I love my early 90s Diamondback Axis, kitted out with drop bars and a 1x8 drivetrain. Works great as my daily commuter, a touring rig, and also a dirt/gravel bomber. Bought it for $200 and probably have another $200 into it. It's fun, one-of-a-kind, fits me great, and gets a lot of compliments.
Instant gratification is hard to come by in cycling with the exception of buying a new bicycle. Building your bicycle is an equal part of cycling as an experience. As you know when you build your bicycles there is an intimacy that develops. Your bicycle stops being that shiny toy / Instant gratification and becomes a family member and part of you. This kind of experience is lost on those who buy the newest bicycle only to ride that for a season and then sell it for the next newest bicycle. It is kind of a racer mentality that has splashed on the yuppies and other non-racers. The same also generally do not work on their own bicycles. I find this to be a huge divider in the cycling community. Soul bicycling vs. ego bicycling. I choose Soul. Cheers M8
An interesting thing I've noticed in the last 10 years is the disappearance of the frame or frameset as a purchase option. Given how much a bike needs to be adapted to suit the rider, building your own bike should be a lot more common these days than it is.
Great comment! I agree
@@devononair I noticed while searching online nowadays majority of frames come with a fork pre-installed thus rare to find a frame that suits me without a fork. What if I just want the frame and not the fork, no options to remove fork. Kind of sucks but I will just get with the times and buy the frame and fork then sell the fork if need to.
Lol 🙌 thanks for the shout out. 😂🤣😂
You two guys are my favorite youtubers so far
Pretty fair assessment of the hassles. To avoid some of them, get one with a 1 1/8 steerer tube. I got a 96 GF Hoo Koo (triple butted True Temper) and replaced the Rockshox fork with a Surly Troll fork. Unfortunately, Surly has stopped making them.
There were lots of great lightweight all around steel frames back then in regular production, I don't think there's anything like that now unless you get a custom.
yeah, one good thing about this fashion for gravel are rigid forks with rivets - but damn, they sell them only in sets apparently :(
To be clear, the Paramount in this video has a 1-1/8 steerer tube. But since it's threaded, it requires a 25.4mm quill stem, unlike the 1" threaded steerer tubes that take a 22.2mm quill stem. Agree that a 1-1/8 non threaded steerer tube avoids some hassles.
Got a 97 Hoo Koo e Koo a couple of years ago. I love it. It's taken me on some long trips the last two years.
It’s the tinkering that makes them fun! Capable too, but like… I like new bikes too.
I totally agree. I also was mountain biking, high school and college, in the 90’s so there is that nostalgic appeal for me also.
I agree! As someone who follows both of your channels and rode through the 90’s on a Pro-Flex, it’s nice to appreciate them for all their short comings too. My friends laughed the first time they heard chain slap while we rolled through a trail on my 90’s Paragon.
Still have my '82 Klein, as the original owner. But after riding the cockpit of a contemporary mountain bike (custom LaMere), the main factor for not riding my Klein is the safety factor. The Klein, and in fact all mountain bikes of that era, has the long stem/forward weight that puts much reliance on the handlebars for support. I have to keep a firm, conscience grip on the bars, and the two times that I fell off the bike was when the grip was loosened, the hands came off the bars, and the forward weigh caused an immediate crash. The contemporary mountain bike is so much more secure feeling.
Modern bikes simply have far more refined geometry, not to mention equipped to run larger more forgiving softer tires,, don't get me wrong I love and own,ride, and maintain many vintage bikes. But what works-Works😊
love old mtbs, all your points are accurate. Please keep pointing out while the old MTBs are bad so the prices drop!
I found a '93 Novara "Pro Ultimate" MTB with Tange Ultralight tubing and built it out last summer with 2.3 RH tires, Velocity A23 rims, wide drop bars, and spare parts bar-end shifters and V-brakes. Only kept the seat-post and original MTB triple, $950 all told. It does exactly what I wanted it to do- handles steep forest service road rocks & ruts and is pretty damn light for a steel frame. AND it's newer than my 650b '83 Trek conversion ; ) so I don't miss brifters and disc brakes bc I've never gone there...
Just found a 1991 Scott Boulder for free. Recognized the old DX and LX parts and took it home. After cleaning and adjusting it runs like new. Like it. Have a 2019 29 inch hard tail full XT that I never use.
I like these small light bikes. Quality of gearsets are really good.
Hey! I haven’t tried to convert a 90’s mountain bike to a gravel bike but I did try to convert a 90’s hybrid bike into a gravel bike. It was from an era when companies would quite often take their road bike frames and put cantilever brakes on it.
It’s pretty cool how many modern parts worked on it and it turned out cheaper than a new bike would’ve cost.
