That'll do pig.



First mountain bike I ever bought was a Diamond Back. That was a long time ago.

Nice work!

 

Cantis work fine - just take a little more adjustment, but not much more. I also have a bike with rollercams, which work well, too.

 

Cantis work fine - just take a little more adjustment, but not much more. I also have a bike with rollercams, which work well, too.

rollercams?? i remember those....but i didn't think they put them anywhere but on road bikes. well, whaddya know.

 

That'll do pig.



First mountain bike I ever bought was a Diamond Back. That was a long time ago.

Nice work!

hey...where are those photos with denzel taken? war-time? my wife 'worked' with him on courage under fire. she was a background 'extra' in a military outfit and worked behind the scenes a bit....

 

hey...where are those photos with denzel taken? war-time? my wife 'worked' with him on courage under fire. she was a background 'extra' in a military outfit and worked behind the scenes a bit....

Those were taken at the Brooks Army Medical Center. He was taking a tour and made a sizable donation on the spot that was large enough to build a house in the Fisher housing complex that gives housing to the families of hurt soldiers.

 

From what I can tell, Vertex was a 1995-only name for DB and there were steel (Vertex TR), Aluminum (Vertex, Vertex TA) and steel-lugged carbon (WCF Vertex) version. Incidentally, Rocky Mountain has had Vertex as a model name for some time - maybe DB dropped it to avoid confusion? Anywho, it looks like all Zetecs were aluminum; so the likely steel frames are Axis or Vertex if 1995-1996 or older (though yours seems to lack the canti hanger, so probably isn't), then Apex SE ('96 or '97).

I'd almost bet it's a '97 Apex SE, as that would be most likely to have V-brakes of the steel DBs I found.

Of course, DB could have used a seat collar hanger, but I doubt it in the mid 90s. Also, note the canti hanger on the 1996 bike in the auction below. Also, you can see the canti hanger in the photo you posted above.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Diamond-Back-Racing-MTB-frame_W0QQitemZ260032206240QQihZ016QQcategoryZ98083QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

If it's an Apex SE, it's True Temper TT Lite tubing, which, I think, is pretty light in weight.

dang, someone got a good deal in that auction.

i'm stripping all the paint off my apex . going to attempt to have a welder fab a disc brake mount to the rear. i also got the suggestion to have a gusset welded to the head tube for extra strength (ala surly's instigator). he's willing to work for mexican food and a dos equis or two...

problem is...powder coating is going to cost at least $150 or so. i may try to paint it myself when the weather warms a bit (early spring perhaps). it'll be kinda cool to have a customized diamond back if everything works out ok.

anyone have any experience painting their own bikes? i have an air compressor and want to get a decent enough paint sprayer.

 

ohh....also. i believe the bike came with a 65 mm fork (??). what will an 80 or 100 do to the handling?

i'm hoping to 'relax' the bike a bit...but not make it twitchy or weird feeling. thanks again!

 

One great thing about steel bikes is that you can have something like a disc tab added. Aluminum requires bolt-on type add-ons. The gusset probably wouldn't hurt except for adding some weight; but I'm wondering why it's necessary - will you ride harder than XC?

Going up in travel (and thus down in effective head tube angle) will slow down the steering and will make it more relaxed. 100mm may be pushing it, however. You could always use something with adjustable travel and/or a lockout that locks the fork in the 'down' position (like Marzocchi's ETA) so that the bike has the lower front for climbing.

 

problem is...powder coating is going to cost at least $150 or so. i may try to paint it myself when the weather warms a bit (early spring perhaps). it'll be kinda cool to have a customized diamond back if everything works out ok.

anyone have any experience painting their own bikes? i have an air compressor and want to get a decent enough paint sprayer.

I have found a powdercoater who will do a bike frame for about $40.

Check your phone book and look for someone who does industrial coatings...if you let them use a color that they are doing for another customer (say lawnmowers or something), you can get a pretty good deal.

 

whereabouts are you rockhound?

cegrover: the gusset seems like a good idea considering my weight...and the relative light-weightedness (is that a word?) of the steel used to make this frame. they won't be large gussets, as there are 2 cable guides on the side of the top tube near the head tube.

 

Thread still going!?!

Man...I can't believe this thread is still active! I discovered it on a recent google search.

