[Grinner]

"1991 Schwin Paramount PDG Series 70"

I've had this great old school bike in my shed for years. With the gas prices I'm considering starting to ride to work a few days a week to ease the monthly gas bill!

I bought the bike new back in 1991, road it in Southern Oregon for five years while in college. Now it pretty much gets tossed in the truck when I go camping. The bike is in great shape considering its age. The frame on this bike is light, and I've always liked the Deore XT hardware especially the old school "Thumbie" shifters.

Is this bike worth spending around $400 - $500 in upgrades like...front shock upgrade, new seat, new grips, bar ends, new cables, and a thorough professional tune-up?

Or would I be money ahead (quality, ride, weight, ) by buying a new bike, my budget would be at the most $800?

If a new bike is recommended, what would be a good hard tail bike to look for is the $800 range? I'm 6'-1" and 230 lbs and I'm looking to get back into biking again. I'd like to ride to work a few days a week (I've got a safe place indoors to keep it at work), and maybe a longer ride in the evening for exercise. I'd also enjoy some trial riding on the weekends, a little "easy" single track action, NO hardcore down hill, or climbing. I'm thinking I'd probably need a 21" frame, but with all the geometry and styles out there it might by a matter standing over each one to see whats works best.

I have not been out to the bike shops yet to price shop or demo ride, as I'm not ready to deal with the "sales pitch" yet. I want to first educate myself about what I should be looking for, and seek some good information and recommendations from the current day riders that read these forums.

Any input would be greatly appreciated :thumbsup:

~Grinner

 

[cegrover]

You've got a nice bike there, and I think it's worth some attention. These may have varied by year, but some were made with Tange Prestige tubing...about as good as it gets. I assume you have a rigid fork on the bike now. The frame's geometry is not likely set up for a suspension fork, but you could probably get away with a short-travel fork without messing up your handling TOO much. 80mm would be pushing it...better off finding an older, shorter travel fork. What you can find will also depend on the head tube diameter...if it's 1", then your options are much more limited. 1 1/8" has been the standard for some time now, but your bike's age means it could be either.

The question there is what you want to do with it. If it has a rigid fork now and you're mostly going to ride fairly smooth trails and commute, then keeping it rigid is fine. If you just want to take the edge off, you might try a Softride or Girvin suspension stem. They can be found on Ebay at times. You could even find different grips and gloves to be enough - it all depends on how you ride and your own preferences. Heck, go non-vintage and try a carbon bar for more compliance (though you may already have steel instead of alloy...).

As far as saddle, tune-up, cables, etc., it's well worth it. If you take on some of the work yourself, you can do this very cheaply - just depends on whether you feel like learning. Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance is a great book that will guide you through the steps. Cleaning and lube would be your first steps, then maybe chain/cassette (do both if you do one) and brake pads. It all depends on the condition/mileage, though - a good cleaning and lube may get you right back on the trail/road.

Do you have any photos??? We love photos here and they might help others assess what you should replace or service.

 

[YETIFIED]

That bike shouldn't need upgrades unless there are super worn or broken parts. Take it apart, clean, relube everything, new cables/housing and you're in business. The brake cables should be the oversize XT cable/housing which might be harder to find in your LBS, so you may want to leave those alone and just change out the shifter cable/housing. If you're going to do some commuting on it, you may consider some pavement friendly tires.