1997 DiamondBack V-link 1.1 we refurbished here at Bike Boom. If your'e not familiar, Bike Boom is a used bike shop in Davis square, on the border of Cambridge and Somerville , near Boston MA. where we specialize in restoring and refurbishing used and vintage bikes and offer professional bicycle repair services.
Last week we featured one of the first mountain bikes ever produced, the
1982 Diamondback Ridge runner. 15 years later, diamondback produced the v-link series which and were considered high end bikes at the time,
here's the link for the original specs and price and a page with
more info on the diamondback v-link bikes. . Throughout the early nineties many companies tried to come up with the best rear suspension design, the customers were aware of that and waited on the fence for a reliable suspension design. Full suspension bikes were rare, unreliable and expensive. The late 90's were exciting times for mountain biking, by 1997 the market has settled down with most of the bikes having either a single pivot or the 4 bars design, which basically reflects today's market as well. Every bicycle company had at least one full suspension bike in its arsenal, it was obvious that full suspension bikes were here to stay and sales roared. Full suspension bikes do not age well for two reasons. The first is that full suspension bikes are meant to be ridden hard and thus do not make a great used purchase. Technology changes constantly and bike riders push the limit of bikes on a daily basis, one always wants to try a steeper hill or a more rocky terrain or a steeper descent. In the full suspension world this usually translates to more travel. Travel is the term used to describe the range of compression of the shocks from complete rest to full compression under load. Long story short, a bike which was used for down hill and aggressive trail not more than 5 years ago is now considered a light trail, cross country rig. Just look at the archives in the specialized website. A Bike which was considered "all mountain" 5 years ago now carries a different name but similar geometry and travel and is considered a cross country bike. The 1997 diamond back v-link 1.1 was considered a cross country (XC) bike with a single pivot design with the Shimano STX mid range group and Rock Shox judy fork
We purchased this bike set up as a commuter with slick and narrow tires it was in great shape with low miles and a very tight rear end. (always check for play in the rear end pivots as this is a good indication for high usage or sloppy maintenance). The integrated shifters were toast which is common for bikes which have not been used for a long time so we put a brand new set of shifters, brake levers, cables and brake pads. We had it in the shop for quite some time in that set up until a nice guy from out of town came with his girlfriend and was looking for an affordable mountain bike to ride the trails around Boston. His girlfriend attends one of the numerous colleges around Boston and he was looking for a way to pass the time while she was in school. We ended up replacing the tires to proper wide and knobby tires and the guy was super happy as the price was also very good for a bike in that caliber.
Are you looking to repair this bike?
Links below for parts you can buy now on amazon.
Over the years we repaired thousands of Vintage bikes and became
experts in finding alternatives to original bike parts.
Buying parts for older bikes is confusing, as most of the original
parts have been discontinued.
We use these parts everyday
and created this list to make it easier for you to repair your bike.
Parts list for 1997 Diamond Back V-link 1.1
Cassette: https://amzn.to/37oL9pN
Brake Levers: https://amzn.to/369erIP
