Mountainbikers

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honduhmatic said:
Is that an IRD fork on the DeKerf? You rarely see parallelogram forks.
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It's an IRD TL-5. They only made 100, so you rarely see them.

I'm surprised no one mentioned this.

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Before you ask, stainless, Ahearne Cycles in Seattle, about $45 shipped (flask sold separately).
 
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FullMotoJacket said:
20 years old would mean a 91 which would put it right on the edge of suspension corrected geometry (they started tweaking the steering head height and angles to compensate for the increased length of suspension forks around 91-93, depending on the manufacturer). If you give me the model name I can look it up in our database. An older 63mm fork with a 396mm a-c length like a Rock Shox Indy, Mag 20/21, or Manitou 2 won't adversely affect your handling too much. For what your bike's worth, I'd look for something used on kijiji or a deal on old NOS stock at a mom and pop bike shop and get someone to swap it out for you.

There are 3 different steerer tube diameters and 2 different stem systems. You need the right one. If I had to hazard a guess without a model name I'd say 1 1/8" threaded.
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diamond back apex, i believe it has correct geometry for it, has a threaded headset, can't remember if it's the smallest or second smallest.
 
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1 1/8" threaded headset. Non corrected geometry. Mostly DX components. No unicorn, but a decent, well made/spec'd bike. You could get away with a short travel fork no problem. It's too bad you live on the other side of the CotY. My LBS has half a dozen old forks that would work on it, and it'd take a half an hour (45 min. if I'm drinking) to swap it out.
 
FullMotoJacket said:
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1 1/8" threaded headset. Non corrected geometry. Mostly DX components. No unicorn, but a decent, well made/spec'd bike. You could get away with a short travel fork no problem. It's too bad you live on the other side of the CotY. My LBS has half a dozen old forks that would work on it, and it'd take a half an hour (45 min. if I'm drinking) to swap it out.
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yup that is the bike. was all dx the year i bought it, the bottom bracket and shifters were swapped out. I occasionally hit up the west end of toronto, burlington's not much farther.
 
Just a quick update, last weekend I ended up buying an '09 Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Elite for $1200. It's in mint shape and only has one season on it. I'll be hitting the trails with it tomorrow.
 
I was gunna suggest buying an old dirtbike frame and attaching pedals to it.
 
I'm bored. guess I'll mess with invicus for a bit

This was dropped off at my work on Monday. Yes, it's an uber rare cromo rear Xizang. No serial number, so I'm guessing it's one of the first ones GT had Maurice Lavoie out of BC weld up for them in early 91.

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And these were dropped off today. They'll go good on the DeKerf. Very understated in silver. Probably give the Chim Chims to someone I don't like.

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Man, where do you FIND that stuff!! :-) I always liked the GT bikes..they had nice geometry and good back-end feel. I remember building up and riding a customer's GT Xizang production bike..it was a nice bike! There are probably a lot of those old gems sitting a basements out there collecting dust.. I'm trying to convince my brother to send me his Vitus 979.. :-) There's something about riding a bike that you know might explode at any moment..
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Sean Kelly : Paris-Roubaix (Hell of the North). I almost pulled the trigger on a pinkish-purple 979 frame back in 86. I just couldn't wrap my head around riding a glued together frame at the time (and we've both heard the horror stories about the glue they used at the time cough, cough, Alan, cough)


My friend ate/slept/breathed retro MTBs. His stash was legendary (NOS Westpine Snowflake hubs anyone?). He found that bike hanging in a shop in Miami in 06. He died a few months later. His brother and I came to an agreement on it's new home just recently.
 
FullMotoJacket said:
Sean Kelly : Paris-Roubaix (Hell of the North). I almost pulled the trigger on a pinkish-purple 979 frame back in 86. I just couldn't wrap my head around riding a glued together frame at the time (and we've both heard the horror stories about the glue they used at the time cough, cough, Alan, cough)
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My bro has the purple 979.. I rode it over in Austria when I visited a few years back..with the Kinesis alu fork..I was descending and whenever I used the front brake I was hugely alarmed at the amount of fork flex..I honestly thought the front wheel was going to hit the downtube.. :-) So light and flexy though..perfect for my 180lb physique.. :-)
 
I hate to thread jack but you guys seem pretty knowledgeable.

I have a late 90's Chuck HT (not ridden in last ten years) with raceface components, white brothers shocks, and cane creek rims that probably cost 7 grand back in the day.

Is a bike like this old enough to be cool again and therefore worth money?
 
They weren't popular. A bit of a flash in the pan. They were nice bikes, but wouldn't be considered collectible like say a Ritchey P-23, a WTB Phoenix, or a Mountain Goat WTR.
 
Invictus. You gotta help me. This isn't funny any more. What's that show? Intervertion?

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There was a time when I wanted a steel Brodie soooo bad... But $100 alu Taiwan pop-can frames cured me.. :-) Lighter AND cheaper!! :-) And you just throw them away in 5 years when they start to fatigue-crack and get the latest in fashion!! It bugs me that it's so hard to get a half-decent rigid fork these days..
 
rukus said:
gatorblade forks?
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Yup. Hand fabricated by the hemp head himself.

invictus43 said:
There was a time when I wanted a steel Brodie soooo bad... But $100 alu Taiwan pop-can frames cured me.. :-) Lighter AND cheaper!! :-) And you just throw them away in 5 years when they start to fatigue-crack and get the latest in fashion!!
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Aluminum fails too predictably. Gamblers run plastic.

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invictus43 said:
It bugs me that it's so hard to get a half-decent rigid fork these days..
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I find they turn up if you keep your eyes open. Sold these to some guy in the Bonty kult last week.

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