Anyway, updates on the bike. I've upgraded nearly every component on it in an effort to get weight down and get it in full racing form. Apparently this worked out pretty well because I took 8th place in Men's A XC at the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference Championships on this bike. It has many miles on it...most of them out in New England, though I brought the bike home to Colorado for a brief stint this summer. I'm not on my computer right now, but I'll post some updated pics once I get a chance. I think people will be pleased.:eekster:

In the meantime, I've noticed there is some talk about painting your own bike. While I wouldn't recommend it, I recently completed a little project:

Also...look what's on ebay:
https://cgi.ebay.com/Titanium-DBR-Sandvik-Mountain-Bike-21-4-Pounds_W0QQitemZ250048049504QQihZ015QQcategoryZ98083QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

Handling...these bikes have too much of it.

ohh....also. i believe the bike came with a 65 mm fork (??). what will an 80 or 100 do to the handling?

i'm hoping to 'relax' the bike a bit...but not make it twitchy or weird feeling. thanks again!

If the geometry is anything like mine, an 85mm (or even a 100mm) fork will be fine. My bike climbs like nothing I have ever ridden, but feels pretty sketchy on some steep descents and that is with an 85mm. A little bit longer fork would probably help. Remember it is all about axle to crown length, not travel, though.

 

axle to crown length.....what sort of length should i look for?

between the powder coating, buying some steel and the dinner and beers for the welder, i'm nearing 2/3 the price of a 'new' steel frame. the nashbar is about $280 plus i'm sure i can find a coupon. i also kinda like the on one 456.

so i'm a bit torn. i may just repaint this guy myself and build it into a commuter type bike. maybe even with a rigid fork.......

 

oh...and sorry to semi-hi jack your thread. figured i'd take advantage since it seemed like you had the info you needed...

 

axle to crown length.....what sort of length should i look for?

I can measure mine sometime if you want, but really if you stick with anything under 90mm you should be fine. My fork is a Marzocchi, which is the brand that I would recommend anyway. Jensonusa has the MX comp on sale for a little over 200 right now.

between the powder coating, buying some steel and the dinner and beers for the welder, i'm nearing 2/3 the price of a 'new' steel frame. the nashbar is about $280 plus i'm sure i can find a coupon. i also kinda like the on one 456.

You can think of it that way, but the quality of the nashbar frame isn't going to be in the same league as a DBR frame. Back in the day, these frames were the bike to have. Greg Herbold used to kick ass on them. Besides, if you take on this project, you will have a frame that is totally unique...unlike the nashbar one.

so i'm a bit torn. i may just repaint this guy myself and build it into a commuter type bike. maybe even with a rigid fork.......

I wouldn't recommend painting the frame yourself. First, it is very time consuming. I spend over 7 hours stripping and sanding alone. Second, the painting itself is very hard to do well. Mine is definitely not perfect. Third, the paint isn't anywhere near as durable as a powder coat (i.e. you probably wouldn't want to use the frame for commuting or mountain). Fourth, it is not cheap to paint your own frame! I probably spent over 75 dollars on all the spray paint and supplies to do mine. If you buy good paint, you are looking at about 5 dollars a can. With 2 cans for each coat, a coat of primer, color, and clear that's a lot of paint!

I would recommend the rigid fork, though. You can get tange steel ones pretty cheap.

 

thanks for all the info! i finally found an online source for the disc brake mount (i ordered 2 in case we screw one up)....they're like $8 each or something around there. i know it's just a chunk of metal with 2 screwholes in it....but it eliminates any potential mis-measurement on my part. which is likely

i'm still stripping paint (doing little bits at a time) and should be ready for the welding this weekend if my welder is in town and the parts come in.

i'll try to take some pics as i go. unless we mess it up. then you'll never hear from me again.

 

thanks for all the info! i finally found an online source for the disc brake mount (i ordered 2 in case we screw one up)....they're like $8 each or something around there. i know it's just a chunk of metal with 2 screwholes in it....but it eliminates any potential mis-measurement on my part. which is likely

i'm still stripping paint (doing little bits at a time) and should be ready for the welding this weekend if my welder is in town and the parts come in.

i'll try to take some pics as i go. unless we mess it up. then you'll never hear from me again.

Sounds awesome.

I want to hear from you again because I want to know how she rides! You better take those pics too.

 

Update!

I promised an update with pics, so here it is! Actually, this is more of a short photo history than anything.

Here's an early pic of me racing one of my few NORBA races on the bike. At this point, the bike was still pretty much exactly as it was in the original photos, except maybe for the saddle. I did quite a few races on it that way. It performed very well, but I knew that it (and I) had great potential.

Here is the bike as it was for quite some time. These pics were taken during my brief trip home to Colorado this summer. By this time I had updated bars, stem, seatpost, grips, gone to tubeless, and other things I am forgetting.

