anything a modern mountian bike will do better than my 19 year old model?
 

i have been roadbiking pretty much daily for about a year and a half. till my knee hurt. not so much pain anymore, so i am back on a bike. a few weeks ago, i dug my old full suspension stumpjumper out and gave it a quick once over..missing pedals, missing seat, missing brake pads..blown out cables.. i bought a few parts and put it back together, and got a full tune up. the tune up guys ooo'd and ahh'd over such an archaic beast.. it is still very light, and now thanks to new cables shifts like a dream.

i popped a pain killer and took it out to return some videos and buy my wife a mexican popsicle..it road like a 4x4 truck..slow, lumbering..unstoppable..i was going on and off curbs like an idiot. my smile was HUGE!! i have forgotten was a true granny gear is like..feet/legs ablur, and barely moving. hahha.

i will ride this bike for awhile..i spent more $$ buying parts than what it is worth..i get bored on my road route..i pass thru some great mountian biking areas. i always pause on my route, and see mountain guys blasting amonst the trees above me. i think mixing it up will go far to keeping me interested..at least i could binocular up some deer and turkey in the wilderness.

have mountain bikes advanced alot?..worthy of a a new purchase?. i do want to try a new hardtail 29er..wife is gonna be wearing "annoyed face" again. :)

oh, my "package" has gotten used to one of those bike saddles with a "void" in the middle. felt like i got a gentle kick to the nuts. need to adjust that seat some before the next outing..

I love my hard tail 29er. I ride it off all the curbs, steps, etc on campus like an idiot. I know the 4x4 feel on the road though. I need a good road bike for long rides. The resistance of those 2.1 mud tires is HUGE....

http://img.tapatalk.com/a6cd0a52-42c1-12f0.jpg

29er pron...

I've been eyeballing an Ibis.

My Stumpjumper dates back to when active suspensions were not invented I think. Bought it in 1989. Rode a million miles in the woods on it.

I still ride my old Proflex, well at least sometimes. Biggest difference to me is disc brakes kill my old v brakes. No comparison.

hey, i had an old proflex!! 989 or something.. i added the eibach spring in the rear and rode that thing to death. literally. i snapped the rear where one of the bushings go. i loved that bike. nothing fit me as well.

my stumpjumper front fork has the attachment points for disc..hmm.

You'll hurt yourself with discs.... ;)

29" wheels and disk brakes are probably the most noticeable improvements. That said, I have beat my bike up and down the local mountains with 28" and rubber brakes for years. I'd ride it for a year or two more and if you get a lot of use out of it, consider upgrading.

G

It comes down to the 'motor'. Nothing better than dropping guys on new rides with an 'archaic beast'.

What's up with the knee? Is your seat adjusted properly?

I've been meaning to relieve my old mountain bike from commuter duty, strip off the finders etc, put on knobbies and return her to trail duty. I'm not likely to do anything too demanding, just the mixed-use hiking-biking trails in the local parks. It is a 1992-ish hardtail with aftermarket fork (remember the old Rockshox Mag 21?).

stupid gout attack. (i dont know why gout is embarrasing to me)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1334598211.jpg

Thanks Moses. I'm royalty!

modern forks are a lot better

they keep working on better gears, shifters too

I started MTBing with a Schwinn hardtail back in the early '90s (I'm only 27 btw), then I moved onto full-suspension. I started off with an '04 Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Comp and then bought an '09 Elite. Happy with both bikes, but the components really started to fall off on the '04 which prompted me to buy the '09. The components on the '09 are doing ok, but they are also starting to wear out. This time around, I'm just replacing what breaks/wears out with a better and/or longer-lasting part. I ride my stuff hard, but also take very good care of it.

Strictly speaking about frame, geometry and efficiency, the suspension design and movement on the '09 is also leaps and bounds ahead of the '04. The bike does everything better and more smoothly.

If you shop around and are patient, you can find great deals on some bikes. It helps to ride a few to see what you like and don't like about how the full-suspension setups differ from one another.

The '04

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...MTB/stumpy.jpg

The '09

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...MTB/spesh8.jpg

I've never seen a 28" wheel bike before. Where'd you get the extra 2" from? :D

I've gone totally the other direction - no suspension anywhere. Salsa Vaya (does have discs, though I actually prefer rim brakes)

http://salsacycles.com/files/bikes/bikes_vaya_comp1.jpg

The 28-inch wheels that are 1 1/2 inches wide appear on English, Dutch, Chinese and Indian rod-brake roadsters, and may also be called F10, F25 or 700B. Tires measuring 28 x 1 5/8 x 1 1/4 inches are a Northern European designation for 700C tires. Some German companies designate 700C tires as 28-inch tires with decimal widths.

This is a good topic!

I'm still riding my old Cannondale "Beast of the East", I have a newer Fox shock ont he fron and disc brakes, but everything is still strictly old school....

Bill