I bought a 2004 Gary Fisher Marlin Disc back in 2008. I cracked the frame (alu) near the start of 2012 and found out to my pleasure that GF were owned by Trek who offer a lifetime warranty on their frames. I got a Trek 3500 as replacement. The components weren’t up to much so I replaced the brakes with the Deore Hydros from the GF, and other parts I’d upgraded on the GF over the years – drivetrain, forks, saddle, grips, wheels. I’m still commuting on the Trek 3500, as well as longer road/XC rides. The only component that was original to the Trek 3500 that remains is the seatpost (and perhaps a headset spacer). I’ve upgraded the forks since, and the drivetrain again, and bars and stem. Could do with replacing the grips now – the cork has almost worn away in places.
The 10 year old Deore hydro brakes from the Gary Fisher are still performing relatively well.
I had one of the anniversary Inbreds; it was a great ride but the chainstay design was dreadful and I ditched it as I spent a great deal of ride time dreading when the next grinding crunch of chainsuck would occur (I rode a DN6 Inbred prior to this). I remember following your repair threads with interest!
Two 853 steel frames on and some of the kit bought for the anniversary Inbred build is still on my current bike ( although the wheels have to be replaced after 10 years+ a few months back due to serious cracking in the rims.
I’m riding a rigid steel bike with 26″ wheels, 3×9 (Octalink) drivetrain, silver finishing kit and bar ends (so rather out of date) and having great fun. I don’t have a great deal of spare cash so plan to continue doing so.
i have a 2011 charge duster 26″ skinny tange prestige bike that i do love (it’s also my only bike at present).
due to various things have not ridden my bike for a while now (for any distance anyways,i still use it as my transport to town).
my duster does need some tlc,and i do plan on giving it some tlc once i have recovered from my operation (that makes sitting on a saddle erm difficult shall we say 🙁
i fully intend to get back into riding my bike again,as the duster is a great bike.
am thinking of getting a full xt groupset 2 x 11 for my bike,and then fit a nice set of rigid forks to it also (kona project 2’s discs would be ideal i thinks). then buy some new wheels for it (maybe hope pro 2’s). i need to buy some new tires also as the charge splashbacks are worn out now unfortunately.
yes that sounds great actually 😀
here’s my bike before i changed the bars/stem and seatpost to ritchy wcs black (with cane creek ergo bar ends).
That was it last summer just before my first ever DH race at QECP in Hampshire (bit of a trundle from Durham!) It’s singlespeed now and I’ve built up some 26+ wheels for it which are ace 😀
I’m glad you like it, OP, and I think it’s great yo’ve chosen to fix it and keep it running rather than scrap it. Personally I would only have done the bare minimum to that frame, and maybe spent more if it was something really nice like a custom/handbuilt frame. I do think it’s a shame that so many old steel frames end up in scrap; they cold be repaired quite cheaply really, most times. The cost of getting a ‘framebuilder’ to repair stuff makes it economically unviable most times. Many repairs don’t require specialist skills really, just a bit of welding or brazing.
I’ve got two 853 hardtail frames awaiting time to build them up: a Genesis Altitude that I’m going to run as a singlespeed, rigid carbon forked whippet, and a Dialled Bikes Prince Albert Classic that will have a 140mm Sektor on.
My current commuter/MTB is this rather nice 1998 Sunn (sorry for the rubbish photo). I bought it for £45 on eBay a few months ago, and have ridden it to work every single day since. I’m also desperately trying to get into the top 50 Strava laptimes for Parkwood Springs in Sheffield on it – I’m up up 70th so far. The original 1998 Hutchinson Chameleon tyres it’s still got on and the supermarket pedals are the major limiting factors I think 😀
m thinking of getting a full xt groupset 2 x 11 for my bike,and then fit a nice set of rigid forks to it also (kona project 2’s discs would be ideal i thinks).
I’ve got a pair of 26in disc only P2s stored away. And a pair of OEM Genesis rigid a too. Not for sale. Mine mine mine!!
I’m glad you like it, OP, and I think it’s great yo’ve chosen to fix it and keep it running rather than scrap it. Personally I would only have done the bare minimum to that frame, and maybe spent more if it was something really nice like a custom/handbuilt frame.
I’ve seriously looked at custom frames. The problem is that, MTB wise, I’d just be building an expensive Inbred. There’s very little I’d change about that bike, maybe the cable routing, some fancy dropouts and crud catcher bosses. It would be a waste of money. So far that frames cost me a bit over £550 including buying it in the first place. Does anyone currently even make an 853 frame for that money?
My ’97 Lava Dome has evolved over the years, but doesn’t get used much any more – apart from pub/shop runs. Feel like changing it a little though and maybe taking it back a bit more retro – regret selling my P2 forks a while back. Considered putting an Avid BB disc on the front, but don’t know if there’s much point – the V’s work fine. Thinking black tyres and flatter bars maybe
[url=https://flic.kr/p/GWZj2M]2016-06-05_08-35-00[/url] by davetheblade, on Flickr