84 Andy Powell Early Overbury's MTB

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Retro Spud":b0dtdbdf said:

The History Man":b0dtdbdf said:

my new desktop background

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That pic has almost Mint Sauce esq qualities about it.

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That's just what I was thinking , and then I scrolled down!...made me smile

What a fine frame, and a nicely expressed attitude to "all-terrain" / mountain biking exploration

Re: 83 Andy Powell Early Overbury's MTB

The History Man":11ovaapd said:

Time for a thread title change!

AP8440
MB

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A 1984 British made mountain bike in that condition is rare indeed. Even though Reynolds launched their ATB tube-sets in 1983 it would have taken a while for companies to source components and set up production and test prototypes etc. I would love to see the guidance to manufacturers that Reynolds sent out with the tube-sets. It probably included drawings showing the frame geometry of the original Ritchey bikes.

In recession torn 1984 I was keen to buy a British made mountain bike. However early in the year, apart from the Cleland Aventura non were available. So I toured around most of the bike shops in Greater London only finding far eastern made MTBs. A Dawes dealers gave me brochure that proclaimed that their Ranger was the first British made mountain bike though in reality it hadn't been lunched yet. Then F.W.Evans Waterloo shop told me that they would have the first other branch in Kingston would have the first of the new ATB models arriving the following Friday. So I went along and hired one for the weekend in order to test it out.

That was in July 1984. Other UK makers that produced their own mountain bikes in 1984 using the Reynolds ATB tube-sets include Saracen, Dawes, Eclipse, Overbury's, Condor, Elswick-Falcon, Roberts Cycles, Swallow and Bob Jackson.

I am not aware of any British mountain bikes being made using Reynolds ATB tubing in 1983, though Robert's were making mountain bike frames for US customers as early as 1981. The first complete British made US style mountain bike was probably made by amateur frame-builder Tony Oliver that same year. At that time they both would have had to use non ATB/MTB tubes, maybe Reynolds?

The 84 Ranger I restored was nowhere near as refined as this. Possibly due to the larger/longer frame, it felt a little ponderous. More like the Raleigh I bought in 87 come to think of it.

The History Man":1caww8i5 said:

The 84 Ranger I restored was nowhere near as refined as this. Possibly due to the larger/longer frame, it felt a little ponderous. More like the Raleigh I bought in 87 come to think of it.

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Geoff Apps has an interesting story to tell regarding the Ranger.

In 1982 Apps offered Dawes his Range-Rider design but instead of sending them his most up to date design he sent them the drawings of an early bike made by a frame-builder who refused to bend the chain stays and as a result, in order to accommodate the fat tyres the rear triangle was very long. Dawes rejected the design because like many UK bicycle manufacturers they were skeptical about off-road bicycles being commercially viable. However, when Dawes produced the Ranger, instead of copying the Ritchey Proportions like other makers, they used much straighter chain stays and so as a result gave it an unusually long rear triangle. Maybe this was a coincidence or maybe they thought that the long rear of the Apps design was some kind of improvement? Apps never did design bikes with bent chain-stays but instead used wider bottom bracket shells to get the required frame clearances whilst keeping the rear end short.

In 2011 I met Joe Breeze who was so impressed by the 100mm wide bottom bracket shell on my 1983 Aventura that he said he would use the feature on his own bikes. This he subsequently did in order to eliminate the need for vulnerable outboard BB bearings.

If any maker did produce Reynolds ATB tube-set bikes in 1983 it would have most likely have been Roberts as they already had experience of making lug-less MTBs. For them it would have simply been a matter of switching tube-sets.

I will have a look at some photos of early Roberts MTBs to see if I can tell what tube stickers they were using.

AP8440
MB

- 3 younger than mine then. I remain to be convinced that there were 40+ ATBs built by Andy P in 1984 - suspect the numberings were for all types of Andy P frames...

This has lain dormant since a few summer rides. Time for a minor refresh with some grips and a saddle......

Minor update. Better i think .

That is very nice....

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Hello,
Are you interested in selling your original Overbury's saddle?

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Already sold I’m afraid.