An '87 Brodie Romax - recent find, something odd though..

I've been lurking around here for a little while, really diggin the knowledge and passion for old MTBs. Seems like there's no better crowd with which to share this lucky recent find, and get some feedback.

Rescued from its most recent commuter duty and what seems to have been a fairly punishing life of misguided maintenance. I think it's a 1987, serial # is 229.

Parts are a mixed bag: Deore XT thumbshifters, deerhead FD, Exage RD, Suntour XC seatpost, Deore XT chainstay U-brake, XT M730 crank, front XT hub w/ Sun Mistral rim, rear Deore hub w/ Wolber rim. Fork is fillet brazed but stem is welded.

Here's the odd and unfortunate thing: the lower head tube joint is welded! My best guess is that the original fillet joint broke, a welded repair was made, and the frame was resprayed with new decals. Weird, no? Any other thoughts?

Not planning on a full restoration right now, just some touch ups to protect the frame and minor repairs get it in good riding condition. So far, all I've done is liberate an epically seized seatpost, and remove a broken off bolt in a bottle braze-on.

If anyone has a suitable shorter stem, I'd be interested in buying or swapping.

Nice! Welcome to Club Romax! My 1987 Romax is #307 =)

Retro Roy can give his two cents on this one as he knows more than me but the down tube diameter looks larger than most romax frames??? maybe the whole down tune was replaced?? But then again it's probably just my eyes playing games =)

Is the fork fillet brazed too? too bad the stem is not the fillet brazed one...

Here's my 87 to compare geo...

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Your the lucky one to get this. Did you pay his asking price?

Shutter, thanks, and sweet Romax! I've seen the other posts of that one, love the paint. The DT on mine doesn't stand out to me as larger diameter, maybe it's just an effect of the photos. Also, the joint at the BB is a fillet, so it would have been strange to replace the tube, fillet one end and weld the other. Fork is fillet brazed, but yeah I'm disappointed the stem isn't. Can't complain too much though, given the stroke of luck by which I acquired this! Would love to get Retro_Roy's thoughts too, hope he comes across this post.

Roc, yes I lucked out big! It's quite a story. I was out of the country when it was posted - I randomly ran across it and responded within the first 10 minutes. My parents were in Calgary and I emailed them to facilitate for me. I never heard back from the seller and figured it got snatched up by someone with a flush offer - I sent another email offering 50% more and still never heard back. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to me, my mom had emailed, got a response right away, and picked up the bike for half his asking price! Mom rocks.

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Nice! I would get the Tig weld fillet brazed over... They you will never know...

given the early days… possibly quite a few of "custom" requests, as shown by a few other early brodie bikes posted here. maybe the original owner requested a welded headtube/downtube junction?

none the less, congrats on your successful and happy score!

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shutter":2x43hbqk said:

Nice! I would get the Tig weld fillet brazed over... They you will never know...

Click to expand...

please don't listen to shutter and do such a silly thing to this frame. :roll:

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Cool bike. I like the colour.

Toss a few $$$s at it and bring it back to its original form. Than enjoy it

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Always nice waking up to another Romax

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Wow that's really nice and clean, color is great as well. Congratulations!

I actually like the tig and fb'd combo, it's different and interesting like most 80's Brodies.