Love your videos and keep up the good work 🙂👍
I love my rock hopper, part of the pleasure was building it up from a frame. I couldn’t afford this bike as a teen so as an old fart I get to play bike shop. I am expecting spokes in the mail tomorrow, so I get to build a reliable modern wheel set for it to replace the co-op get me riding wheels. This will be my fifth set of wheels I have built for the family fleet and that always comes with the challenge of knowing when to stop. This is a fun bike for me. I encourage everyone to look for the bike that’s right for them and go for it. I tried for the past three years to become a roadie, I just didn’t get the joy from childhood on those delicate machines. This thing brings back the joy!
I still have my 1998 Specialized M2 that I bought new in 98 in Great Falls MT. I have kept it upgraded and running great over the years, 100mm of front travel and 20lbs with Crossmax wheels. It sits along side my 29er Enduro/Trail bike and I ride it few times a month for base miles. My kids and GF even put miles on it from time to time.
You're not wrong. I came into MTB around 91 so I grew up on them. I have gotten 3 fixable 90's bikes from thrift stores for less than $50 each. They were mid range bike shop bikes in their time and aren't XT level bikes so I don't feel the need to chase original parts and just replace what needs replaced with modern mid range components. I ride them as an ATB so set them up for my needs. I'm not trying to hit most of the trails that I ride my modern MTB. There's a couple that are fun to take them on, bringing less bike to a trail adds a little technical and fun element but nothing serious. So I wouldn't try to sell anyone on one though. If it's you, it's you. If not it's cool too.
Hello Russ, My wife and I still have our 90's mountain bikes, a Paramount PDG 30 and my Bridgestone MB-2 which I use daily this time of year for getting around on our eastern oregon farm which includes a steep vineyard. I recently changed the bars to the VO left bank that look like the new bars you put on the PDG 20. Very comfortable but with the change in my weight distribution, I have lost a lot of handling on the steep switchbacks that I encounter. Its great on a flat trail but now bad on the steep stuff. Can no longer make sharp turns on a slope. They are great bikes.
Pretty accurate! Other factors apply - the frames can be top notch for daily road use - but when you load them they're unsafe because they're not shocked - they're just springy. It's very worthwhile to upgrade the rear to 11 speed Deore 5100, but not the front drive. I now have a 33 speed Trek Antelope. It fits me great, it's very light, but I have high BMX bars and a giga-seat on it. I may put full fenders on it and a street-legal moped kit to license it for an 80cc 2-stroke that used to be easy... I bought free-hub mag wheels to kill the woes of the former freewheel and spokes era, and I may eventually update the crank. But it will never be a heavy, long, stable e-cargo bike.
I work at a bike salvage collective and this is the thing I have to explain more and more about old bikes. They need SO MUCH. they are OLD. things get old and rot like plastic in the sun! It's so so great that you point out how this is a thing if you have a place to help and lots of time.
I've only recently started actual mountain biking, but I have been riding mountain bikes since the 90's. Whenever I needed a new bike my choices were a fragile road bike, a nerdy looking hybrid, or an entry level mtb. I always went with the mtb.
Everything you said is all part of the joy of going through an old bike. I grew up when mountain biking 1st started and I could not afford most of these older bikes. I have well over 30 of them now and the nostalgia of riding one each time brings a whole different kind of experience that my more modern bikes bring. Every time that piece of history brings back so many memories of bike shops from the nineties and me drooling all over myself. I’m 90’s bike rich now.😂
90s mtbs are the new crypto.
@@PathLessPedaledTV cheap thrills 😁
"well over 30" ... would really love to see your storage system!
@@saintless I have a manufacture facility so there’s lots of space. I have run out of room until I do something different.
Really hit the nail on the head! Rode the heck out of my old '80s MTB and loved it through the '90s (50cm seat tube and 58cm top tube, yeah just a tad aggressive) I still ride it, but it just doesn't measure up to my newer "all road" bike in any aspect (well, it does beat it in weight...by about 8#, lol)
And with the tools, ugh! freewheel remover collection: SunTour, Shimano, the other Shimano, Campagnolo, ?? not sure but I needed it once. bottom bracket tool collection: "pin" wrench for the left cup (IIRC there were 2 "standard" diameters), lock ring wrench, "big" wrench for right cup, Headset "thin" wrench collection. And on older bikes, some had English gauged hardware...
And cost is right on, there is almost always some hidden issues when fixing/servicing/upgrading old bikes and even used parts add up pretty quickly, if you can find them (or a decent substitute).
Still enjoy my 3X7 steel frame mountain bike from the 90's.
ME TOO! I have a similar machine that I bought new in 1999, and I still have it. I had it overhauled at the LBS earlier this spring, and I've been enjoying it again... :)
Great video, as usual, Russ! Luckily, I live in a place that seems to have lots of 90s mountain bikes for sale and they sometimes are offered at reasonable prices. I restore and rebuild them as a hobby and get a lot of joy out of returning them to a near mint condition and getting them back on the road or trail. So, I have the tools and the time, so that's not an issue for me. When I need to replace a quill mtb stem, I will sometimes use a quill to threadless adapter. I find that a 90s mtb with a modern cockpit is usually quite comfy. Keep up the great videos. Thanks for putting yourself out there. -Mike's Bikes Work
Having the same experience with a 1989 Schwinn Impact my Father-In-Law gave me. At first glance it looked very similar to my gravel bike, but I've gone through all the things you discussed! Still trying to dial in the fit a year later, not always as simple as it sounds. Overall cheaper than a new bike, but only if you know what you're doing. Unmatchable style though, the Schwinn gets more compliments and envy than any other bike I own.
