DBR Diamondback Apex TT...stansted

[sylus]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/130588738939? ... 1438.l2649

 

[Neil]

Not sure I buy the £1200 thing. Don't think the year can be correct, in 96 the Apex went back to AVR tubing rather than TT lite.

 

[ironwhippet]

Nope it was still TT Lite in 1996

From the brochures I have, it is still TT Lite. Even Bikepedia has this up as a TT lite tubed. The gears and wheels are also correct.
http://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/Bike ... &Type=bike

seems like a deceent set up and should be light. Of course £1200 would get so much more bike even back then, but if you could get this for less than £100 it would be a good punt for winter or even a shed proejct to launch out in spring. Always wanted an Apex so might keep an eye on this.

 

[Neil]

Re: Nope it was still TT Lite in 1996

From the brochures I have, it is still TT Lite. Even Bikepedia has this up as a TT lite tubed. The gears and wheels are also correct.
http://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/Bike ... &Type=bike

seems like a deceent set up and should be light. Of course £1200 would get so much more bike even back then, but if you could get this for less than £100 it would be a good punt for winter or even a shed proejct to launch out in spring. Always wanted an Apex so might keep an eye on this.

Bikepedia is wrong - at least for the UK model. I have a 96 DB brochure which lists the spec, and the 96 Apex has been discussed on here.

I suspect if it's really TT-Lite it's not a 96 model.

 

[ironwhippet]

Must be wrong year then

Defo TT lite as I asked the fella for photo of seat tube and it has genuine TT Lite with eagle head decal. Not the sort of thing found easily to forge and if you were going to forge it I reckon you could convince a moron the brushed Cr-Mo is Ti. Guess he got it wrong. in my view the earlier DBs were better so its 94-95 might be for the good if it comes cheaper. What do you reckon this is worth as I want to bid but don't want to get over enthusiastic if I am not sure of what I am dealing with?

cheers

the whippet

 

[Neil]

Re: Must be wrong year then

Defo TT lite as I asked the fella for photo of seat tube and it has genuine TT Lite with eagle head decal. Not the sort of thing found easily to forge and if you were going to forge it I reckon you could convince a moron the brushed Cr-Mo is Ti. Guess he got it wrong. in my view the earlier DBs were better so its 94-95 might be for the good if it comes cheaper. What do you reckon this is worth as I want to bid but don't want to get over enthusiastic if I am not sure of what I am dealing with?

cheers

the whippet

Not sure about the value of some of the parts listed, or the forks for that matter.

For a stock Apex of around that era, in nice condition, I guess between £100 and £150 seems OK (clearly bikes often get sold cheaper than that, but looking at buying on built up, in nice condition, with reasonable kit).

Whether any of the parts boasted about and / or the forks has a bearing on that, I'm not sure.

FWIW, I have 2 TT-Lite framed Apex - both 95 (I also have a 91 Apex and a 91 Axis). One completely stock, I've owned since new in 95. The other, I bought as frame (no forks, but did have a headset in) for around £45 (on ebay).

 

[ironwhippet]

you knows your APEXeses

Wow you got this nailed down. So you reckon if I sit tight on less than £100-£150 I will bag it?

I am growing more and more to want this as I had an Ascent a while back and wanted the APEX as it looked cleaner.

Yes the APEX on Bikepedia is a an APEX SE so not the same. Does the year matter much? I mean would the 1995 be a better outcome if it turns out that way?

The only other point is I think this might not be a UK model (unsure how and why you would get it over from USA!!) But the listing goes on about a USA original equipment stem Diamondback own. Could this alter the entire debate or could it just be an extra stuck on in the UK from stock in the USA?

How is the APEX is it really a nippy light bike as every bike listed says light and such like but I had heard from mates that the older Diamond Backs were actually good and well balanced in this sense?

I wish i could get out to see this one and have a wheel about but with either petrol or train fare mean I would have dropped £20 just to see it and that could go along way to bagging it I reckon.

What thoughts?

 

[Neil]

Re: you knows your APEXeses

Wow you got this nailed down. So you reckon if I sit tight on less than £100-£150 I will bag it?

That's hard to say, I was just giving a finger-in-the-air guess on a reasonable price.

Yes the APEX on Bikepedia is a an APEX SE so not the same.

Truth be told, I'm not sure if there was another model of it, or whether bikepedia is just wrong on that - the 95 Apex was TT-Lite, I believe the 97 Apex was TT-Lite, but the 96 one (at least in the UK) was AVR.

Does the year matter much? I mean would the 1995 be a better outcome if it turns out that way?

Year doesn't matter much at all, I suspect nothing notable happened to the frame, much, through those years.

The only other point is I think this might not be a UK model (unsure how and why you would get it over from USA!!) But the listing goes on about a USA original equipment stem Diamondback own. Could this alter the entire debate or could it just be an extra stuck on in the UK from stock in the USA?

I suspect it's a 94 model, or something like that. I'm fairly sure the 96 one was metallic silver, rather than the nickel plated look of this one.

How is the APEX is it really a nippy light bike as every bike listed says light and such like but I had heard from mates that the older Diamond Backs were actually good and well balanced in this sense?

I first bought an Apex in 91, following it having quite favourable reviews (MBUK and the like) - the 91 version wasn't the lightest bike out there, it was a then, normal-ish weight compared with it's peers (26-27lbs) and had AVR tubing. Very stable handling, bit stretched out, position wise, quite competent off-roader.

A year or two later, they started using TT-Lite tubing for the Apex and Axis , and the TT-Lite frames are lighter than the AVR versions. My 91 Apex got nicked in 95, so I then bought a 95 version. Stock weight for the 95 Apex (claimed) was around 24-25lbs - so it had reduced in weight since around 91 / 92.

I wish i could get out to see this one and have a wheel about but with either petrol or train fare mean I would have dropped £20 just to see it and that could go along way to bagging it I reckon.

What thoughts?

I'd say if you like it, go for it - my "valuation" isn't particularly scientific, just based on what I see mid range bikes from BITD go for, in reasonable condition. As I said, I'm not that familiar with suspension forks so can't really comment as to whether they add much in the way of value - personally, I'd prefer the stock rigid forks. Same with the other bits and pieces, really, none really do much in terms of changing the value, much.

 

[markwashington]

You can pick up a pair of manitou SX's on the bay for about £30-40 usually, they were about £250 bitd and were at the bottom of the SX line which included SX R, SX Ti and SX Carbon. In my experience none of them are worth much unless they're NOS.

 

[Neil]

You can pick up a pair of manitou SX's on the bay for about £30-40 usually, they were about £250 bitd and were at the bottom of the SX line which included SX R, SX Ti and SX Carbon. In my experience none of them are worth much unless they're NOS.

Fork price helps - my 95 Apex was £699 in 95 (same as list price, which I still have for the 95 models). So if the forks were around £250 - that ups the BITD price to around £950.

The remaining kit cost £250 (£1200 is mentioned on the ebay page)?

Some of the parts / kit looks downgraded, too - my 95 Apex is LX throughout (think STX was used in 96, though), chainset was a Sugino Impel 500, though.

That's why I said I'm not really buying the £1200 thing.