# Amp Research B4



## Gadro (Oct 23, 2008)

Just put this together, thought I'd share

Might be a little too NEW for the Forum, so mods please delete if frowned upon

Here's the spec

Frame: AMP Research B4
Forks: PACE Evo Pro Class Limited
Rear Suspension: Risse Racing Genesis Damper
Chainset: Raceface Forged Turbine with Middleburn Chainrings
Bottom Bracket: Shimano UN54 68mm 110mm
Front Mech: Shimano XTR M960 34.9 Bottom Pull
Rear Mech: Shimano XTR M952 9 Speed
Shifters / Levers: Shimano XTR M952 9 Speed
Brakes: Shimano XTR M950 V Brakes Front and Rear
Cassette: Shimano XT M770 9 Speed
Cabling: XTR Brake and Gear
Headset: Raceface Deus
Headset Spacer: Carbon Fibre 20mm
Stem: Syncros Ahead
Bar: X-Lite XLR Carbon Pro 25.4 Riser
Seatpost: Thomson Elite
Saddle: SDG BelAir RT
Pedals: Tioga Surefoot 31
Grips: ODI X-Treme Lock-On Black / Silver
Chainstay Protector: XT Sharkfin
Wheelset: Mavic CrossMax SUP on Mavic Hubs
Wheel Skewers: Shimano XT
Tyres: White / Amber Wall 2.1


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## Vlad (Feb 7, 2004)

I've heard nothing but bad things about these bikes (too flexy, too fragile, etc) but I think this one looks pretty cool, minus those tires. No geeky color ano to be seen, easy on the eyes and bars below the seat. Very nice.


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## da'HOOV (Jan 3, 2009)

ditto, lose the tires and it gets an A+


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## banks (Feb 2, 2004)

da'HOOV said:


> ditto, lose the tires and it gets an A+


Close. Lose the plastic pedals and then a solid A


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## todb (Jul 25, 2008)

Sweet ride. It motivated me to pull mine out and clean it up. New pedals and keep the tires!


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## N10S (Sep 27, 2004)

Unlike a lot of others I always liked Amps and have owned a B2, B3 and a B4. The B3 with F3 fork is my favorite Amp, but I have to say that your B4 is a tastefully executed example if I have ever seen one. How close does that Risse fit in the seat tower? They really help stiffen the frame up and are more reliable than the stock shock thats for sure. Nice work, and thanks for sharing!!


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## rudymexico (Aug 14, 2010)

i have always liked AMP bikes, never ridden one.
Looks pretty good


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## shovelon (Mar 16, 2006)

Like said earlier. Like the tires, loose the pedals.

Always wanted an Amp.

Good Show.


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## todb (Jul 25, 2008)

I just pulled mine out of storage and after a little work it still shifts good, although the fork is not what it used to be, lol. It is for sale for any interested parties out there.


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## rudymexico (Aug 14, 2010)

Wish I could...


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## DeeEight (Jan 13, 2004)

By modern standards yes there is flex in the frame, but the only way you get a frame as light as an Amp frame by modern standards is to throw many thousands of dollars at the materials and assembly side of the equation. When the B-2 came out in 1992, the next lightest full suspension frame was 1 1/2 pounds heavier, and didn't pedal any better, and certainly wasn't any better when it came to braking. Even by the late 90s, the only designs as light as Amps were generally Amp-clones. And it was a full decade of suspension bike development before any other shock maker figured out to do what Horst leitner's team did from the start... put a low-speed compression damping circuit into the shock to mute out pedal induced bobbing. Remember the late-90s when the big thing was "fully active suspension" that responded great to everything from small to large stuff and people for some reason stopped caring about bobbing.... and Amp's which were getting reviewed were being criticized as being too harsh on small bumps... well the low-speed circuit on the shock is what was the cause of that. Skip forward 5 years and bobbing is out of fashion and people want pedal platforms and whatever else you wanna call them. Fox came out with Propedal when? 2004? 2005? Gee... only took them 13 years to duplicate something Amp Research did.


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## N10S (Sep 27, 2004)

My B2 was 23.75 pounds on a hang-scale which was really light for an FS bike at the time. Although it was a flexy bike it was a great climbing bike and pretty efficient overall. I had a 1992 Klein Adroit at the same time and with the ti Klein BB spindle it weighed 22.5 with XTR M900 components. I used to ride a particular training lap on a local XC trail and although I figured I would be much faster on the Klein that was not the case, and I could never match my time on the Amp. Sometimes flex can be helpful I suppose.

