ultracoach":136haawo said:
Maybe we had different finish's here in the uk?? Can anything be determined by the frame number??..S8HK16164..
yes different countries had different colour schemes from time to time.
yours is a 1998 made frame - "younger type" serial style and the 8 determines its a 1998 frame. check the catalogs if it looks familiar. cant remember adhoc the colour options for a tempest in 98.
well snobbery. its simple as that : its a low production cost, mass market aluminum frame. its like riding a merida/kinesis/ whatever. i dont want to decline that you can win races on those too, but after all with what has become available at cheap prices nowadays: zaskars, xizangs and such why stick to a "entry class" or beginners frame ? model range was from low to high : tempest, backwoods, pantera, avalanch, zaskar. generally spoken over the years. personally i'd consider those frames for city/rat/ bikes but for mtbing i'ld look for a zaskar. after all zaskars were mass production too, so no need to stick to lower priced models just because of availability reasons ...
again:
nice frames, good looks, but the differences are in the details : geometry, (butted) tubing, welding, finishing, HANDMADE IN THE US ! thats the differences to a zaskar, and personally i'ld say lets keep in mind that zaskars are collectors pieces everything else is for "riding". no need to hooray for entry class just because its a gt. But same rider, diefferent rides - guess is the tempest would be as fast anyhow.
kevin of course youre right about the avalanche al in 93. since there was a nice steel ava available i tend to forget about the cheap aluminum chunk