There are shops not real far from here that have boxes and boxes of used parts for these older bikes..............trying to buy new will be a pain and pricey.
I wasn't into mountain biking in the 90's. I bought my first full suspension 29er MTB in 2014 and started racing XC after I gave up dirt bike racing which I was doing in the 90's. Fast forward to 2023, I had a friend that was going to trash a 1996 Gary Fisher Mamba and I told him I would take it. This old bike is so much fun to ride at my local MTB trails. I love the feel of this bike and it always puts a smile on my face. Naturally it's no downhill shredder but these bikes wasn't designed to be. It's geared more towards your local intermediate single track trails. The only thing I did was put some new tires on and tune it up. Everything from the 3x7 to the narrow bars. It's just fun. I think many people think you have to have a new bike or the latest technology to go fast. Rider fitness will always overcome any technology that's on the market. In my opinion it's about having fun and enjoying every pedal stroke on whatever trails you are riding.
A 90s MTB is like that year of Toyotas when they first introduced fuel injection into new models.
The right mix of simplicity and hi-tech.
Same with music.
I love this whole project, and the hard snark that it comes from. I appreciate the very reasonable takes you have here, your downsides are measured, and I am looking forward to the flipside video. Keep up the fun content.
I got into bikes over a decade ago when I was much more poor. It was spotting good quality 90s mtbs at thrift stores, garage sales and on Craigslist which got me into the whole cycling scene. Back then people didn't verify the market prices of old bikes as diligently as they do now. I remember picking up the last gen Single Track Trek that had a lugged true temper frame for only 40 bucks! Yeah, I've got friends into vintage clothes and vintage vinyl records and just like us retro bike guys you're constantly sifting through all the bargain bins of your local 2nd hand seller.
So the Crust, Rivendell and Bearclaw are safe for now!
I would love a new version of these bikes, all rigid, steel frame, with good components, but with 29 wheels
Crust scapegoat is up that road… I have my eye on the 27.5 Wombat by Crust
Heyyyy. Thanks for the mention Sir!
I'd agree. Don't buy a 90s MTB!.... Because I want them all ;)
No but really, I'd agree with points there. They are getting expensive! Bargains are out there - I've definitely found a few - but as you've said there, it really depends on your area! Sometimes I really struggle to find the next project. I am being picky now with groups and frames but yeah - some bikes are so expensive. I understand the high end bikes of the 90s but a beat up Marin Palisades with rotten tyres, rust everywhere and disintegrating grips and saddle is not "rare" or worth £200+ like some people seem to think.... ooft.
As for tools though, I think most of the time a 90s ride can be fixed with basic tools. I've done a real budget build before where I spent £100 on the bike, repairs and tools to show there was an low budget entry in to the bike repair realm.
But hey - I think you made some really good points that people should consider before jumping on the 90s train. Thanks for the video!
Very fair and thoughtful video, I would say a couple years after this one represent the true apotheosis of the form. Threadless stems and v-brakes really were improvements, to me at least. Cheers!
All very valid reasons. I picked up a 1987 Norco Bigfoot from Halifax, Nova Scotia and had it shipped to St. John's, Newfoundland. This was just before the the prices went up and the bike was well maintained. I've since swapped a bunch of parts to combat the low stack height and for utility purposes, and it is now my commuter bike. If I ever want to go for a ride and not worry about speed, but maximize comfort and kid carrying ability, it's the perfect tool for the job. I'm looking forward to your next video!
Ayyyyy glad you mentioned the oddball "standards" of the past. Almost two years looking for a 23.3mm seatpost, and it didn't fit lol
Thats the skinniest seatpost ive ever heard of!
I think you missed a couple of thing that make vintage Mtn bikes cool. Particularly when it comes to lugged steel bikes. They are tough as hell. Simple to work on(serviceable),and just have a certain style factor that is hard to find in modern bikes. I was around during this era and yes there was experimentation/innovation that did not stand the test of time i.e. Biopace rings, and suspension stems, however if you can find old parts or adapt newer parts they make great bikes and are usually affordable. P.S I have been working on my own bikes since the 90s(so I have those old tools) ,basically because I want the work done right and cannot find or afford to pay others to do the work for me.
Like I said, this video isn’t about what I LIKE about them. That is coming in a different video.
I’m a taller guy and I find that most 90’s mtb’s have 26” wheels. So, I have to find taller steering stems and seat posts to fit the bike to me. But, I never pay more than $40 for a project bike. The last one I found was sitting out by someone’s trash pile.
The reason that I like 90’s bikes is because they are durable. I love working on these steel framed bikes and bringing them back to life. My biggest issue is dialing in the cantilever brakes.
