[wrecklessfable]

A few years ago I aquired a Diamondback X-Link (I won it in a competition actualy :thumbsup: ). I have riden it a handful of times but many years away at university has meant it has become somewhat neglected as I only use an old run-around for getting to and from class etc. Anyway, I can find very little info. anywhere about the X-Link and was wondering if anybody had any info / experience with one. Is it any good?

Secondly, as I plan to return home soon for an extended period I am looking forward to getting back into my mountain biking more seriously again and in the process upgrade some parts. Initially things like the front forks, a nice set of hydraulii brakes and then maybe the rear shock before later on things like derailers, cranks, pedals, wheels etc. Is it worth keeping the X-Link frame and upgrading the parts or would it be more worthwhile buying a new bike (Specialised, Kona, etc) with some more quality parts already installed (disk brakes, decent forks etc)??

Any help would be much appreciated

 

[cegrover]

By most measures, that's a very good frame. X-Link is a 2000 model and, from what I've read, it's basically the same as the '99 XR (including the ~25 lb. XR-8) and other '00 X and XR frames. X-Link was the entry level model, so it's heavier due to component choices. The '00 frames have 5" of travel, which is competitive with most trail bikes today. I've also not heard of failures on that frame. Other good news is that your '00 bike should have a standard disc mount in the rear, which was not the case with the '99 frames.

The best plan is to start out riding the bike as-is (with a tune up/check), then pick upgrades based on how the bike performs. You can do a lot of very high quality upgrading on the cheap - Ebay, Craigslist, MTBR classifieds, etc. If you like the fit of the frame, I say keep it. The alternative would be to clean and tune it and sell it, but you'd likely get less than $500 - maybe more like $300 or so - and that won't go far toward a new bike (assume you'll spend $1,500 or so to get a good mid-level bike, or maybe $1K on a closeout deal).

 

[wrecklessfable]

Excellent, thanks for your reply Cegrover. Helps a lot