bromwich cycles ?

[tangent]

Bromwich -- reviewed in Bicycle Action Mag

Bromwich frames were featured in Bicycle Action mag in ?1989 appearing as "test bed" for the then newly released Campag Eucid groupset...Reynolds 531 tubing, and very sloping tubes , much like the Overbury's Pioneer.

 

[dronebox]

Tom Bromwich used to be an occasional visitor when I worked at John Atkins Cycles in Coventry in the late '90s. By that time he had retired and Jim McIlwaine had taken over the Bromwich name. Tom was well known for building excellent road frames and was a real character of the old school. He helped Lee and Alan set up LA Cycles framebuilders.

Jim was keen to build custom Mountainbikes and I helped a little with the frame design and some building work. They were mostly lugless fillet brazed drop-top tube designs and we spent a lot of time trying to get the chainstays short and steepening the angles! Reynolds 531 AT and Columbus tubing was used.
I also produced the "Serious Mountainbikes' ad for the magazine.

Phew, that brings back memories. Following Jims VW bus to races would leave a deposit of oil on the front of our car :roll:

LOL... @ justbackdated... Just had one of those 6 degrees of separation moments...

I was searching for Bromwich on the forums and found this post in which you mentioned you'd spent some time with Jim McIlwaine helping out etc. You mentioned that you were always trying to build bikes with short and steep angles.

Jim made me a rather beautiful Bromwich Cyclone back in about 1989-1990 and I was a regular visitor to the shed where he made them. Got so that he trusted me enough to let me borrow a prototype elevated chainstay design with super-short effective chainstay length... I reviewed it in 1990 in issue 7 of Mountain Biker magazine and got a wedge of cash

Sadly, my Cyclone bit the dust when an A-level student of mine butchered it into a prototype full suspension design project... i'm thinking I'll try to track down another one

 

[mikee]

any scans of the elevated bromiwch test ?

anyone ?

 

[dronebox]

I've got a couple of "vanity" copies of the original magazine ... Not a problem for me to scan them and up them.

 

[dronebox]

Scans are up... Enjoy

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=144462

 

[mikee]

thanks much appreciated

unicorn i think

 

[mattpollard]

Jim Mc ilwaine

Jim Mcilwaine is my grandad still has 3 bromwich bikes and a hand built tandem that he tinkers with and uses regularly.

 

[mattpollard]

just for info`s sake Jim Mcilwaine says that green frame is not bromwich.

 

[biggs682]

sorry to re ignite an old thread but hopefully picking up a very genuine pr of Bromwich bikes tonight .
And hopefully they can join my collection of Coventry bikes ie 2 x Pollards ,1 x Lee Cooper "Bromwich" and an LA Cycles touring frame awaiting build

 

[biggs682]

Just back from collecting this great original pr , both original late 78/9 machines collected from the original owners son in law . Mans is a 21 1/2" frame in clean original condition . Chromed steel rims with a flip flop hub , 26.4 dia post so poss Reynolds tubing , nicklin cranks , huret mechanism and levers . Gents frame no is 2409 whilst the ladies is 432 .




Ladies is similar spec apart fro being 20" size measured from centre of crank to top of seat tube .





Just had a little ride on both and very smooth considering not used for 10+ years .