What year is this bike Diamondback Apex

[Qaws637]

Hi Guys,
This site has inspired me. I have come across a diamondback apex that I want to restore. Can some one help me with the year and a few other questions.

-Im in Austalia (not sure if this makes a difference to the year)
-Frame color black
- frame says it was made in china
-TT-Lite True Temper Race Frame
-STX-RC back and front Derailleurs
-STX-RC back and front hubs
-Avenir double buttered 180g 1909 alloy handle bars
-Avenir handle bar grips
-Avenir seat post
-Shimano servo-wave action Bracket levers
-shimano v-brakes
-gear levers not sure what they are have only identifier on them is the number 85 or it maybe its a S8
-Straight forks

Everything I have listed above is original to the bike.

The only parts that are not original, see the attached photos, is the seat , tyres and the handle bar stem. Would it still be posible to get a original seat & handle bar stem for that year?

What does a TT lite frame mean? Would i be able to sand back to bare metel and clear coat it. What would the metel look like. I have no idea

Did these bikes come with front suspension. If so what should i get.

Cheers
Daz

 

[Agency_Scum]

That's a '97 model. Excellent frame and fork you have there mate.

 

[cornholio's RC200]

Looking at bikePedia I'd say it is probably a '97 Apex or Apex SE.

http://www.bikepedia.com/QUICKBIKE/Bike ... &Type=bike

It was spec'ed with suspension forks but I suppose there could have been a cheaper option (or maybe a down under option?) for the rigids that yours has.

Nice bike. Excellent stuff.

 

[Anthony]

gear levers not sure what they are have only identifier on them is the number 85 or it maybe its a S8

They look like STX-RC and the number is probably 8S, for 8-speed, as STX-RC could also be had as 7-speed. Good shifters, worth keeping.

The only parts that are not original, see the attached photos, is the seat , tyres and the handle bar stem. Would it still be posible to get a original seat & handle bar stem for that year?

Difficult and probably unnecessary - those are the kind of parts that are good to upgrade

What does a TT lite frame mean? Would i be able to sand back to bare metel and clear coat it. What would the metel look like. I have no idea

TT Lite is True Temper's mid-level double butted cromoly steel tubeset. A good tubeset, only the heat-treated OX3 was higher.
Clear-coating doesn't really work for steel, because it will go brown under the clear coat - you really need to prime it and add whatever finish you prefer.

Did these bikes come with front suspension. If so what should i get.

Yes, as an option. but I wouldn't fit a 1997 fork myself as it would have been an Indy, which aren't much good. If you can get your hands on a red Marzocchi Bomber Z2, I doubt if you would regret it.

 

[oldave]

Nice bike!

Any front bouncer will be longer than that rigid I reckon and won't look as good. Even the presumably only 63mm travel Indy in the catalogue lifts the front end beyond that with which the geometry looks right IMO.

 

[Anthony]

Any front bouncer will be longer than that rigid I reckon and won't look as good. Even the presumably only 63mm travel Indy in the catalogue lifts the front end beyond that with which the geometry looks right IMO.

Nevertheless, the frame was designed for a suspension fork, and only the cheaper options were sold with a rigid fork instead. Consequently the head angle we see in the photo with that short fork is in fact extremely steep, and they used to have to fit very long stems to deaden the steering down a bit. The sagged length of a Z2 or 97 Judy is about 3cm longer than that rigid fork, so should give perfect handling if combined with a stem of 11cm or so.

 

[oldave]

I don't dounbt that was sold as "suspended corrected" - I remain unconvinced that it was so designed! The jigs probably out-dated and simply overtaken by front end developments. Just doesn't LOOK right.

OTOH probably rides just as well if not better with short bounce.

 

[Neil]

What does a TT lite frame mean? Would i be able to sand back to bare metel and clear coat it. What would the metel look like. I have no idea

TT Lite is True Temper's mid-level double butted cromoly steel tubeset. A good tubeset, only the heat-treated OX3 was higher.

I kinda figured TT-Lite replaced the OXII and OX3 tubesets?

The early 90s Axis used OX tubes (I have a 91 Axis which has them, and I think the Axis Team had OXII or OX3 tubing). After that, though, and TT-Lite became the best steel tubing Diamond Back used (after it was introduced, all steel framed Axis and most Apex used TT-Lite (Axis Team used Ti tubing).

AVR seemed to be the middle of the road framesets that the mass produced brands that used True Temper framesets spec'd.

 

[Huntso]

Im in Austalia (not sure if this makes a difference to the year)

Nope its still 2011

 

[Anthony]

What does a TT lite frame mean? Would i be able to sand back to bare metel and clear coat it. What would the metel look like. I have no idea

TT Lite is True Temper's mid-level double butted cromoly steel tubeset. A good tubeset, only the heat-treated OX3 was higher.

I kinda figured TT-Lite replaced the OXII and OX3 tubesets?
The early 90s Axis used OX tubes (I have a 91 Axis which has them, and I think the Axis Team had OXII or OX3 tubing). After that, though, and TT-Lite became the best steel tubing Diamond Back used (after it was introduced, all steel framed Axis and most Apex used TT-Lite (Axis Team used Ti tubing).
AVR seemed to be the middle of the road framesets that the mass produced brands that used True Temper framesets spec'd.

I don't think that is true. AVR is older and lower-level than TT-Lite, but neither of them is heat-treated. The 1997 Apex sold for £475 in the UK and you don't get a heat-treated tubeset for that kind of money.

I don't know about early forms of True Temper OX, but OX3 is certainly heat-treated - the Yo Eddy was made with it. The 97 Axis listed in Bikepedia was made of Ritchey Logic Comp Prestige, which is also a heat-treated tubeset, so a level above the tubesets they used for the Apex.