Presumably you saw Russ's guide to cantilever setup? Just came out two days ago if you haven't! I went with v-brakes for my restoration but I have cantis on my touring bike.
'most 90’s mtb’s have 26” wheels'.. all 90's mtb's have 26" wheels.
@@petesmitt
there were some oddballs, but those also weren't marketed as MTBs even if they were obviously based on upsized 26ers and used the same tubing. So yeah, i guess you're right.
@@petesmitt Some were 650b and 650c, and there were 96ers and 69ers in the 90s.
I'm 6'4 and usually ride with slammed stems, and raised seats.
I still have my Trek 970. I bought new in 91 . It is still a great bike, but my back hurts when I ride it . Just to aggressive, so I bought a Trek Dual Sport, which keeps me much more upright . No back pain . Just ride the Trek 970 sometimes on short rides
Two years ago a built my old 1992 Raleigh M50 mountain bike up into a drop bar 700c gravel bike, needless to say it took all kinds of adapters and fabri-cobling to make work. I rode it almost 2k miles the summer I built it, including a century ride on the Greenbrier River trail. It ended up costing about what a nice-ish gravel bike would have cost to purchase, but since I got it for Christmas new in 1992 when I was 14 it meant a lot to me to make it usable again.
I absolutely have zero regrets!
Interesting points. I usually tell people to look for a mid 80's mountain bike as the area of experimentation hadn't started yet. As for your handle bars, we do the exact thing you tried. Barbara has that handlebar you experimented with (similar) and mine is a riser. Ours are set up for touring and therefor comfort. Both are super rugged (Barbara's is late 90's, mine is mid 80's. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Russ makes a lot of good points that you sometimes don't see explored in the videos on maintaining and upgrading or modifying these old bikes. I have a 1991 Trek 990 that I converted to a gravel bike. I've enjoyed riding the bike and have put several thousand miles on it in the last couple of years.
As Russ points out, there are a number of areas where standards don't match newer components. I had to use shims on both the quill stem and seat post. I was able to get a set of Shimano Claris components to work for the brifters and the rear derailleur. In the end, I refurbed the front derailleur and used a Microshift bar end shifter. The Claris front derailleur would have required a custom clamp or some such modification that I wasn't finding available. This was to maintain a 3x8 drive train. I wasn't interested in some sort of kludged together 1x mullet, you lose too much gear range with most of those setups, and I wanted a practical, do-all bike, not just a groovy bar cruiser. I used a set of Ritchey Venture Max bars (one of Russ' former favorites).
My original target for this build was to ride the Around the Rocks, a 154 mile circumnavigation of the Grand Tetons in a day. It is about half and half, gravel and paved. The bike, although maybe a little heavy (just over 30 pounds), worked out well for that ride. I've done some bikepacking and a lot of other gravel and paved riding on it.
Would I do it again? I already owned the frame and a set of newer wheels for it. I bought the shifters and derailleurs as well as a new stem and seat post. It was an interesting project and has been a useful and fun bike. But, you have to like tinkering with bikes, have the tools, and have some lengths of patience and spare time to put one of these builds together.
I didn’t have to go out and buy a 90’s MTB, I bought my Specialized Rockhopper in 1996. Still loving it after all these years. Some of the changes you mentioned I have done over the years - like raising the bars. And you are quite right about the difficulty on getting some of the parts - particularly on the drive train. Lots of fun and lots of miles.
Yeah same here. I didn't have to buy a bike. I just got it out of the shed.
I agree with your point that they're better as DIY projects for tinkerers than practical bikes for most people. I love my 1995 Trek mtb but it's DIY passion project. I've put probably $800-900 into modernizing every component. I was lucky to get one with a 1 1/8" threadless headset so it works flawlessly with aftermarket forks and stems. Shorter stem, wide riser bars, new tires, wheels, and drivetrain make it an entirely different bike. It's very satisfying to ride something that's my own creation. Not about nostalgia for me considering I was not yet alive back then, I just think it's cool.
Interesting. I bought a Specialized Hard Rock (basic, no-suspension 3x7 MTB) in 1996 ($300 list, $250 on sale) as a commuter, commuting on the ferry to Seattle for a couple of years, rain, salt spray, snow, and ice, then in Missoula for a couple of years (snow, ice) and Hamilton, MT for 8 years (rain, snow, ice, subzero temps, summer heat), and rode my "Birthday Mile-age" on it through most of my 60s, most recently 90 km for my 76th birthday, back in Western Washington for the last 12 years. I've replaced bottom bracket (crashed through iced-over pothole in Seattle), SPD pedals, lots of chains and tires, but it just keeps on ticking. Crashed on railroad tracks in Seattle, ice in Missoula, death cookies in the Bitterroot Mountains, just got back on and rode. Tough bike, very basic, good commuter. Would I trade it for a "gravel bike"? Not sure, probably not. We also have a 1980s MTB tandem, which is a great touring bike and OK on gravel trails.
