need an LTS / STS guru!

[RickTheUncivil]

I'm confused.
I have taken ownership of what I'M TOLD is a STS DH but how do I know? Going off the serial (1297...) it's probably a 1998 model.
But I'm looking for a definitive guide to the different models. I imagine the DH had longer travel, certainly I see chatter about different shocks (this one appears to be a normal / shorter shock). But what else? Is the linkage different? Are they interchangeable? Was it just the components that differentiate the models? We're the STS and LTS parallel ranges or did they differ widely. How do I identify what I have?

Please help me.

 

[legrandefromage]

Re:

STS-DS

Dual Sport

Heres mine from a few years ago - STS-1000 DS

 

[Magpiegifts]

Re: Re:

STS-DS

Dual Sport

Heres mine from a few years ago - STS-1000 DS

That's a decent looking sts.

 

[RickTheUncivil]

Re: Re:

STS-DS

Dual Sport

Heres mine from a few years ago - STS-1000 DS

Good start, cheers. So what's the difference then?

 

[Magpiegifts]

I had the 1000ds ,it had Judy triple clamp forks. But not sure what the exact differences are tbh

 

[RickTheUncivil]

Re:

My logic says the front end is the same, the DH rear end will have different seat stays, to accommodate longer linkage and shock to give more rear wheel travel than the normal models. Then the components make the difference between 1, 2 etc.

No idea if that's right.

 

[Magpiegifts]

Sure someone will come along shortly and clarify

 

[ishaw]

Re:

Looking at the pics, lgfs seems to have a shorter rear linkage pointing towards yours being a dh rather than a ds. If you check the bb, it should have the serial, size and model stamped in the alloy. I think the front ends were the same,just the linkage length different, though I may be wrong.

Last tended to have a different chain stay style, though later models had the same webbed yoke/bb pivot point.

Having spoken to someone recently, they seemed to think the dh had a longer shock length and spring, no idea of its true or not. There is a very long sts owners thread on here that might provide the info you need.

 

[Uncle Grumpy]

A quick look at the 1998 catalog:

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/gallery2/d/1 ... 1998-2.pdf

Differences between the STS DS and DH appear to be:
- the DH has a slacker seat post tube with a different lug at the top tube/seat tube junction
- the DH came in S, M L sizing whereas the DS came in 4 "inch" sizes
- the seatstay looks like the shock mount to top pivot distance is greater on the DH.

The DH frame came with a chain guide - not sure if there was a different BB flange to accommodate that, and also not sure if the DH lacked cable routing for a front derailleur.

So there you go, a whole lot of "looks-a-bits" and a couple of "don't-know-ifs". Wasn't much help, huh?

Grumps

 

[RickTheUncivil]

Re:

All good info, thanks!

BB shell is stamped with a serial that starts 1297 then fades away, so can't tell if there's a model stamp at the end. And is then separately stamped 18, so going on the above that's more DS than DH.

Without a side by side comparison I'm struggling but it's given me something to work with.

And yes, I found the long long thread on here but having looked through a gazillion pages couldn't find the info I needed!