# Please help ID this Dean



## Hardguy (Nov 4, 2006)

Hello, I am wondering if this is an authentic Dean Colonel frame from the '90's. Thank you in advance for any inputs.


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## dompedro3 (Jan 26, 2004)

All I can tell you is that the decals are correct (not sure about the "titanium" one though)
I had a dean steel road bike (753 steel) from the mid 90's that had that exact same decal placement/design. But decals are easy to duplicate.


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## cegrover (Oct 17, 2004)

Did Deans have bullet stays like Fats? That's what jumps out at me.


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## Boy named SSue (Jan 7, 2004)

I was thinking it looked very Sandvik/TST built. Did Dean build their own or outsource them?


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## cegrover (Oct 17, 2004)

Based on a previous thread, I recall that Dean outsourced up until some years ago; so the older ones were made by someone else.


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## pinguwin (Aug 20, 2004)

Dean did outsource them and I believe it was Sandvik.


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## Hardguy (Nov 4, 2006)

Thanks for the input everyone. From the late model Dean Colonels I've seen on this forum and other and ebay, part of the seatstays is a single tube from the seat tube and then the u-shaped seatstays tubes are welded on both sides of that single tube unlike the conventional seatstays of Colonel in question above. Does anyone know if Dean ever made the Colonel in the early to mid nineties with conventional seatstays? Thanks in advance. Below are some pics of late model Dean Colonel seatstays I'm talking about.


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## btl68 (Nov 18, 2010)

I know, way to dig up an old thread:thumbsup:

My Dean Colonel looks just the same as the first posters frame. Mine originally had the TITANIUM sticker on the top tube, not the down tube. Mine is from the mid 90's and has the cantilever stay on the back.

It also has a DEAN Made in USA sticker on the lower seat tube.


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## Hardguy (Nov 4, 2006)

Wow, I forgot even starting this thread. Great looking Dean you have there, btl68. I did end up picking up that same Dean frame in the pics on the top of this thread because it was a great price for even a Sanvik. I'm still not positive that it is a real Dean Colonel though. I built it up as a 1X9 commuter and it rides great. I would post some pics of it but my camera is broken. Hopefully I'll get a new one from Santa for Christmas. What size is yours, btl?


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## btl68 (Nov 18, 2010)

19"

Handles the Manitou SX TI fork fine (about 70mm travel) but wouldn't like much over an 80mm.

Not the lightest bike, but has sure been bulletproof for decades now. Components change, but the basic layout stays the same.


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## Hardguy (Nov 4, 2006)

Oh, I always thought mine was an 18". Your head tube looks quite a bit longer than mine so I guess mine is a 17" or smaller. Did you buy yours brand new from Dean because my frame is exactly the same as yours besides the longer head tube? Also did you polish your frame because it looks way shinier than mine? I have mine built up at a little more than 18 pounds with a ridgid titamium fork so the frame is lighter than I expected.


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## btl68 (Nov 18, 2010)

19" center-to-top of seat tube, 565mm c-t-c top tube, 5" head tube, polished from the factory.

It hung from the ceiling at Maplewood Bicycle for a year before I bought it back in about 96-97.


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## Boy named SSue (Jan 7, 2004)

Check the serial numbers for sizing. Sandvik used to put it in for some of the stuff they built. No idea whether it was their convention or the whoever they were building for at the time. The bontragers go BT19... for the 19" for example.


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## Hardguy (Nov 4, 2006)

Awesome! Now I know mine is a real Dean after all! Even though it took me three years to get any info on my frame, I'm stoked to find out it's an authentic Dean Colonel! If there wasn't three inches of snow outside, I would take mine out for a ride to celebrate. I did just go to the back bike room to give it a pat on the saddle though. Almost feel like I just found out that I am the biological father of a baby on the Maury show, hahah. Thank you very much for resurrecting my thread. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family Brian!


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## Hardguy (Nov 4, 2006)

Boy named SSue said:


> Check the serial numbers for sizing. Sandvik used to put it in for some of the stuff they built. No idea whether it was their convention or the whoever they were building for at the time. The bontragers go BT19... for the 19" for example.


Thank you for the tip. Mine says P180XX and Made in USA. I called Dean when I received the bike in the mail and the guy on the phone said they couldn't help me cause the number doesn't come up. He told me to email some pics in which I did but never got any reply emails from Dean. Do you know if that's a Dean serial number or not? Thank you in advance.


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## btl68 (Nov 18, 2010)

I corrected my seat tube size in my last post, as mine is stamped P190xx for the serial #. Measures out like an 18", but they must measure a bit differently.

That must be why my head tube is a bit longer than yours.


