Yea, you are probaly right. My last 26er was a Giant Trance XO, the ride before was a Stumpjumper FSR and the one before that was an S-works Enduro SL. So yea, I am biased toward the slacker geometry bikes.

I picked the XC rig because I am out of shape and I want every advantage to keep up on the up hills on the group rides.

I am not sure what model the GT rebound was but threadless was just starting in the mid 90's. Most road bikes still had quills. I bet low end mountain bikes did not have threadless until past the 2000.

Road changed over late 90s thru early 2000s. Mtn had switched a few years prior. I'm gonna say mtn t-less HSes were around in the mid-90s and had gotten really popular in the late 90s.

AFA a timeline, mebbe look up dia-compe? I know for a fact American Classic made a t-less adaptor for their Tri-Lock HS. I know! I have one! Waiting to go on Stick's Oschner if/when I upgrade her forks.

M

actually, from what all I've googled, threadless hit mtn bikes first, as they had more issues with quill flex, the threadless made the bars just *much* more connected to the forks.

the GT Rebound in question is a cro-mo steel framed hardtail, it has 1-1/8" threadless headset, Shimano AceraX/Alivio 21 speed group. cantilever brakes, some sort of RockShox fork (I don't see a model name on the fork, I should go take a closer look), and GT's classic crossed seatstays (I forget what they call that, but the seat stays cross the seat tube below the top tube and terminate at the top tube. It *is* a Made-in-Taiwan GT (early GTs were Made in USA). I think the Rebound was a ~$500 mtn bike in the mid-late 90s.

hey, if I wanted to restore this bike (its a decent frame), can those early rockshox be rebuilt? this one has a soft spring and zilch for rebound damping. I'd want to spring it pretty stiffly.

ah, I found some hints that in 99, a rebound was alum, in 95-98 it was steel. dunno if they existed before 95. wild guess says this one is 95-97 as the 98 had some different components.

ah HAH! its exactly this color and stuff, which claims to be a 97.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3478/...2ae7038b99.jpg

That is a rock shox indy fork. It used elastomers as springs and their internal damping for the rebound damping. I think I saw an article in the back or mountain bike action recently for a company that makes replacement elstomers for old suspension parts. Find someone with a subscription to MBA and look through the last 3 or 4 months of issues.

The GT design is a Triple Triangle Design.

Threadless also dropped nearly 1/2 pound from the bike.

btw. any opinions on my creative rear v-brake line routing?

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_JS1yca5KB-0/S-...0/IMG_5783.JPG
click for bigger

thats a longer-than-normal noodle, its like 120 degrees of arc instead of the usual 90 degree. when I first ran the cable on the left of the seat tube with the 90 degree noodle, it just seemed like it stuck out too far unless I secured the cable to the top tube fairly close to the seat tube, whereupon the cable made the brakes lean to the side too much. this routing seems to work well enough..

also, I think I'm going to swap the front wheel to match the back (mid/late 90s narrower Shimano rim instead of the current early 80s wide Saturae rim), this way the front brakes won't be 'out' so much (I've already swapped the brake washers around, it wasn't enough).

I've seen worse. If it works, run with it.

M

Nuun discounts
 

I know there a few other folks here who like the Nuun tablets. I was able to get a pretty good deal from their online store at www.nuun.com:

- $3/off per 3-pack if you buy 3 or more 3-packs
- A coupon code, 'enjoynuun10', will knock off an additional 20%
- Today there's free shipping on orders over $50

In all it got the price down to $4.40/tube, which almost doesn't seem like a ridiculous price for a dozen salt tablets.

Not affiliated, just a user of the product.

Not the same creature I think. This was the most exotic frame at the time. A little more info below:

http://www.mombat.org/1992_Specialized_Ultimate.htm

well, got the newer rim reasonably trued (it was only a little out), fresh rim tape, and slapped my new Geax Evolution front on it, and lo and behold, I had to swap the vbrake shoe washers back the way they came, and gee, its a near perfect fit.

sigh, these newer rims I'm now running (which are off a GT like the pic I posted above, btw) are 32 spoke, my original wheels were 36 spokes with a distinctly thicker spoke gauge (I built those original wheels to be *strong*). ah well, they'll probably be fine. the shimano acerax hubs from said '97 GT are in reasonable shape and seem like decent semi-sealed hubs (they aren't cartridge bearings, but they have some kind of dirt seals that seem to be like a silicone rubber)

and I dropped to a 40 tooth front, and voila, I now have...

40:13 - 3.08
40:15 - 2.67
40:17 - 2.35
40:20 - 2.00
40:24 - 1.67
40:29 - 1.38
40:34 - 1.18

which is almost as high as it was before with the original 44:14 top end (at 3.14:1 was a too tall for level ground on this bike anyways), and a low I can climb hills with.

Mine was the same basic idea sans Ti lugs. Carbon tubes into AL lugs. ALA the Epic Allezes on the road. Tho, upon thinking about it, they were painted, so I haven't the foggiest what they were made of! I was riding it in the mid-90s. Don't know where Ho got his 2 frames. Don't want to know! :nah

Nicest riding bike I've ever owned.

If Ho hadn't wrecked it and crumpled the TT into the head lug before I got it, I'd still be riding that bike! He had another frame, so we traded. My Performance Ti frame for his S-Works carbon frame. He broke the Ti frame. I kept the carbon frame for lotsa years, so I won on that one!

M

My first mtb was a 1990 Diamondback Ascent. It was not anywhere close to 19lbs. More like high twenties. Must've been the heavy duty black paint that made it heavier than yours.:D Maybe there's a difference between your pounds and ours... sorta like your "imperial gallons" measurement of gas.:deal Seriously, if your Diamondback is that light, keep riding it. Just be sure to wear a tinfoil helmet.:evil

If you're here in the Bay Area, you can pick up a ten pack for $42 at Sports Basement every day.

I bought a box of them last summer, then promptly went out and broke my ribs. Nailing my training to a wall, it has yet to escape from. :huh

I like the tablets a lot. Some of the flavors are not my favorites, but they still work. No heartburn for me with these either. Others I've used hammer me.

I've been using Alacer (Emergen-C) Electromix, with good results - 1 packet makes 32oz, 30 packets/7$. But Nuun would be more portable if you were refilling along the way - 1 tab vs 1/2 packet.