Deal or no deal? Should I buy this old Dean

[Conundrum]

Looking for a gravel bike for rainy days. There’s a good gravel climb by the house and looking to get some miles when the trails are soaked. Anything new and cooler in this price range?

https://boise.craigslist.org/bik/d/b...851207274.html

[Vt-Freeheel]

Not a chance you'll find anything new that is cooler than that Dean. You buy now!

[mntlion]

that frame is worth the $1000

[rideit]

For that price, you should buy it and have disc tabs welded on.

[simple]

Little known fact...

James at Black Sheep and Aaron at Mosaic were doing the titanium welding at Dean back in those days. Lots of great welders have gone through Dean at some point.

[teledad]

Yeah, good deal. Looks like 9-speed Ultegra STI levers, or maybe Dura-Ace? Get rid of the cantis and put on some Shimano compatible mini-Vs.

[Groomer Gambler]

.

[supermodel159]

Buy

[teledad]

Yeah, I meant mini-v brakes that are compatible with older Shimano road levers (like TRP CX 8.4 or Tektro RX5) not a Shimano v-brake (do they even make a mini-v)?

[bagtagley]

No deal, though I don't get misty about old Ti bikes. Discs are as beneficial on gravel bikes as they are mountain bikes and anything smaller than 35s feels inadequate to me on gravel. If you're patient and shop around, $1000 gets you a nicely spec'd new gravel bike.

Roadies may scoff, but I'm not a roadie.

[simple]

$1000 doesn't get you a nice new bike in any discipline. Wait around until a shop is about to go out of business?

Best deal I saw was the Nukeproof gravel bike and that sold out in 2 days. Even new All City and Surly bikes aren't a grand unless you have basic (heavy) parts with no frills.

I'm sure a needle in a haystack deal is out there but if someone has a $1000 budget then I'm telling to find a used bike everytime.

[buttahflake]

No Deal. The 105 STI hydraulic’s on my gravel rig are the nicest brakes I’ve ever had. So much modulation, so much feel, and all that raw power. You can only go as fast as your brakes will allow you. Save up and get modern.

[Rideski]

For dirt roads? Used short travel mountain bike for me. The dean would be nice for mostly pavement with a tiny bit of gravel access routes. Full time fire roads, nah.

[Tamburello Rouge]

As is that bike is unrideable (for me) because of the way the brakes and shifters are configured. I have a lot of miles on road bikes so I would instinctively be grabbing the wrong lever in an emergency stop scenario.

That being said, at $950 it has a lot of potential. It could use some new components. Maybe even new wheels. That all depends on your budget. Most importantly, is it the right size?

[plugboots]

James welded 3 of our DEANS, beautiful welds. Of course I’m prejudiced, but that’s a nice frame, rides really nice. As rideit said, if you want, put tabs on it, (DEAN can do this). Buy it, ride it, upgrade as needed.

[Conundrum]

Correct size. I'm not a roadie but could see going on a couple rides a year with the spare wheel setup. Ride a Spartan for mountain. Have an old Unicoi as my bar bike so maybe an affinity for old Ti. I was hoping someone would say they knew of some deal that was modern or sitting in their garage. Just wasn't sure on pricing and if that was fair. I don't have a budget set but will honestly only be doing 10-20 milers on gravel roads when the trails are too wet to ride from the house and maybe an occasional raft/kayak shuttle. So I don't want to spend a ton.

I think I'm going to check it out this weekend. There was a cool old Seven Ti bike I looked at a couple years ago that seemed good until I looked at it in person the frame was all dented up. How he dented a bike that way that one was is a mystery. Didn't talk to him long enough to ask.

[teledad]

As is that bike is unrideable (for me) because of the way the brakes and shifters are configured. I have a lot of miles on road bikes so I would instinctively be grabbing the wrong lever in an emergency stop scenario.

Huh? A little hard to tell but it looks like a standard brake lever configuration (left front, right back). Easy enough to swap in any case. I'd get rid of those in-line bar top levers though (and replace cables and housing, but that's kind of a given with an older bike).

[plugboots]

How he dented a bike that way that one was is a mystery. Didn't talk to him long enough to ask.

Dented Ti? WTF. Mine have some scratches, and my road bike has a couple smooth spots from where I rub it with my leg or heel. That’s it, & I do not baby it, I treat it like a bike. It’s one of the things I like about Ti because it’s not painted, I don’t worry about scratching it.

[Telemahn]

No deal, though I don't get misty about old Ti bikes. Discs are as beneficial on gravel bikes as they are mountain bikes and anything smaller than 35s feels inadequate to me on gravel.

Bigger tires (40c at least, 45c are better) really make a difference. If the road is janky at all you will feel it on cross tires. Ride it and see how it feels. A lot of cross bikes of that era have high BB's and steep angles. Kinda the opposite of a modern gravel bike. Might not bother you, but be sure you aren't stretched out like on a road bike or your back will feel it off road. Be sure the steering is slow enough, I've had cross bikes that were super twitchy.

As is that bike is unrideable (for me) because of the way the brakes and shifters are configured.

If it ain't moto it's worthless

[jackattack]

No Deal. The 105 STI hydraulic’s on my gravel rig are the nicest brakes I’ve ever had. So much modulation, so much feel, and all that raw power. You can only go as fast as your brakes will allow you. Save up and get modern.

using modulation in the same breath as shimano discs is laughable.

[Tamburello Rouge]

Huh? A little hard to tell but it looks like a standard brake lever configuration (left front, right back). Easy enough to swap in any case.

If it ain't moto it's worthless

Not what I'm talking about. I rode motorcycles for years. Left or right front brake was never an issue.

Look at the second to the last pic. While the shift levers are set up as regular STI units, it looks like the brake levers are cheap BMX levers and mounted to the horizontal section of the bars just outboard of the stem. For me, that's a shitty layout. Hook the brakes up to the STI levers as God intended.

Edit - N/M. Upon further inspection, it looks like the BMX levers are actually secondary brake levers, in series with the STI ones. Never saw much of a use for those.

[Telemahn]

I ran them on my commuter for awhile. Handy when you get cut off and you hands are on the flats. Otherwise not so much.

[Conundrum]

Ended up buying it. Kind of had to. Homeboy was all secretive because of craigslist weirdos so we met at a coffee shop. Ended upbeing an old college buddy I hadn’t seen since college. He got jacked up in a ski accident and dropped off the radar. Bought a place not far from me and started a family. Seemed to be doing well.

The bike needs a bit of work and might not be ideal but the frame is pristine. It fits and I’m not too stretched out. Looks like I’ll be able to squeeze a 36 or 38 between the stays. Needs new tires so good time to try something wider than what’s on it. Ultegra/105/XT setup. Avid shorty 4 brakes. Seemed to stop okay.

[rideit]

A

using modulation in the same breath as shimano discs is laughable.

Stereotype.
My Ultegra hydro brakes (and for that matter my new XTR 9120’s) have as much modulation as anything I have tried (and I have tried hundreds of brakes).
They have come far.

[kungpow]

Nice buy. Sure, modern bikes have some nice touches but for what you want to do it will be great. And you'll have something unique. Boise is a good place to have a gravel bike in the quiver. You'll also enjoy having something road worthy.