Pic near South Park:

Impending rain on the Colorado Trail:

Maverick Trail (name sound familiar?):

Looking out over Denver:

Then the biggest change happened...yummy:

And here is the bike as it sits in its current configuration and how I raced it this fall:

Spec list:
-Frame...well, you know that story
-Handlebars: Easton EC70
-Grips: ESI racer's edge (got sick of uncomfortable lock-ons)
-Bar ends: Singletrack Solutions
-Brake Levers: Old XT V-brake (in original build)
-Shifters: NOS Shimano 7 speed rapidfire (Broke ones on original build)
-Stem: RaceFace Evolve XC
-Seatpost: Raceface XY (crushed original crappy one)
-Saddle: WTB pure V gel titanium (hated that original road saddle)
-Headset: Pewter King (hobbled headset developed play)
-Fork: Rebuilt Marzocchi MX comp with enduro seals
-Cables: Drycables all around
-Brakes: XTR V's with dual compound Kool Stop's (on original build)
-Crankset: Shimano XT M760 HT2 (original STX was bendy)
-Chain: SRAM PC-60 (burned through several KMC's)
-Skewers: Shimano XT up front, XTR out back
-Cassette: Shimano HG70 7 speed (burned through a few performance brand 7 speeders)
-Front Derailleur: Ghetto XTR I found in the cycling team building (original was dead)
-Rear Derailleur: NOS Shimano STX (original got sloppy)
-Wheelset: King classic hubs in Pewter, Sapim CX bladed spokes, Stan's ZTR 355 rims with yellow tape (Front crossroc was too bendy, Rear crossland was begging for mercy, both were too heavy)
-Tires: UST Kenda Nevegals (got sick of Michelins' tendency to let go suddenly rather than gradually)

Think I got everything. So there you have it, a bonafide 7 speed XC racer.

 

That's one hell of a build! I'd be interested in seeing the weight.

 

damn, that is sweet. you've done a great job with it!

and you're running that marzocchi at 85? doesn't look like it messed with the angle much at all from the pictures.

oh...and any reason you decided not to go to 8 or 9 speed?

 

Thanks!

That's one hell of a build! I'd be interested in seeing the weight.

Thanks! So would I, but not with those boat anchor UST nevegals on there. Alas, our team has no scale... We recently got sponsored by Kenda, so I'm gonna try out a set of the UST Klimax's. Either that or run the super light Nevegals with stan's.

I once had it on this lamo pad scale that was integrated into a topeak stand at the LBS, but I doubt it was right. Also, it was before many of the upgrades, namely the wheelset.

 

Again, thanks!

damn, that is sweet. you've done a great job with it!

and you're running that marzocchi at 85? doesn't look like it messed with the angle much at all from the pictures.

oh...and any reason you decided not to go to 8 or 9 speed?

Yep, I've really invested a lot into that bike. I think it has been worth it.

Yep...Marzocchi with 85mm travel. Doesn't look too bad in the pics, but it is noticeably higher than the front end of the LBS owner's original build. I can't even imagine how sketchy that thing must be on the downhills.

I've really played with the idea of going to 8 or 9 speed, but just can't justify it. I like the wider chain and cogs of the 7 speed (no advantage over 8 speed there). I like that I can buy a cheap cassette that is beefy and weighs not much more than a modern XT 9 speed. I like the super cheap chains. Most of all, though, I like the gearing. The 12-27 forces me to be fast especially when I stay in my middle ring 97% of the time, like a pseudo single speed. Then when I get on my dually with a 34t rear it is luxurious. I would really like the lighter weight of some SRAM 2:1 shifters...maybe someday, but for now the 7 speed is the way to go I think.

 

i put x9 stuff on my db topanga (the frame i'm riding until i get my apex sorted out). love them compared to the grip shift/rollamajig/xt rear der i was running.

i stay mostly in the center ring as well...but mostly due to inexperience and confidence, i suppose. i ride what i can...walk what i have to .

i'm sure you could find some nice 2:1 shifters on ebay super cheap these days. i've got some low level grip shifters sitting in a box unused....but they're kinda clunky (and 8 speed).

 

oh....and yeah...i never really felt comfy with the 65 mm fork on there with downhills. i definitely like a more 'slack' angle of attack....even if climbing suffers a bit.

 

i put x9 stuff on my db topanga (the frame i'm riding until i get my apex sorted out). love them compared to the grip shift/rollamajig/xt rear der i was running.

i'm sure you could find some nice 2:1 shifters on ebay super cheap these days. i've got some low level grip shifters sitting in a box unused....but they're kinda clunky (and 8 speed).

Yeah, I like the X9 stuff I have on my dually, but I don't think SRAM stuff is as reliable as Shimano. I always used to put my knees into my shifters. The SRAM levers are just weak enough that they bend up when I knee them, but are too strong to bend back. And, of course, since they are aluminum, they fatigue and gradually bend back up under normal use so they catch on the release (click) lever.

Those ghetto 7 speed shimano shifters I replaced only exploded after 7 or so years of punishing use.

Still...you are right, there are some rocket shifters on ebay for pretty cheap...now you've got me thinkin'...