[hjaltip]

Looking for a mongoose Amplifier B3 full bike. Any tips on where to find one are really well appreciated.

pm me or email me hjalti.parelius(-a-)gmail.com

 

[Still Snoozin]

My AMP B2 may be what you are looking for. I attach and image - sorry it is dirty I could wash It !!!

I bought my bike in 1996 from a guy who had just turned pro and was getting a bike from sponsors (not sure when he bought it).

I rode the bike weekly for a couple of years (loved - loved – loved it) and then not at all for several years. Rode it recently (still sweet) - replaced the driver train - did not know it was vintage until someone told me the other day - since then I have been researching it and am quite impressed by what I have learned. A guy at a vintage bike shop in Wisconsin is helping me out and he advised that it’s the frame that makes it interesting and I could buy back the originals of the parts replaced for about $100.

I saw your post while I was doing some research on my AMP.I be happy to discuss selling it to you. I'll email you directly too.

 

[datasurfer]

That's a B2, not a B3.

 

[N10S]

Here are some pics of my B3 which had a single downtube:

That top tube gusset on the B3 is very similar to the gusset found on the contemporary Turner Flux. Mongoose never built a B3 based bike that I recall, but maybe I just missed it along the way. I know they moved on to their own "amplifier 2" frame later which I am pretty sure was not an Amp based frame.

I owned a Mongoose Amplifier that I purchased new as a frameset in 1992/93 and it was much more flexy with the double down-tube. It was basically a re-badged B2. Having owned a Mongoose Amplifier/B2, a B3, and a B4 I personally favored the B3 as being the best handling and best looking with less flex. I wanted to like the B4 but never liked the handling of that bike. Wish I still had that original Amplifier though as it was ultralight and built with some nice select vintage 3dv parts.

Here is a Amp thread with some B2 pics. https://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24463

 

[Still Snoozin]

Thanks fro the correction - Someoneelse told me it wasa B3 - I really don't have the background to know myself. I just bought a "bike" years ago that a buddy recommended. I am enjoying learning more about it. I also am trying to guess what year it might have been made.

Does B1 mean it is older/newer ?? What years was the B1 made. What does B1,B2,B3,B4 indicate??

 

[datasurfer]

Thanks fro the correction - Someoneelse told me it wasa B3 - I really don't have the background to know myself. I just bought a "bike" years ago that a buddy recommended. I am enjoying learning more about it. I also am trying to guess what year it might have been made.

Does B1 mean it is older/newer ?? What years was the B1 made. What does B1,B2,B3,B4 indicate??

I'm no expert myself on old AMP/Mongoose bikes, but here is what I do know. The first generation of frames which have the twin downtube are known as the AMP B2 or if made by AMP for Mongoose, the Mongoose Amplifier. I believe they came out 92-93. They are also distinguishable from later iterations of the product by the F1 fork which has black steel legs vs. aluminum alloy legs. The AMP B3 has a single thicker downtube and the F2 fork which has alloy legs. I don't know too much about the B3 or the B4. I have a Mongoose F1 fork on an old 1994 Lightspeed Obed, because it is just about the lightest suspension fork I could find. However, with certain frame models and sizes, there is not enough clearance between the parallelogram mechanism and the downtube of the frame for the fork to turn without interference. I solved this issue on the size small Obed by using a Chris King headset and a +5 baseplate.

 

[Still Snoozin]

Thanks everyone - this is good stuff !

 

[muddybuddy]

Lotta incorrect info in this thread.

 

[Still Snoozin]

Please feel free to add what you know - I am learning as I go - Thanks

 

[datasurfer]

Lotta incorrect info in this thread.

That helps. So enlighten us.

 

[muddybuddy]

Twin downtube version is a b2 or mongoose amplifier the only difference being the stickers. This was the first readily available version. B3 was essentially the same but singledowntube. B4 had shorter seat stays with inturupted seat tube design. B5 was a linkage design similar to the late 90s FSR bikes.

Fork names always start with F not B.

 

[datasurfer]

Twin downtube version is a b2 or mongoose amplifier the only difference being the stickers. This was the first readily available version. B3 was essentially the same but singledowntube. B4 had shorter seat stays with inturupted seat tube design. B5 was a linkage design similar to the late 90s FSR bikes.

Fork names always start with F not B.

Thanks Muddybuddy. I made the changes to the post, so as to not spew out misinformation on this forum. So was there ever a production model called the B1? How did it differ from the B2?

 

[muddybuddy]

Thanks Muddybuddy. I made the changes to the post, so as to not spew out misinformation on this forum. So was there ever a production model called the B1? How did it differ from the B2?

I'm not sure, but I would assume there was some version or maybe just a prototype series before the B2. Maybe the great Oracle of Amp knowledge knows.

 

[Still Snoozin]

Thanks - So it sounds like mine is a B2 (is that correct? ) - what year was that built?

 

[DeeEight]

There never was a B-1 frame, the Mongoose Amplifier 2 was the same frame as the Amp B-3 except it came with a Risse supplied rear shock instead of the Amp thru-shaft shock. The colour of the Amplifier 2 was a blue main frame with polished swingarm instead of the black main frame of the Amplifier 1.

I have a 20" size B-3 which I've been considering unloading from my collection. I have TOO many full suspension bikes at the moment, especially 26er ones.

 

[DFA]

the Mongoose Amplifier 2 was the same frame as the Amp B-3 except it came with a Risse supplied rear shock instead of the Amp thru-shaft shock. The colour of the Amplifier 2 was a blue main frame with polished swingarm instead of the black main frame of the Amplifier 1

Wrong. Mongoose switched to their own frame in 95 and called it Amplifier2.

It was the same rear end later used by Litespeed for their Hiwassee

 

[rassel115]

I have 2 AMP forks I'm willing to sell.. an original steel, new bushings and shafts.. Also an aluminum with very little time on.. Like new.. plus extra shafts, and a spring..

 

[N10S]

Wrong. Mongoose switched to their own frame in 95 and called it Amplifier2.

It was the same rear end later used by Litespeed for their Hiwassee

Glad you posted the amplifier 2 pics. I couldn't recall if it was a mac strut or not, but I knew it was not an amp research frame.

 

[72tunaboat]

Just for comparison. I purchased this bike new in 94 or 95. It's a Mongoose Amplifier. I should have left the decals alone, but hated them back then. This must have been the last year for the AMP built Mongoose.

 

[N10S]

Thats a sweet looking amplifier! I think your timing is about right for that black Amplifier as I recall the black amplifiers showing up at the races during the 94 season. I remember having tried two of the original iterations of cannondale FS bikes (Delta V 1000, and Delta V2000) in the 90-92 time frame and was one of the first guys in St.Louis to move to a newly-released Amplifier frame and fork. Man...that mac-strut/horst link design rear suspension was night and day better than those cannondales thats for sure.

Like yours mine started its life with the steel-legged F2 amp fork. Later I upgraded to the lighter all aluminum alloy F3 with what they referred to as an HD/DH kit which used a through-shaft shock damper on each side as opposed to the single damper on one side. The F3's spring also sat in the opposite direction of the original F2 forks spring. Thanks for the pic of that B2 this thread is starting to work on my desire to own another one.