After being away for sometime, I ventured into my parent's garage and noticed a bike lodged between a lawnmower, an outboard motor, and a decommissioned wood stove... my old mountain bike. It's been remarkably preserved in the second millennium catacomb as if it were frozen in time from it's last ride which is estimated to be around the year 2003 based on the carbon dating samples. The bike seems to originate from 2000.
Weight: TBD
I think it was clean when I put it in the garage many years ago, so most of the 'dirt' you are seeing is dust, corrosion, and spiderwebs.
Thoughts on what to upgrade first? I'm feeling like a deadbeat dad who just discovered an 11 year old child at a rehab line-up.












The durable black anodized aluminum does not have a single scratch on it, plenty of dust and spiderwebs though:






Truvativ crankset was an add-on. Seem to remember the crank always coming loose. Still have the stock XT crankset (slated for the trash but perhaps...)
Apparently the final ride ended fast, in the 42T.






Appears to be Gore-Ride on for everything except rear brake

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Fixed the photo situation. Love how iPhoto and Flickr constantly update the photos
It might be a year or so before getting a new MTB so I'd like to ride this. Thoughts on what to do? Keep it vintage? Update? Drivetrain is 3x9 with XTR 34T(?) cassette. I even think I spotted a brand new (old) XTR cassette in the basement.

Just found the original wheelset (or original DT Swiss Hugi 240 hubs at least... replaced the stock red Mavic rims with black about 8 or 9 years ago after the brake track had seen too much action.

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The bike is almost perfect the way it is. All I'd do to it is give it a back, replace the chain, which appears to have rusted, and then ride the heck out of it.

Yup. Ride it the way it is. Save up for a new one when you have time and money.

Maybe change the pedals (do you have cleats for those)?

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Yes I have cleats. Are new pedals better these days? I believe these are the World Cup Titan (titanium) edition from many years ago.

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Please clean it and show some new pics. I'd leave it the way it is.

Great post!

Long time ago I lusted afer that exact bike. It is great to see that it still is in this shape after all the years. The hugi wheels + Geax tires are funny too. The tires are what i remember as my fastest, but less controll giving tires. Please clean and ride it.

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What's its actual weight? What tire model is this? Search engine came up with nothing. Fork?

the homegrown pro is a classic bike. i've got one too, but i take care of mine clean it up and replace the rusted parts as the bike deserves this after much neglect.

Thanks for all the responses! For sure, MTB bikes - and old MTB bikes - probably are not the sexiest on WW. But alas...
Spent no more than 30 minutes cleaning the Homegrown. Turns out, it's in great shape. Took it for a quick 30 minute test spin in the backyard gnarly singletrack and it performed great... a testament to the Gore Ride-on (Light?) cables.

I also did a little research on this bike... the anodized gold seems to be the most popular color.. Homegrowns prior to 2000 were actually manufactured at the Yeti plant (the sparkle colored versions). Starting in 2000 and then in 2001, it was a Schwinn plant, using their new N'Lightened ALU material.

Sadly, just 1 year later, Schwinn/GT/Questor were in financial hardship but still produced fantastic high-end Made In The USA bicycles, sold to Pacific Cycles. Suddenly every GT and Schwinn was available at Wal-mart and other department stores. I purchased 4 sets of derailleur hangers on the news.

@victorduraace, No official weight yet. I'm guessing 21lbs. I'll have exact weights soon.

@frankie, the "Pro" version was the step below, with lower components and instead of anodized frame was painted orange.... The Hugi's were superfast with greenlites if the terrain was mild, which wasn't often around here. I was super happy to find a vast stash of both road and MTB greenlites in the basement.

@5shot, yes, the chain will most likely need to be replaced.

@victorduraace, I'm not an expert on the wheels or the tires. From the photos, you can see they are Bontranger X-Lite Tubeless, perhaps from 2003 era. The tires are "Revolt Super X Tubeless" which are still getting good reviews on MTBR.









The 2000 model was one of the first with an integrated headset called "ICBM" (Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile)... I'm not sure what the bike industry acronym for this is "Integrated... Chamber... Bearing... I don't know) ... But in 2000, weapons of mass destruction is always funny, right?


Fork is a 2000 SID SL with 80mm travel;




Wheels were in great condition. I didn't even clean them much since they were clearly 'good to go':
Front:


Rear brake track.. is spider approved:


BB area. Disregard the marks on the crankarms... simply mud from the test ride and the questionable area where some ancient electrical tape is covering up a secondary water cage bolt hole (WW points?). The Moccasin shoes visible in the photo are my dads that I borrowed for the photo shoot. Dogs keep stealing mine. Don't judge.


Stay tuned for legitimate off-road testing

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Nice bike. I raced on one on the yeti made homegrowns back around 97. It was sub 19 lbs on a 21 inch frame.