Don't much care what the bike is/was. I want
-a steel-based frame
-prefer vertical rear dropouts
That's it. The only non-negotiable is steel: it is not as prone to sudden fatigue failure.
Everything aside from the main frame is a consumable, and if the bike is well-worn, you may wish to consider new forks just for safety.
A lot of 1990's bikes will end up in garage sales or city junk-day trash hauls.
Last thing, a decent digital caliper (online for maybe $4) has been very helpful on my bike fixes.
Hi!! Super interested in your content! Thanks!! With the help of your videos I finally pulled a trigger and just purchased a SNC 4130 all roads yesterday. Can’t wait! But I wanted to ask : how can I get a party pace decal!?
I have an 86 Rockhopper. With new powdercoat Jones Bar, new old wheels, brakes and derailleurs, it’s a sweet ride. I just added a low power Swytch kit so now it’s got a motor!
I currently have a 1976 Fuji road bike converted to single speed cyclocross, a 1994 Cannondale full suspension, a 1946 Lignano, a 1987 Cannondale mtb (mullet), a Grove Innovation mtb tandem and a Grove Innovation (2000+/-) road bike custom.
My favorite for off-road is the Fuji, and either the Fuji or the Grove Innovation for road. I really enjoy the older stuff.
You raise some good points, and I generally love your videos. i have a few comments here.
First, in the past year I've gotten two older "all-terrain bikes" - as they were marketed then - for nothing at the local trash collection site. One is a Miyata valley runner, the other a Schwinn High Plains bike. I did spend a few bucks on tools but the cash outlay was not great, and I found that degreasing, regreasing and a thorough cleaning went a long way to restoring function. The Schwinn is for a bikeless friend, the Miyata is pretty fun to ride on mellow routes.
Are they perfect? Of course not. The geometry is not good for technical trails or extremely long hours in the saddle, they are steel and therefore heavy, and they are slow. If you look at the advances in mountain bikes in the past 2 decades, the lighter frames and longer, slacker geometries, dropper seats and other changes have made for bikes which perform much better and much safer on technical trails. This only matters if you are into those kind of trails and your focus is on, as one article put it, "performance and self-optimization rather than viewing nature and seeing new places". For tooling around remote country roads and old dirt and gravel paths for a couple of hours, they are fine. For many of us who just like to get out and ride, are not interested in technical trails, and do not care if we get there fast they work ok. Why race to get someplace else if you are already where you wanted to be? Current marketing aims to create a feeling of dissatisfaction in us whatever we ride, always touting the lightest frame material, electronic shifters, tweaks in geometry, aerodynamics - mostly pushing the hype of increasing speed and performance to sell new bikes. Long ago I came to the realization that my genetics gave me the performance of a beat up pickup rather than a Porsche, and I should just try to be be satisfied with what is "good enough" for what I want to do rather than fruitlessly looking for a perfection which does not exist. In addition to death and taxes, one certainty is that advertisers and manufacturers will try to make us think that whatever we have is not good enough.
Anyhow, if the newest bling floats your boat, great, it keeps the industry alive. If you're satisfied with the bike you've got - also great. The main point is just to have fun.
You do realize the next video is likely to be something like "10 reasons to buy a 90's mountain bike". :-)
By 1990, most road and MTB had switched to 1.125 threadless headsets. On my Diamondback Ascent, around 2002, I replaced a Rockshox Judy with a Duke and it had a disk brake mount. The biggest issue with the frame is that the chainstays can only accommodate up to a 2.1" wide tire.
Ha...I have a 1997 Performance M 007 that I call my 'traveler' bike. I throw it on the car whenever I'm car camping, etc. I put baldy tires on it and it's fully XTR components....I swear it's one of my favorite bikes! I have a Santa Cruz MTN bike, a high performing road bike, and about 20 other cruisers, etc....but I always go back to my 1997 M 007. It's SO light and easy to ride.....I love it.
You made some good points. I like the simplicity and quality steel frames in the 90s such as True Temper, Prestige Tange, Miyata STB…Thanks for your input
I feel you… buttt. Reduce, reuse, recycle yo! And thats my reason for buying old bikes. I always recommend people to check out something old before buying something new. Is it perfect? Probably not. But we don’t need perfect. Especially if your not putting 100 miles a week on your bike. Although, fit is important! You don’t want back problems haha
You should definitely tune in to Russ's next video. I have a suspicion...
I tend to customize every bike I ride so the ability to buy an old ten-speed or early mountain bike cheaper is appealing. Plus I have learned lots of useful skills if the bike breaks down even on a ride odds are I can fix it.
All great points, Russ. I had a 93 trek 930 for a couple years. I really liked it, with some caveats. I got a fab deal on it, and had a buddy with a fab home workshop help refurbish it -- so I didn't run into a lot of trouble with the tool issue you mention, though I certainly see how one could. I ran it with a variety of handlebars over the time I had it, and liked really swept back bars the best. The point you make about the LOW stack is really true. I always felt like it was both too small (short) and too big (long) for me. I sold it to an acquaintance whose daughter gives it the proper love.