I never disliked the amp thu-shaft shock design and still have my Amp shock dissassembly jig for maintaining them. In the early 90's I had the shock shaft actually pull-out seperating the top of the strut from the frame during an XC race. I was lucky it broke on a flat section of double track, with no catastrophic results other than a dnf. The Risse shock mod is not as supple but is lighter and also provides an incremental amount of lateral rigidity thanks to the monster shock shaft. 

I was messing around on my sons 2002 FSR s-works this morning and thinking its a fine example of horst's suspension design played out 10 years later.


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## DeeEight (Jan 13, 2004)

I had the shock shaft unscrewing itself from the front eyelet end on a winter night ride followed by BANG as the titanium coil spring rocketed out of the frame into the woods. Fortunetly I happened to see the general direction it went in and found the damn thing. The net result from the slow speed crash was I mangled my front derailleur cage but once I screwed (and locktited) the shock shaft pieces back together all was fine with it.


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## Tricone (Apr 21, 2007)

DeeEight said:


> I had the shock shaft unscrewing itself from the front eyelet end on a winter night ride followed by BANG as the titanium coil spring rocketed out of the frame into the woods. Fortunetly I happened to see the general direction it went in and found the damn thing. The net result from the slow speed crash was I mangled my front derailleur cage but once I screwed (and locktited) the shock shaft pieces back together all was fine with it.


Interesting story. I had exactly the same thing happen to me in a race on my B2 way back in the day. No happy ending for me though. I spent literally hours going through the undergrowth looking for that damn spring. I never did find it and eventually had to buy a new one.

Great bike though. One of the few bikes I regret selling. The Amp linkage fork was the most flexy part of it from memory mainly because the minimal bushes wore out so quickly. You got used to it though.


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## KDXdog (Mar 15, 2007)

banks said:


> Close. Lose the plastic pedals and then a solid A


Ditch the riser bars while you're at it! (ok, risers are just my niagra falls...)

Nice bike! I'd say it belongs here!


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## Birdman (Dec 31, 2003)

*Vintage AMP*

Nice. I still regret selling mine. I went to a Risse Genesis air/oil shock as well, but left everything else pretty much stock. Fantastic bike for technical climbs.

JMJ


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## KeepItSimpleSpeed (Sep 25, 2004)

Amps were always classy bikes.


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## rupps5 (Apr 9, 2010)

You guys made me dig out an old picture of my Amp B4. Must say I never really liked the bike, never could get it to handle right. Gave up on full suspension after that, until last week when I picked up a Yeti ASR to try out. To bad there is to much snow to go test it out.


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## yo-Nate-y (Mar 5, 2009)

If that is the way you were running your stem, its no surprise it handled 'funny'


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## sxr-racer (Nov 17, 2005)

yo-Nate-y said:


> If that is the way you were running your stem, its no surprise it handled 'funny'


same thoughts.


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## rupps5 (Apr 9, 2010)

I did try different stems with different rises and different spacer heights. The stem that is on there was not good on any bike that I have tried it on. I think I have it on there just to hold the handlebars so I could take the stem that was on there for a different bike. The only thing I did not try is different lengths of stem, that may have helped.


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## Fred Smedley (Feb 28, 2006)

yo-Nate-y said:


> If that is the way you were running your stem, its no surprise it handled 'funny'


Road stems are similar in rise, I not so sure the stem would be a problem. Perhaps fork rake or length might be a larger factor?


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## Pf223 (Dec 23, 2010)

*bike for sale*



todb said:


> I just pulled mine out of storage and after a little work it still shifts good, although the fork is not what it used to be, lol. It is for sale for any interested parties out there.


Hi is the bike for sale and what is the cost


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## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

Pf223 said:


> Hi is the bike for sale and what is the cost


He just told me it wasn't for sale. None of the bikes here are.


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## colker1 (Jan 6, 2004)

Rumpfy said:


> He just told me it wasn't for sale. None of the bikes here are.


:thumbsup:


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## DPDISXR4Ti (Jan 8, 2011)

I was thinking about picking up a B-4 frame as a mate to my F-2 fork (which I didn't need to do a thing to over the past 15 years), but after seeing this picture, I'm thinking that a YBB is probably the better idea...









Here's the write-up that I grabbed the pic from...
https://teamdicky.blogspot.com/2010/12/merry-life-day.html


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## Linoleum (Aug 25, 2008)

awesome carnage!


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## cdn-dave (Jan 6, 2007)

I found a steel version fork on Ebay that Amp switched over to aluminum under warranty! Had the shock r&r'd at the same time, but after a year of riding, I need to overhaul it again (lost all oil). Any tips?


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## todb (Jul 25, 2008)

And sold for a whole 305 dollars


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## rupps5 (Apr 9, 2010)

wow! someone got a deal.


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## todb (Jul 25, 2008)

yes they did. its shame no one bid on it but tons watched it.


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