Daimondback Apex vintage?

(Clyde) said:

Just inherited a black DB Apex and am wondering what the vintage is.
Seems like these were around for quite a while in the late 80s/early
90s. Has LX 7 speed with top shifters and LX cantilever brakes, some
other Avenir stuff. Plan to clean her up and possibly go single speed.

I think mine was an '86 or '87, and it had Deore six-speed stuff (with
the stag on the rear derailleur no less). A fair pig by today's
standards, but I had a lot of fun on that bike.

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame

Clyde said:

Just inherited a black DB Apex and am wondering what the vintage is.
Seems like these were around for quite a while in the late 80s/early
90s. Has LX 7 speed with top shifters and LX cantilever brakes, some
other Avenir stuff. Plan to clean her up and possibly go single speed.

I'm guessing yours may be a very late 80s, perhaps early 90s model.

I've had two - one from 92, and my current one from 95/96.

The 92 one had a True Temper double butted chromo frame, with a red,
splatter-effect paint job. Sun / "Avenir" rims (I still have these
wheels, although the rear is quite taco-d from when somebody tried to
unsuccessfully steal it), 21 speed Deore DX throughout. I seem to
recall from the brochure that the Axis at the time was available with
some kind of black paint job - but I kinda thought that you could get
an Apex from around then in black, too.

My 95 has a True Temper TT Lite custom butted chromo frame, in dark
matt blue, with Mavic 231 rims. Groupset is mostly Deore LX in 24
speed, the odd exception being a Sugino crankset. Also had aheadset
headset, rather than the traditional, albeit oversize (1 1/8"😉 that was
on my '92 model.

Lots of "Avenir" badged accessories on both, but some Bontrager stuff
on my 95/96 (handlebars, saddle, that kind of thing).

I've always liked the Apex models that Diamondback produced from around
that time - they always seemed like very competent, steel framed hard
tails (and fronts!). I did many miles on my '92 model, and was
absolutely gutted when it was stolen. I've not done so many miles on my
later one, and it's been sat idle for a couple of years, but hoping to
change that shortly, when I move house and have better access to where
I keep it.

My newer one, seemed a step-up in price from around the level that my
92 one was. The frame looks to be well made and appears very light (I
believe the bike weighed around 23lbs off the shelf, the 92 one would
have been around 26). Although I haven't done as many miles on my newer
Apex, I have been really pleased with how it rides, and how the
equipment performs.

In article <[email hidden]>,
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Quoted message said:

Just inherited a black DB Apex and am wondering what the vintage is.
Seems like these were around for quite a while in the late 80s/early
90s. Has LX 7 speed with top shifters and LX cantilever brakes, some
other Avenir stuff. Plan to clean her up and possibly go single speed.

My first MTB was a 1990 Apex. It was equipped with Deore LX 7 speed. A
friend bought a 1992 Apex 7 speed that had a mix of Deore and Avenir.

Rick

Douglas Hall said:

Clyde said:

Just inherited a black DB Apex and am wondering what the vintage is.
Seems like these were around for quite a while in the late 80s/early
90s. Has LX 7 speed with top shifters and LX cantilever brakes, some
other Avenir stuff. Plan to clean her up and possibly go single speed.

I'm guessing yours may be a very late 80s, perhaps early 90s model.

I've had two - one from 92, and my current one from 95/96.

The 92 one had a True Temper double butted chromo frame, with a red,
splatter-effect paint job. Sun / "Avenir" rims (I still have these
wheels, although the rear is quite taco-d from when somebody tried to
unsuccessfully steal it), 21 speed Deore DX throughout. I seem to
recall from the brochure that the Axis at the time was available with
some kind of black paint job - but I kinda thought that you could get
an Apex from around then in black, too.

My 95 has a True Temper TT Lite custom butted chromo frame, in dark
matt blue, with Mavic 231 rims. Groupset is mostly Deore LX in 24
speed, the odd exception being a Sugino crankset. Also had aheadset
headset, rather than the traditional, albeit oversize (1 1/8"😉 that was
on my '92 model.

Lots of "Avenir" badged accessories on both, but some Bontrager stuff
on my 95/96 (handlebars, saddle, that kind of thing).

I've always liked the Apex models that Diamondback produced from around
that time - they always seemed like very competent, steel framed hard
tails (and fronts!).

I had a '91 model that I rode for several years. It had all Deore DX. and
steel seatpost, handlebars, and stem. I replaced a lot of that stuff, but
the frame served me well until I wanted a 2.5" travel fork (the head angle
was too slack to accommodate that).

The Apex frame had exceptional tire clearance. More recent Diamondback
frames, made of aluminum, are similar. I don't understand why other bike
makers can't do the same.

Matt O.