I also have fixed up a ‘93 Trek 930 (green w rigid fork) and it is pretty great. The seat cluster lug is comically robust. I was able to use a riser bar from a ‘91 Bianchi I used to own and with the stock stem it works great. Where I had to bite the bullet was the wheelset, which I replaced with a new one, way lighter with better rims and a freehub, so I could use a wide range cassette and switch to 1x. So as Russ says, not cheap as it all totaled $500 in the end but the frame was mint so I’m happy and the bike is great fun.
I picked up a '92 Trek 930 this winter. With mostly parts I already had I turned it into a really fun 1X bike that's very capable. The frame is LUGGED. As Grant P. said in the recent interview here, "you look at this bike and you know somebody cared."
My cousin works in some apartment complex as maintenance supervisor,he found a 90s trek mountain bike 8 years ago he gave it to me I put new tubes and tires still have it.
Good video, though I disagree with your central premise. The fact that it will probably turn out to be a project is a good reason to seek one of these bikes out. DON’T buy one if you don’t want to learn anything about working on bikes. But if you are mechanic curious, they’re a fantastic place to learn and really really hard to damage with mistakes. Also, 130/135 is pretty much interchangeable, and by the 90s very few even halfway decent bikes of whatever brand were still running freewheels. BUT avoid Suntour indexing just because replacement parts are really hard to find. Regarding price - what people are asking and what they’re getting are two very different things. I’m in Portland and even here a bit of diligence will get you a 90s Rockhopper or Hardrock for $75-$150 in a month of searching Craigslist and Offerup. Finally, the real deals are 90s hybrids. Unless you’re absolutely set on 26” wheels, you can get a similarly spec’d 700c “dad bike” that’s just as much fun, especially with the great selection of 700c gravel tires available.
i agree. some of Russ' frustrations with hunting are a function of where he lives, not the supply where more people live. The last three mtb's I've purchased have all been under $80. Replacing cables and housing is what you should do for any bike tune up, so not really a function of all 90's bikes. The parts, tools, etc... have all been pretty easy for me to find on ebay or amazon.
Agreed. 90's bikes, of which I have a few ( Miyata Ridgrunner and Specialized FSR) were so much more easy to work on than some of the more hi tech modern stuff. Even my custom pre Stumpjumper late 70's Marin County rig has the similar mechanics of 90's bikes. They were uncomplicated mechanics.
I've converted my Raleigh M50 to a street cruiser. Upright with 2.5 tires and 27 speeds Delore XT. Its the most comfortable ride for my 6'6' frame. Bit of toe overlap but not hitting tech trails.
All valid points. My first real bike was a Trek 800 ca. 1991. Out of nostalgia I recently bought a 1989 Specialized Hardrock Comp. It was in good shape but, yeah, I kinda forgot how bad the components were. Sealed bottom brackets weren't a thing yet. My old Trek would chew up bearings like a cow chewing cud. And the undersized headset would become "indexed steering" after hitting some hard bumps.
What's up Dude? I found a 90s Mountain bike, and I feel your pain in a sense. I found this bike on a second floor landing of the apt. building I live in that's in Phoenix, Az. It's a Bianchi Nyala, and you're right; finding parts is the only drawback I have for this machine. I road real hard back in the day. I'm 70, and during the 80s I had a Raleigh Composition GS that I road throwout the seasons spring thew Winter. This bike that I found I'm going to keep it for the joy of doing it; besides I'm retired and I've got nothing but time. But you are right. If you're just starting out, just buy a new bike. As for me; I have all the tools from back in the day! Good article and advice. Take it easy Russ! Peace!
I have been thinking of getting a 90's MTB for some time. The video covers good points. Fortunately I was able to work around pretty much all of them. I have been a bike rider since I had one with training wheels in the 60's went from Sting Ray with Banana seat, to 10 speed, Then when MTBs became available had a 90's MTB. I have upgraded over the years but have do not have any Modern bikes. No 1x and the newest are 2016
Let's look at the 5 reasons
1. I live in San Diego a pretty large market, so availability is not as much of an issue.
2 Expensive. that is true, but I think I overcame that, after watching this video last night, was on Craig's list free section this AM and found a 92 or 93 Diamond Back Traverse, for free. Picked it up around noon, granted it is pretty crusty, but like I said I have been thinking of this for a while, From a friend a while back got another 90s MTB the frame is too big for me but will be my donor bike, parts are in better condition
3 Tools, Like I said I am old enough to have worked on 90s bikes when they were new so still have some of the tools like cassette removers and for sure cone wrenches
4 and 5 the standards and geometry I can live with.
Finally I have a bike cave and this bike and the donor were bikes #7 and #8. In my fleet 1999 Carbon fiber TREK hard tail 3x9. 2010 Stumpjumper Full Sus 3x9 2013 Stumpjumper full sus 2x10. 2016 Marin Bridgeway 3x8 City/Dutch bike. 2016 Specialized Diverge 2x8 Gravel bike. And finally a dumpster rescue single speed coaster brake beach cruiser. No 1xs yet but have aquired most of the a 1x11 drive train so one or more of the fleet make be transformed to a 1x.
