Not quite in the same realm as the above, but at least it is actually handmade in GB



AND I've just shelled out a bargain £60 for a NOS RockShox Pro Deluxe shock for it, which has now totally cleaned me out for the next couple of months!

Luckily I have nearly everything I need for the build, including a Judy SL for which I have a spring conversion and a rattlecan of orange paint...

That Diablo hurts my eyes! Is it built up or in progress?

Feetabix - thanks for posting - I have admired your NOB for a while - maybe we can get our NOBS out with Daj's BOLLOX on a West Mids ride this year?

Stevo - that is tidy - the suspension looks sorted and like it works well too - looking forward to the finished bike!

Feetabix - thanks for posting - I have admired your NOB for a while - maybe we can get our NOBS out with Daj's BOLLOX on a West Mids ride this year?





.....childish and predictable.....but still irresistably funny!....

It all started a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away.....(star wars emotion needed...lol)

With these three, very important bikes....(imho).

Apologise for the terrible Dave Lloyd E-Stay pic, as you can imagine a very rare sight....

The race was on.

Every one searching for the perfect solution, brake placement, chainstay lengths, mud clearances, strength, weight....etc etc.

Some british frame builders under pressure from magazines, gave us E-stays....,

but when design solutions to problems get found, the stakes get increased a little.....

with improvements in dedicated Steel tubesets for mountain bikes now availiable........some up"d there game....!!!

In a market massively dominated by American and far east imports, our English Frame Builders, stepped into a fierce market, and gave us something very very special...!!!

Chas Roberts had shown us how good his skills were and given his Contribution, enabling us massive successes with the likes of Dave Baker and Tim Gould, (to name a few). With the White Spider.

But this was new......, and the next step, (in my eyes anyway).

He gave us the D.O.G.S B.O.L.O.X....

In a World Wide Search for the best way to build a Steel Frame (weight/strength/handling), our americans gave us massive quailty and cool with frames like the Bontrager OR and the Salsa Ala Carte............

Chas Roberts for me (and i suspect many) built what the "Press" reported to be the Ultimate steel frame (of its time).

He took highend tubes from Reynolds/columbus etc, and mixed them to gain the best results, for his frame design.

example..
Ultra stiff Columbus Max main frame.
Composite rear stays--
---Extra stiff 4130 horseshoe to minimize brake flex
---Silver soldered Reynolds 753 stays
---Columbus SL monostay
---Massive clearances to eliminate mud build up

The name D.O.G. B.O.L.O.X , was a carefully used acronym.....which playfully stood for..........

Dirt Orientated Geometry System Bidirectional Ovalised Lateral Xtra.

With Massive articles in mags with Bold statements such as the "Ultimate steel" being printed, obviously our other favorite builders had to up there game too...

And they Gave us......

Dave Lloyd C.A.T.S W.I.S.K.A.S........

Cycle All Terrain Systems With Integral Suspension Keeping Alignment Static

and.....

the the Dave Yates D.O.N.K.I.S N.O.B name, an acronym for......

Daves Overactive No Kompromise Independant Suspension, Never Otherwise Beaten

All three frame Builders, used different tubes in different places on the frame, tweeked, and fettled in a quest to build the best performance into there frames, and in a typically british humour kinda way, show it in the names of there bikes.....lol.


I believe the Yates is Coloumbus Max OR and Reynolds 753, and the Lloyd to be a mix of Reynolds 753 and 653.

All stunning......, and for our histories sake worth every penny you can muster spending on them imho.

I hope you dont mind my romanced view on the story , but given the frames you have, in such great condition, i just wanted to add my thoughts on the significance of them....., they are stunning.

sorry for the quality of the pics, but they were all i had or could find, (i will have a good look for mag reviews for you though.)

Dave Lloyd didnt stop there though, he also gave us the Beez Kneez, and Chas Roberts pushed onward and upward with the White Spider Ultralight..., a super light race frame.

They are both awesome,always makes me wonder why somebody would buy something like that and treat them so badly and let them rot.

Our very own team MBUK riders Sally Hibberd and Dave Hemmings, both riding classic British Steel.

Take a close look at the fork Dave H is using..., swopped out for the Bontrager composite fork, a Pace suspension fork, with what appears to be aluminium legs, not carbon...

That's a very early prototype

I was thinking I would be getting something Canadian and steel next but to be honest I'm very patriotic - these bikes have changed my mind!! Love to get myself a Dave Lloyd next.

My LBS BITD was a dealer for them as the owner knew Dave from his roadie background - he always had 2 or 3 in the shop almost always equipped with Campag groups (all MTB's as well).

Does anyone remember Dave Lloyd making a bike called the Bees Knees? I know he did the Donkis Nob but my local shop had a Bees Knees which was painted in a fantastic yellow and black striped finish, in a similar fashion to that road frame on the first page of this thread. IIRC it was a slightly cheaper version of the DN (maybe non-custom?) but it looked awesome!

Carl......thankfully we have you involved with our site!...longlive the good old fashioned geek!.....




Stands proudly for national anthem.....

[stands up]

Onr of my favourite moments in life came a couple of years ago. I was on a trip with my church to visit another one in Germany. We did a sports day thing and had to catch a bus to the other side of this German town. The 1 American chap in our group very proudly sang his national anthem, on his own, and got a big cheer (we filled a whole bendy bus!). Then we sang God Save The Queen, about 50 of us Brits as the bus was going down the high street. Flippin Ace!!

Anyway, back to the bikes....

[/sits down]

Here are Two of my British bikes finished 2011.

Both equipped with M900 XTR, both british brands, although one made in England, and one made overseas and painted and assembled here in the U.K.

My Dave Yates isnt as prestige a tubeset as the Dave Yates D.O.N.K.I.S N.O.B, and in my world this makes the frame you have the flagship model for this brand.

The Dave Yates Diablo was the lower model, and still used the fastback seatstay arrangement, and a project two fork, much in the same way as Roberts "Bottom Line". and frames from many other Uk builders, trying to compete with prices of Imported Models, whilst still remaining Handbuilt in the U.k.

I thought the same Mike, but hesitated in using the word "prototype" just in case i got hammered for it.

Very cool though...

Rule Britannia.....

here is the Dave Lloyd Beez Neez for you...,