First Old World MTB Champs - Holland 4th/5th September

right! i have booked amsterdam accomodation for the party night! same place as mr k and all!! so that's one thing sorted, just have to confirm travel, defo best option is harwich to hook, costs more for the ferry but cost loads less in time and petrol and pretty much in total is the same either way and this way means being lots less tired!

just awaiting poss passengers confirmation before booking the ferry.

phew, another couple of things crossed off the list!!

The OWMTBC 09 pre party in Amsterdam will start about 7.30pm on the Thursday and will no doubt run into the early hours (as our practice runs did...) - an invitation will be circulated in the next few days with all the vital details!

Mr K

More from the 'Ambassadors, you are spoiling us' photo series, another exclusive for our lovely co-sponsors - Retrobike!



Mr K

You'll notice in the photo that the bike behind me is one of the first generation of Breezers, of which there were only 10 built in 1977 and 1978 and most are in museums now. That particular bike was originally owned by Wende Cragg, one of the original MTB riders around here, that Joe reacquired from her awhile back. The bike to the left of Joe is his own copy of one of the second gen. Breezers, of which there were maybe 75 built.

Would be interested in knowing about the differences between the forks - theory and ride of course!

Mr K

The forks on the first Gen. Breezer were the only thing Joe didn't make himself-they were built by Cook Brothers in 1977 to his specs. and looked much like their stock fork, which was built to look like a motorcycle fork, for BMX'ers. Since the first Gen. bike had a rather slack 68 degree head angle, the fork offset was set at 2 inches. By 1981, Joe didn't like the look or the weight of the Cook Bros. fork, so on the second Gen. Breezer he built the fork himself. It is a UniCrown design which Joe invented and got paid royalties from Tange, although these 75 forks used curved UniCrown tubes sourced from Charlie Cunningham and Steve Potts. (They had liked his design so much they had ordered the crown pieces from a custom fab shop in Reno for their own bikes, since Tange wasn't producing them yet) The second Gen. Breezer-1982-1985 had a 70 degree head angle, and to maintain smooth handling with the steeper head angle, a 1 3/4 inch offset. It was also elegant looking, lighter, and, with the curved lower legs, a bit more compliant piece than the Cook Bros. fork. When you ride both bikes, they feel good, with the newer ones turning a little quicker and the first Gen. bikes tracking great at high speed (think Repack). Pat

One of the first Gen. Breezers is in the Shimano museum in Japan, one is in the MTB Hall of Fame (on loan from CK), one in a museum in Oakland, Ca.

Now that's a history lesson! Thanks Pat.

Fresh media coverage from Gary at BikeRadar...

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/r ... er-4-22697



Mr K

Signed up.

Paid up.

2009 is now definitely the year I come out of the riding closet.

See you all in the bar!

Or bra if you prefer.