1990 Diamond Back Apex build thread - £10 Marketplace find

[mclaren680]

Yes... £10. Also a bonus 1994 Marin Bear Valley thrown in.

Bad bits...

Stem is thoroughly seized in the BV, and the derailleur hanger is more contorted than an eastern European Britain's Got Talent archery act. This plus patches of rust all over, and every single spoke is loose and very rusty has consigned this one to the local dump.

Only front cantis are original Deore on the Apex, rears are I think 300LX.
Stem / bars / shifters / derailleurs are low end generic and are going to the dump also.
Wheels are in a word...awful. Non QR, alloy nippled, wobbly, gritty hubs, rusted etc etc, so are also finding their way to the dump (before anyone says..all 'dump visit' parts are appropriately recycled)

One slight small dent to the top tube on the Apex but nothing too bad.


Good bits...

Seatpost wasn't seized on the BV so I now have a spare 27.0mm
STX chainset, cantis and brifters are seemingly fine so have rescued them also.
Fresh but dirty set of Schwalbe Marathon 1.5's rescued also

The Apex frame is in need of a lot of love and cleaning, de stickering etc but so far all looks doable, and I'm really looking forward to seeing the paintjob come somewhat back to life after cleaning, T Cutting and polishing etc. So far nothing seized, all seems aligned and intact.

The Deore chainset is remarkably good compared to the rest of the bike's condition so I'm hoping the pedals come out without some carefully placed C4.

Goal...

As usual I get torn between a faithful ish resto or a restomodded 1x , but until the full clean and polish reveals the true nature I'll wait to decide.

 

[Tsundere]

You sure that's not an 89?
I had the 89 Ascent EX with the exact same colourway, great riding bikes, this one should come up lovely.

 

[mclaren680]

You sure that's not an 89?
I had the 89 Ascent EX with the exact same colourway, great riding bikes, this one should come up lovely.

I'm 99.9% sure it's a '90. Google image search results from multiple sources suggest a '90. The '89 had a grey smoke finish over the whole frame from first glance (google again), but I'm up for a DB guru to advise.

Have started the cleaning process, rebuilt the headset and done a couple of passes over the paint with degreaser, wd40 etc and it's starting to come to life.

That was after 2 hours on the BB... which did remove in the end.

 

[Tsundere]

I'm 99.9% sure it's a '90. Google image search results from multiple sources suggest a '90. The '89 had a grey smoke finish over the whole frame from first glance (google again), but I'm up for a DB guru to advise.

Have started the cleaning process, rebuilt the headset and done a couple of passes over the paint with degreaser, wd40 etc and it's starting to come to life.

That was after 2 hours on the BB... which did remove in the end.

Actually I think you're right, the Apex in 89 was grey smoke.

 

[mclaren680]

 

[gtturbo]

there is an easy way to tell if these are an 89 or 90 I believe. 89 was straight bladed forks and 90 curved. I've got a 90 the same as yours.

 

[mclaren680]

3hrs spent today removing the stickers, cleaning, T-Cutting and polishing.

Yes the bike is still in rough shape.... but I've decided to keep the scratches and surface rust rather than cover up with nail varnish as the indigo smoke part of the frame would be a nightmare/impossible trying to match without it looking like the botch job it would be.

This will make for a great commuter / canal path beater so I've decided to build her up as such....



The 1x9 kit parts bin kit I'll use includes -

11-34t cassette, Deore LX derailleur, Deore 110bcd cranks (not the ones from this bike as I had a better condition spare cleaned and Autosol'd already), UN55 sealed BB, Sunrace 9sp thumbie, Flexstem short enough to suit the geometry, silver shallow riser bars, Alex X2100 wheelset and nearly new Schwalbe Marathon 1.5's.

KMC X9 chain ordered and now just deciding on which narrow wide to put on, probably a 38t Deckas

 

[PhillB]

I've always liked these - some lovely paint designs - looking forward to seeing how this turns out!

 

[mclaren680]

I've always liked these - some lovely paint designs - looking forward to seeing how this turns out!

Thanks, yes agree on the paint. I have a 22" '92 Apex I ride most out of all my bikes and gun to the head time here....it's honestly my 2nd favourite riding bike I've ever owned. I'm fairly tall so the DB top tube length being 1-2" longer than anything else of this period I've come across at 22-23" seat tube height is a major bonus and avoids 150mm stems! It's a full inch longer than a '98 23.5" seat tube Giant I have for example and a good 2.5" longer than a '92 23" GT Karakoram I had.

 

[DB24]

Did it have a cup and cone bb?

I have just got the fixed cup out of my 87 Ascent, courtesy of an expensive park tool, but I am struggling with the adjustable cup, not sure what size socket it is and its a very low profile surface.

Sheldon brown said to use a bolt with a few screws on it, but I was thinking about using a box spanner, just not sure what size to buy!