After researching for a few months I just bought a Bianchi Impulso 105. It's leagues better than my twenty year old Trek in one crucial area- shifting. It's effortless now and it was a PITA before. Just have to get used to cleats- I never had them before. They're the PITA now.

Yes I know for the $ I could have gotten a Cannondale/Fuji etc. in full carbon fiber. But mine's celeste. And it's Italian. Even if it was probably built in Taiwan.

http://www.bianchiusa.com/bikes/road/coast-to-coast/impulso/impulso-105/

If you have a 19 year-old model to play with, WTF do you need a mountain bike for?

I'll go out on a limb and say that anything made before 1996 should be replaced.
What happened in '96?
1. V-brakes
2. Modern suspension forks with hydraulic damping (Judy, Manitou Mach V)
3. Modern frame geometry designed to accommodate 3" suspension forks

I ride my 2001 Kona Munimula (Hardtail) at least 3 times a week. It has been steadily upgraded over the years and now has Hope Calipers with floating rotors and a new Fox fork among other things.

I've competed in some pretty big races with it including 70km epics and given it all manner of abuse. It just keeps going.

I love the frame geometry though and will keep riding and upgrading it until it breaks.

Hmm..... I guess my old Diamondback is really old school. Still works great, but I guess it would be lacking were I ever try to tackle high speed rough downhills. ;)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1334616055.jpg

That's my pavement bike. I tried riding in gravel with it and I feel like the spokes or something are going to give if I go too fast. My full suspension bike (though very old) feels much better on the rough stuff.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/max_911_fahrer/7010078053/" title="Lean Speed by Max_911S_fahrer, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7081/7010078053_6fd2e2e815_z.jpg" width="640" height="426" alt="Lean Speed"></a>

Looks to be the same era as my Specialized I bought in college and still have today. :)

I bought it in the late 80's while in college (seems like it was just under $500 IIRC). My old college buddy bought a Specialized Hardrock about the same time and he still rides his on occasion too.

In all fairness, neither of us rode them off-road much even back then. Mine still gets tossed in the airplane several times a year for transportation at Oshkosh and shooting competitions and that is about it..... It is hell to get old and too lazy to exercise. :D

Damn, someone beat me to it....

That's what she said!

I really should keep my mouth shut on topics I don't have a clue about. All I know is that mine isn't 29". ;)

G

Nope. A nineteen year-old model will outperform a mountain bike every time.:D

haha..messing with my words.

here is mine. i'm thinking it is younger than 19 years old. i cant remember when i got it.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1334635854.jpg

(on a side note, my new Panasonic Lumix camera is pretty sick! no flash!)

I have an '89 Ritchey hardtail, a '96 Mongoose Amplifier full suspension, an '08 Fisher Price hardtail, and a '10 Handsome cross bike. (We are talking about bikes that can be ridden in the dirt, right?)

All of them get ridden, depending on my mood. The Ritchey is set up as a 1x7 with fenders and a Rockshox Mag 21, and gets ridden if the trails are wet or I feel like loafing. My Mongoose is set up with a period correct, state of the art (for it's time) Paul drivetrain with a more modern fork and rear shock. It's my "hey look at all the cool stuff I made in the '90's" bike. The Fisher Price is actually pretty modern with disks and stuff, and is the fast (yet uncomfortable) bike in the bunch. The cross bike is well, a cross bike.

Soon, I'll build another single speed and a 29er. Or, I'll just build a SS 29er. ;)

If you can have fun on the bike you have, ride it. If not, buy another one (or four.)

Great thread. I still have my old Peugeot mountain frame that's about 20 years old, and a Giant Iguana. The Peugeot was my ride all through graduate school - its a freekin tank. All steel, I added Rock Shox to the front, hard tail, rear rack, panniers, front aero bar and road slicks. Frankenbike. It's awesome. I repainted it years ago including all the lettering and original graphics and would like to redo it. I probably burn 1,500 calories an hour pedaling that beast around. It's 45 pounds iirc, but absolutely indestructible. With a kid bike trailer it'd be the behemoth / strength-building machine of the millennium.

My "regular" mountain ride is a Cannondale Super V 900. Great bike. One of the early full suspension models. I bought it new and still love it.

Go from either of those to my roadie bike (Pinarello) and its like going from a garbage truck to a Ferrari. Lol!

Looks practically new to me. I wouldn't bother replacing it.

My $0.02-
I finally replaced a 1999 era hardtail with a 2011 Specialized Epic.
No comparison! Full suspension isn't all that light, but they have done a lot of geometry and suspension work recently. We (a group of 6-12 riders) have a weekly singletrack ride that benefits greatly from a modern bike. I really wish I had upgraded earlier. Too many P911 projects, though.

Not all of the improvement came from speed - but I certainly feel better during and after the ride. Much more in control, and able to negotiate obstacles more easily. We have a few riders using 29'er setups, but unless riding a full rigid bike and/or a fixie - I doubt that you'd feel any real difference. (Please insert arguments at will here).

As for wifey - with me, the expenditure was a source of much greater internal strife (I didnt want to spend the cash) than with her. This is my one stress relief/exercise opportunity during the week - and she said "Go do it already!" Yours might have the same reaction. Good luck!

Obligatory photo:http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1334682746.jpg

^Nice bike dude! Love the white saddle and grips.

Thanks.
I already pulled the saddle (replaced with a black Fizik'). Bars & Grips (both white) are on my list to go. With red rims, the white is a little loud for my taste. Not to mention the fact that as it gets dirty - will start looking a little less desirable.
Rides nice, tho!

New to MTB's, I rented an 2012 Stump Jumper a few weeks ago for a trail run/MTB race. The new 2012 suspension is totally lock-out able. So if you want to ride it on the road a few miles, you lock the front and rear to stop all that bobbing up and down. I don't think that ability has been around specifically for the rear suspensions for very long.

The stump jumper had SRAM X9 double ring 26/39 up front and an 11-36 in rear. I did break the chain in the race and ended up running the bike back to the finish line so I'm not a big fan of SRAM 10 speed chains. Otherwise, granny gear was acceptably grannyish and a 20 mpg jaunt on the road wasn't too hard.

I about launched myself learning to feather the disk brakes. I'm used to cyclocross cantilever brakes for off road forays. Those things are just one step above dragging your feet. +1 for disk brakes!

29" wheels, quasi adjustable suspensions, better geometry, disk brakes, better/more gearing? I think if you use the bike on trails regularly, it's worth the upgrade to newer technology.

This one replaced my 12Yr old Canyon,it corners way better than a 26" and with the spokes being longer it actually has a little suspension but is still a hardtail:http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1334696500.jpg

I tested a TREK/GARY FISCHER 29er that was equally good.

Regards,Arnoud