It is not a 90's bike, but similar is beginning to happen with my 2008 Marin, which is a great bike. Even with a 2008, I have to do the work to source parts that match when I want to upgrade. You must have the interest in doing the mechanical work yourself and finding the right parts. The geometry is definitely more aggressive than the modern equivalent. The sportier appearance can be seen just by looking at it. The bikes going back even only 15 years looked beautiful and they do ride nice. I was not aware of the increasing collectors value, because I never wanted to sell it and don't plan on it.
LOVE that you mentioned Bridgestone. Own two myself and not ones that sit on the shelf…used, and are going strong! Great bikes.
I lucked out at my local non profit bike store with a 340 dollar fully refurbished 1988 stumpjumper. I love it so much but I want to get some riser bars and a shorter stem
I realize this is region specific but in the NYC area I've bought about 7 rockhoppers and stumpjumpers for $250 or less (complete and more/less roadworthy). A decent new gravel bike is usually well over $1k (if you can find one). An old steel mtb with maybe $100 or so of truly worth it upgrades can get you something very close so you can see if you actually like gravel (or touring or whatever) enough to later splurge. I think 'get a 90's mtb' is fine advice to a newer rider on a budget who doesn't need electronic shifting and 11-56 cassette to go out and ride some rocks.
Great video and spot on for all the reasons. Id also add that modern drivetrains are smoother, have better gearing range without the need for a triple, and shifting is much smoother/less finicky.
Love the video! As somebody who lives near old shovel I can agree that bikes are ludicrously cheap here. That said, these are really good points that anyone considering 90s vintage restoration should consider. Great job Russ.
I love my 1997 lightspeed Obid. I bought it brand new and I’m currently looking at a new moots 29r . I want to ride the great divide mountain bike trail next year.
I inherited a 90s mountain bike from my older siblings as I grew up and have never upgraded. Maybe someday I will, but so far it has been cheep to maintain at a LBS, adequate for gravel/rail trails/commuting/races I don’t plant to win, and I worry that it will end up in a landfill if I get rid of it. Also, less worried it’s going to get stolen from the rack at work. 🤷♀️maybe I would change my mind if I knew what I was missing with a “real” gravel bike? Who knows.
Have a 90's grass green w/ red Judy DH Rock Shox fork Mountain Cycle San Andreas that I bought dirt cheap a number of years back, still have it but not using it as much because I have a new one.
If I have enough extra am thinking of converting it to a 1x and replacing the rim brakes to disc brakes and do a more subtle paint job.
Your comments are right on. I'm an old guy with three old bikes, 1989 Rock Combo, a 1987 Diamondback Ascent, and a 1995 Rockhopper. The Rockhopper in pristine condition and ready to ride was $50 locally. I wanted to change out the stem to reduce the reach and it was difficult as you mention to find one that would fit. I do have a 2013 Specialized Tarmac as my road bike, but the old ones are fun to ride and fit my needs and style as I don't do any technical stuff.
Funnily enough, there actually is a dedicated 90's mountain bike store in my hometown!
Ha. Are you in San Diego?
@@PathLessPedaledTV Not quite... but still in California.
I have a 90-91 Schwinn Woodlands MTB. I’m the first and only owner. It’s now my commuter/gravel bike. Just had tuned. Only advantage it has is direct control on trails because of it being fully rigid and it’s surprisingly fast especially after I installed SPD pedals. So yes basically it’s a flat bar gravel bike.
I have this same bike (although the lugged model - & purple - woot, woot!), & had the same prob with the stem. I found the head tube to fit standard 1 1/8 threadless. I always enjoy your videos. Thanks for sharing.
I am on resto-mod of my fourth and fifth 90's mountain. My first in 2017 was the only one ready to ride after new tires. It became first resto mod when a LBS mucked up the bottom bracket and i wanted to DIM from then on. I don't think I have the interest once number 4 &5 are done (2023) to do more unless of course I run into the barn find of the century. You lay five great reasons not to dive into the hype. I am forever grateful that I started out flinging good money on an apprentice level tool kit at the start. It can also get you new riding partners when you fix up their old bike and back on the tread again.
Bought a Bridgestone steel mtb. For a short rider like me the longer top tube wasn't working. Tried every possible modification. Lesson learned. Had to sell it
yeah, people often make the mistake of assuming that they will fit because of the smaller "frame size" and misleading standover height (based on the arbitrary measurement of BB to end/middle of seat tube distance, which made sense in roadbikes but not as much mtbs - sizing in oldschool mtbs was mostly designed so at correct sizing the top tube would clear the inseam by like 4" or more to be more appropriate for the more dynamic riding expected) so someone might pick a 48cm frame that actually has a 56(!)cm top tube.
@@Exgrmbl i tried everything to alter the fit but it wasn't going to happen. I guess I can't have nice things. Lol. I do have a Niner gravel bike that fits perfectly id love to convert to an e assist but its all carbon🥺....No go!
