# How rare is my old clunker?



## MacTech (Apr 14, 2005)

i have an old Fila Taos rigid MTB, it was my first MTB, and i rode it *everywhere*, there are a few rock dings in the paint and other "battle scars", but i've never crashed it, the frame is solid, and it still works relatively well (rear deraileur is a little gummy, but it works

i'm currently deciding wheter to do a full up restoration (for nostalgia reasons, and because the old horse still rides well), or to convert her to a singlespeed, until now the only problem with her was a cracked final gear on the rear cassette, but i had that replaced for $25, slap a new set of deraileiur cables on her, touch up the dings and she'll be good as new, it actually cost less to replace the rear cassette than to convert her into a SS (which i still might do down the road)

problem is, the rear frame has vertical dropouts, which i understand is more difficult to convert to SS, it was actually simpler to replace the rear cassette, i figure when the crappy Suntour X-Press rear deraileir ends up self destructing that'll be the time to go SS

here's the thing, as far as the Internet is concerned, the Fila Taos doesn't exist, there's no references to it, no fansites on rebuilding them (to be fair, it *was* a reasonably mediocre, generic bike anyway), but i expected at least *some* hits on the Taos....

do i have the only remaining one in existence, did they all suddenly vanish into a parralel universe or something?

anyone else have a hard to find old clunker, i know the Fila Taos does exist, it's in the back of my Neon right now, waiting for the friggin' rain to stop so i can try out the new WTB Slickasauras tires i had put on it

it's funny, i have a much newer, much better, more sophisticated mountain bike (Trek 4500) with Aluminum frame, better components and a suspension front fork , but for some reason, i've been wanting to restore my primitive, steel framed, rigid fork old Fila and have some fun with *it*


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## rockychrysler (Aug 9, 2003)

*my recollections re: fila mountain bikes*

fist of all, clunker isnt the right term to use to describe this bike... a clunker is a much older, more historic kind of off road bicycle.

i remember the fila branded mountain bikes from the early 90s... if recollection serves they were brought to market at a time when fila t-shirts and shoes were selling for a premium... i'm pretty sure they were an attempt by some clever importer to capitalize on the fila name and brand recognizability at that time... much like the jeep branded bicycles attempt to do in todays marketplace... once the fila craze ended, and fila shirts were being blown out in last-chance stores, the fila bike disappeared... im pretty sure most of these bikes, due to the niche market they tapped, were garaged, ridden a bit on weekends, and then garage saled a few years later... putting most of them in or near the dump today... so, that makes yours kinda special... the fila bike is an interesting footnote in mountain bike lore... but im not too sure it's collectible, not in the way youre hoping anyway... certainly not like some of the bikes more commonly discussed and drooled over on this forum.

fwiw youre right, converting a vert dropout frame to singlespeed can be cumbersome... but surly bikes make a whole lotta fine affordable parts to make this conversion relatively simple. you should check them out online or see the parts up close, and get good advice, at your local bike shop.


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## MacTech (Apr 14, 2005)

don't worry, i wasn't expecting the bike to be a major collector's item, far from it, i *know* that it was simply a piece of specialized (no, not the bike...) "Moichandising", i'm pretty sure when i bought it the "Fila craze" (something i never understood, it's just clothing, nothing special about it) was waning and the bikes were being cleared out, it was a decent first MTB, nothing special, and the price was right

i was just hoping it wasn't one of the last of it's species

the main reason i'm restoring it is that it still works well, and it's always good to have a "backup" bike, in case a freind wants to go for a ride, or if something happens to my Trek

it'll also be my "around town" bike that i don't have to worry about being stolen

i've also been looking longingly at a few nice road bikes, but i can't see spending $450+ on another bike, especially when i already have a nice MTB (the Trek), so i'm in the process of converting the Taos into a straight-bar fat tire road bike, the first 2 steps are complete, first, replacing the broken cassette, second, slapping on the WTB Slickasauras tires, the final steps will be replacing the shifter cables, and either converting the bike to SS when the rear deraileur self-destructs, *OR*, have the Alivio deraileurs on the Trek moved over to the Fila, then put Deore components on the Trek

i've always wondered who *really* made the Taos, it's a Taiwanese bike, so more than likely it's simply a bike that's been rebadged from another manufacturer, Lange, perhaps?


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