1993 Roberts DOGSBOLX SE

AlexTemper

Dirt Disciple
A project that has been very long overdue but I have finally started on getting my Roberts back up and running. First off a little bit of background history of this frame...

I purchased the frame, fork and stem in 1993 and was one of 10 limited production SE frames available to the public which made use of lighter tubing compared to the standard DB frame. For anyone interested there were 16 SE frames in total produced with the other 6 possibly being pre-production/demo or personal frames for staff.

Fast forward to around 8 years ago and the frame developed a crack in the underside of the top tube, near were it meets the seat tube so was stripped with the plan to send it off to Roberts for repair and respray. Unfortunately that didn't materialise and the frame ended up collecting dust while I rode my FS Bikes and other priorities came and went. Eventually I got around to looming to get the frame repaired but by this time, Chas had decided to shut shop and take his sabbatical in France leaving me to ponder on alternatives.

Then, late last year, I discovered that Chas's brother, Geoff, was starting to advertise his frame building and repair services down in Sussex so a phone call was made and we had an interesting chat about the bikes, company, himself and finally my frame. The decision was made to replace the top tube with the same Columbus tubing and paint the frame up as per the classic DB white/black colour scheme and original graphics which have changed a little through the DB's life cycle. Geoff also mentioned that he hand built the SE frames so he would have put my frame together back in 1993 which is pretty cool.

Which leads us to the present day. The frame is repaired and has been sprayed. I'm going to collect it in a few weeks time after Easter but Geoff kindly send a couple of photo's of it done from his Sussex workshop. Then will be the fun part of building it up again and getting to ride it after 8 years. For the build I will be going against a conventional true retro build with components of the same era and will be using up-to-date components where I can but without compromising the classic look of the bike.

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:cool: :cool: very nice.

Looking forward to more pics when you get it back, i think i would be on my way now as a few weeks is a looong wait :LOL:

Have you got contact details for Geoff btw?

Mark
 
Welcome to Retro Bike, and what a great addition to the site you have there.

When you say going modern with components please tell me your not going 1x 10 or binning the the forks for 100mm+ Jobbies (“subtle” can be very subjective)

I’m assuming you’ll be using v brakes instead of Canti as the two are poles apart in stopping power

Looking forward to up dates
 
Retro Spud":1mddda4r said:
Welcome to Retro Bike, and what a great addition to the site you have there.

When you say going modern with components please tell me your not going 1x 10 or binning the the forks for 100mm+ Jobbies (“subtle” can be very subjective)

I’m assuming you’ll be using v brakes instead of Canti as the two are poles apart in stopping power

Looking forward to up dates
I did have the bike up here when it was still being ridden but I couldn't remember my account details and the photos would have been long gone from the server t hey we're hosted on.

Not going 1x10 but will be 1x11 so even worse! I'm selling my carbon XC hardtail so I ride the Roberts instead and want to carry a few creature comforts across. I only ever used a double when I was racing with it anyway. The rigid fork will stay and V Brakes all the way so I be confident the bike will stop at some point.
 
Re:

Lovely looking thing

This will be great with new components on it, and anyway they are still being make aren’t they? (Noting demise of Roberts)

Did you consider disc tabs?
 
Re:

I believe they were still being made up until Chas shut up shop. I considered discs but the rest end may have required a horseshoe as the stats are really thin down the bottom. I also considered changing the cable mounts to accept full length outers and brake hoses but in the end decided against.
 
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