I pine for my stolen Bridgestone MB-1 but I wonder if I were able to ride one now it might be a let down.
I happen to love 90s steel mountain bikes! But I’m the kind of guy who loves to wrench on them and has gathered most of the needed tools already. Looking forward to the next video.
Why should availabilty be a reason to not buy a 90s mtb?
When they’re not available you cant buy one 🤷🏽♂️
I have a 90s "hybrid" bike. A Bianchi Avenue from their Cross-terrain line, 700c wheels and a slightly angled top tube......I put some bull moose bars and some 38 schwalbe g-one tires.....it's kind of perfect, makes more sense to me than 90s mtb.
I've got a 1986 Fisher Comp that I need to start riding again! Got it when I used to work for Gary, right now I've been riding a Black Mountain Cycles Road+, it's night and day between the two bikes.
Nailed it. My lockdown hobby is diy wrenching on cheap, neglected mountain bikes. Yes some of them have painfully long/low front ends but they are totally rideable with bmx bars and look cool too.
@@lastfm4477 I wish I could. I only have experience with mid-90s Specializeds and they seem really low/long. Lately I’m into Diamondback and GT frames. They seem more reasonable and have a little livelier ride due to slightly shorter chainstay lengths.
I love 80s-90s mtbs. I like the geometry compared to specialized mtbs, it's more road like. I currently have an '83 Schwinn High Sierra. I hate the prices they go for, most of the time. All around decent urban bikes.
So glad I found this. Love your vids anyway, but today I'm trying to learn about a PARAMOUNT branded MTB I bought a year ago. Kinda figured Schwinn owned the paramount name, as there were many schwinn paramount roadbikes over the years. Mine is called a "Skid" Limited Edition. There is no Schwinn logo. It came to me in rough shape, but nicely equipped with Deore group. No decals identifying tubing either. Cool bike. I feel better about my purchase now seeing you put the time, energy and money into yours.
Yeah, seatposts can be tough. Many an eager young guy or gal has been brought to the point of abandoning a build on account of not finding a seatpost to fit.
Got lucky and just two weeks ago bought a 90s Raleigh Portage (Canadian built) for just $50. Needed a lot of tuning and new cables but it was pretty much to the same standards as the Raleigh road bikes from the 70s and 80s. Since those are the type of road bike I ride I had all the tools and rebuild was pretty straight forward. I'm liking the change of pace the MTB bike provides but I agree with everything in your vlog, I had to get a new stem and bars to be a little more upright. Good info Russ, keep pumping them out.
Thats a steal. Someone is selling one on ebay for like $1600
@@PathLessPedaledTV It’s a steel steal. Hahaha.
All your points are valid. I love '90s mountain bikes, and I've had several over the years. The ones I got were all very affordable. There's no way I'd pay big money for one today. Many of the old chromoly are really nice, and will last damn near forever, but you have to watch out for those weird standards, and outdated designs. I sold a Gary Fisher HK-II a few years ago. It was beaten up quite a bit, so many of the parts got modern upgrades. That bike also came with a 1-1/4" threaded headset, and a weird bottom bracket that took cartridge bearings held in with C-clips. I'm sure they're durable, but good luck ever finding replacements for them! I'm also not a fan of exposed shifter cables that go under the bottom bracket. Top tube cable routing is a blessing. I bought a used Rocky Hammer Race a couple years ago, that had been converted into a commuter bike. I converted it back to a proper MTB. Despite the adventures I've had with it, I'd much prefer something with modern geo that can take a dropper post. The new flatbar gravel bikes being made these days may look similar to bikes sold 30 years ago, but they have the modern features and handling we've come to expect from bikes these days.
I recently purchased a 1989 Bridgestone mountain bike. I've been working on it for a few months now but I know I'm going to like it once I can ride it. Not to mention all that I've learned in the process. I would definitely do it again (in probably 1/4 the time!)
I love your videos very much since, I have been an avid cyclist since the late seventies (When I say avid, I mean, the time I started to take cycling as a very serious level with, bike racing, cyclocross, and bike touring). I still have a couple of me old vintage bikes. I actually updated the frame sets with properly welded on disk brake mounts, and installed external threaded bottom bracket bearings, and basically mixed old with new. Yes, it took a great deal of modifying of the frame set but, the final results gave me a very classic bike, and totally fun to ride. With all of the modern technology, fancy material for frame building, I still love the old chromoly frame sets like Columbus, Rynolds, Champion, and Tange tubing of Japan. These older frame sets are always fun to modify, and build up into some fancy old school mixed with modern. I must say one thing. One must have a passion for bikes, like meself to, invest time into such projects. It can be done, if done correctly. So at the end of the day, there can be some very beautiful bikes to be had even if, they are from the eighties, and nineties.
Keep your videos going. I love what you do. You do display a great passion towards the world of cycling, and you cover lots of great, and very interesting points about cycling. I also enjoy your bicycle shop tour, interview videos.