Bromwich

flyingfinn

flyingfinn

Kona Fan
Hi there,

Although a newbie on this site I have been a keen bike enthusiast since I started riding more seriously some 37 years ago. I ahve always liked particular older styles of bikes (as I do cars) which must make me retro - so I thought I better join the right group.

As a question, does anyone out there have a Bromwich framed bike (or even MTB - I understand they did make a few off road bikes to try and keep going in the early 90s). My main road bike is a 1987 531P framed custom build; I had it repainted in 1998 but could not get any decals at the time. Does anyone konw of a source or of someone who could reproduce them from photographs?

flyingfinn
 
Decals for Browich

Great, thanks for the link, they do not list what I need at present but they seem to have the ability to produce anything!

ff
 
Welcome to the forum.....
If you are talking about a Tom Bromwich frame?.
You should be able to get transfers etc, from Lee Cooper of LA cycles, coventry, i believe Tom Bromwich taught Lee Cooper to build frames and they did used to work together.
 
Lee Cooper

Yes, that is a good shout, in trying to chase down some information I found out That lee cooper had started out at working for Tom. I spoke to Lee a couple of years ago about getting a custom made touring frame made but I did not think to ask about decals then.

Thanks
 
I was chatting to a chap at a Worcester cycle jumble back in the spring who was selling two nicely refinished Tom Bromwich frames. The story he told me was that Lee Cooper had apprenticed with Tom, then bought him out when he (Tom) retired. Tom didn't take to retirement, so came back to work as a framebuilder for Lee.

The two frames I saw looked very nicely put together.
 
Lee Cooper

one-eyed_jim, that is interesting.

It is about 2 years ago that I spoke to Lee and I do not think Tom was working for him then, so do you mean this is something that happened recently?

flyingfinn

PS I have also posted the details of my bike on the readers bike forum.
 
Re: Lee Cooper

flyingfinn":1ko16qwj said:
do you mean this is something that happened recently?
Click to expand...
No, I would imagine it would have been in the nineties.

The history section on Lee's website doesn't quite tally with that story though (although it wouldn't exactly rule it out either), so it should probably be considered a rumour:

http://leecoopercycles.webs.com/aboutus.htm

The tandem and touring company Lee mentions building for under contract must be Thorn. Lee also built the Caribou series for AVC.
 
Lee Cooper and Bromwich

That is closer to the timeline I had in my mind but you have prompted me to try and find time to go and talk to Lee as in about a year or two I will want a new frame for my Commuter/Tourer (as posted in another string).

Not sure about the tandem manufacturer being THORN, I cannot find what I remember seeing online at the moment, but I am fairly certain they do their frame building in house. Last time I went to SJS I had a look around their complex and there is certainly an extensive workshop.

ff
 
Re: Lee Cooper and Bromwich

flyingfinn":dg79l1o5 said:
Not sure about the tandem manufacturer being THORN, I cannot find what I remember seeing online at the moment, but I am fairly certain they do their frame building in house. Last time I went to SJS I had a look around their complex and there is certainly an extensive workshop.
Click to expand...
I can't think who else it might be. Lee writes:

"in 1995 someone contacted us to build Tandem frames. This led to touring frames and audax frames. They have become one of the biggest suppliers of Tandems and Tourers worldwide. We built hundreds of frames for them until 2005 when they changed their focus and went to Taiwan"

The only other major player in touring and tandem frames in the UK is Dawes, and their own production moved from Birmingham to eastern Europe during the relevant period. Thorn did have a small production facility of their own, but when I was shown around their premises a few years ago, I was told that the majority of their frames were built in the Far East.

There was a recent case of a forum member trying to obtain a warranty repair on a cracked Thorn frame who was told they no longer have any framebuilding facilites. The repair would have been undertaken by a subcontractor.

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=111638
 
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