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## Boy named SSue (Jan 7, 2004)

I know zip about Deans. Just saing some of the Sandvik serials followed a pattern. Instead of contacting Dean, have you tried Sandvik (now called TST)?


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## Hardguy (Nov 4, 2006)

Thank you Brian for the serial # of your Dean which pretty much confirms that my frame is one also.

Thank you Boy named SSue for the tip. I also thought of calling Sandvik but couldn't find any contact info because I didn't know that they changed their company name to TST. I will call TST later today to find out if the frame was made by them for Dean in the '90's. It's pretty cool to find out all these extra info on the frame after having it for more than 3 years now!


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## btl68 (Nov 18, 2010)

If you get confirmation, then I'll know they made my frame also.

I doubt I ever get rid of mine. Rides too damn good.

I have had soooooo many MTB's since getting this one, and most all of them are gone or in pieces in the shed.


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## metrotuned (Dec 29, 2006)

The photo above is the WISHBONE rear end.It's like a unicrown! And those photos of the wishbone are of a frame made in CO by Dean. You can see how neat and Moots like the welds are compared to the OP's pix of the 90s Dean, which looks like sloppy (early welding - maybe no double pass tech/skills at that time in history


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## larryS (Nov 18, 2011)

Looks like a 1996 Dean Colonel. I have a 1996 Dean Duke with the same decals. The Duke was a hard tail in 1996 with a wishbone rear. The Colonel had the traditional rear triangle. The Duke was supposed to use the then popular harder titanium tubing (6/1.25?) in the bottom bracket and some of the main tubes. Dean actually put out a catalog that year which I may have somewhere around my house. I've owned many Dean mountain bikes. 1993, 1996, 2010, 2012 and a 2015. I still have three of them including the 1996 Duke. I'll post picture's as soon as I have enough posts to do so.


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## girlonbike (Apr 24, 2008)

You can probably post picture. If it's up for approval, one of us will take care of that for you, Larry.


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## Harold996tt (Dec 11, 2017)

larryS said:


> Looks like a 1996 Dean Colonel. I have a 1996 Dean Duke with the same decals. The Duke was a hard tail in 1996 with a wishbone rear. The Colonel had the traditional rear triangle. The Duke was supposed to use the then popular harder titanium tubing (6/1.25?) in the bottom bracket and some of the main tubes. Dean actually put out a catalog that year which I may have somewhere around my house. I've owned many Dean mountain bikes. 1993, 1996, 2010, 2012 and a 2015. I still have three of them including the 1996 Duke. I'll post picture's as soon as I have enough posts to do so.


Sorry about digging up his old thread but I really can't find a lot on the net about the early Dean Colonel and the different rear end is something that I was also wondering about. So in 1996 the Duke was a hard tail with the Y rear end, and then 1997 it went to rear suspension while the Colonel ultimately took over the Y rear end at that time? Also wondering when the slanted coloured logo came into effect and was replaced by the black labels as I am also trying to carbon date a later Dean Colonel I believe I have. Much thanks.


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## larryS (Nov 18, 2011)

girlonbike said:


> You can probably post picture. If it's up for approval, one of us will take care of that for you, Larry.


What's the trick to posting a picture here?


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## ameybrook (Sep 9, 2006)

larryS said:


> What's the trick to posting a picture here?


You need to host it someplace like Flickr. Then you can copy the location link (URL) to this board.

I'm sure there's detailed instructions somewhere on MTBR.


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## colker1 (Jan 6, 2004)

I can upload via mtbr.


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## laffeaux (Jan 4, 2004)

If you are on a laptop/desktop you can upload pics using the "go advanced" button. If you access the site via mobile or tablet, best I can tell there is no way to upload pics to the site.


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## sbsbiker (Dec 1, 2007)

laffeaux said:


> If you are on a laptop/desktop you can upload pics using the "go advanced" button. If you access the site via mobile or tablet, best I can tell there is no way to upload pics to the site.


I've found the taptalk app allowed me to post pics easier than the mtbr site


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## Jack Burns (Nov 18, 2005)

I have two identical Dean frames in 16" size that look exactly like the photos in the OP and they are from 1995 and 1996.

They are good rides. One was always a single speed with an eccentric Eno rear hub, and the other with a traditional triple.

This was my second single speed, and continues to be my main go to bike.

The rear seat stays flex and do not provide enough support for functional braking. I put Shimano V-brake braces on them. That solves the brake problem. Unfortunately, that limits the size of the tire. However, 2.2" rear tires are fine for this sort of bike anyway.

That same flex makes the ride lively.

I've had other single speeds that are more efficient climbers. The Dean does give up something for being less rigid. I think if you're over 170# these are not good SS bikes. I'm lighter.

But I find the overall performance very pleasant.

Sent from my LG-H910 using Tapatalk


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