Bike Boom refurbished bikes: Diamond back

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Early-mid 90's Diamond Back Approach Hybrid

Diamond Back Approach Hybrid 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
The Diamond back brand is relatively new. it was actually the predecessor of centurion, a brand of WSI an american company who manufactured and exported bikes from japan. in the early 80's WSI introduced the diamond back brand for their mountain bikes and later for the BMX series. throughout the 80's both names were utilized until centurion was dropped in 1990. Great article from sheldon brown on centurion models here. Used hybrids are hard to come by as they are pretty modern bikes, the first ones were produced in the late 80's. Most bike companies started offering several models in the early 90's. They are considered all around bikes and it seems like they are probably the best selling bikes right now. They are so popular that people who don't even know what a hybrid bike is, still want one. Hybrids rarely stay in our shop for more than a couple of days and women's hybrids with an open frame such as this Diamond back approach usually don't survive 24 hours in the shop in the biking season as usually the first person to try them will make a purchase.
We usually replace tires on all of our bikes unless it's clear that the tires are recent replacements or of high quality, these tend to survive for longer period. this Diamond back approach has undergone the standard refurb and was fitted with new tubes, cables and brake pads on top of the tires. More diamond backs we refurbished here and a brief history of Diamond back and its predecessor Centurion and also a wiki page on diamond back

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 Early-mid 90's Diamond Back Approach Hybrid

Rear Wheel: https://amzn.to/36dGCGE

Front Wheel: https://amzn.to/2Qf7lgI

Tires (Standard for leisure riding): https://amzn.to/36aCvLz (choose 700x35 or 700x32)

Tires:(Flat resistant, heavy duty): https://amzn.to/2MLhUpj Select (700x35 or 700x32)

Shifter cables and housing: https://amzn.to/38g40ol

Brake cables and housing: https://amzn.to/2DZqPPk

shifter set: 3x7 https://amzn.to/2Qzzv4X

Rear Derailleur: https: https://amzn.to/2sHJOeL

Front Derailleur: https://amzn.to/2Pj0QHH

Crank: https://amzn.to/39tFBwf

Cassette: https://amzn.to/37oL9pN

Pedals: https://amzn.to/2OUDbyD

Chain: https://amzn.to/38ayVCI (fits 6, 7 and 8 speeds)

Headset: https://amzn.to/38EkfvQ (Choose 26.4 but it's better to remove crown race and measure inside diameter for sure)

Brake pads: https://amzn.to/34TYUMF (standard use, original part)

Brake pads: https://amzn.to/369Nvbs improved performance and wet and cold condition

Brakes: https://amzn.to/2s2IfIg

Saddle: https://amzn.to/34Wkccn

Handlebar (25.4 clamp): https://amzn.to/34SU2XT

Brake Levers (good): https://amzn.to/2smGpT6

Thursday, February 23, 2012

1997 Diamond Back V-link 1.1

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

Rear Wheel: https://amzn.to/2Ls4wFV

Front Wheel: https://amzn.to/2rlLjz1

Tires: (pavement, light off-road): https://amzn.to/2YsSodj (choose 26x2.1)

Tires:(high performance off road): https://amzn.to/2LzPazq (choose 26x2.1)

Front (left) Shifter: https://amzn.to/39rcvxI

Rear (right) shifter: https://amzn.to/2Qygv6y (select 3 speed)