Brodie Mantis Replica

hi
what do you do if you search for years for something with no luck, or find one and the price tag
is way more than you want to pay. you come up with the idea to make a replica.
ya i know, it's not the real thing and i am probably wasting my money (so everyone tells me)
but if i can be happy with the project then in the words of metallica ............nothing else matters.


phase #1:
roughly a year ago i talked to paul about building a stem, a mantis stem. it was a project which caught
his interest. he had never done anything like it before and saw potential for a video as well. on these early mantis's
the first thing that jumps out at you is that wild stem. if i couldn't get the stem made then the project was dead
in the water. but paul agreed.


phase #2:
the frame. once the stem was done the search for a decent donor frame began. one that had as many similar
characteristics as a mantis frame i could find. no lugged frames, no s-bend chain stays, forward facing rear drop outs
were primary features i looked for. a frame was hard to find with all of these. eventually i found a frame on ebay
and with the help of my good buddy canuckbiker the frame was bought and shipped to his recreational property
across the border. i have been sitting on this frame for awhile and every now and then i would ask paul if he was
ready to start on it. well 2 weeks ago paul emails me and says he has a window of spare time and am i still intersted.
i set up a play date and swung by as fast as i could. here is the result.


with the two main steps now behind me i can begin the build process. i have to decide on a fork. has to be a bi plane.
if you follow paul you will know a little while back he made a few ritchey inspired bi plane forks. i managed to get my
hands on one. this would probably be the perfect fork. but steer tube is way too long. and i really don't want to cut
it down. i also have a stumpjumper bi plane fork that i could easily cut down and not shed a tear. thoughts?


then what colour do i paint it? blue? i have enough blue bikes. possibly the xcr red. i am not sure how i am going to
decal this up. sherpa or xcr. might depend on what decals gil has.

i have a very well preserved donor bike with full deerhead. but i might go with mafac brakes. thoughts?
and for cranks i might swap in some t.a.'s thoughts?

will try and get this one done in a decent time frame. must choose a colour so i can paint in this great summer
weather we are having.

i will try to do updates as i progress.

I just finished watching the Brodie fork video, I love that man, he is hilariously funny, very dry. Basically showing the shit stuff that Tom sent him to make the forks with but passing it off with "that will be fine". All the time you know he is thinking, "I would have made this a lot better myself".

I love the look of those biplane forks though and I really appreciate you sharing your build. Don't listen to those naysayers...it's your money and you are allowed to "waste" it any way you want. I can only imagine how much the build will have cost at the end of the day but compared to what many people will happily spend renovating a run of the mill classic car for instance, it will be worth it to have a one off with so much input from one of the greats of the bike building scene.

Watching him at work is always interesting and informative and he has just such a wonderful, relaxed style of delivery to the camera. His videos often make me think of my dad who died a few years ago at the age of 90 after a life as a milling machinist, milling one off parts for giant gas turbines used in power stations in the 1960s and 70s. I never really took an interest in what he did then, in my eyes he was "just" a factory worker while I was the first in my family to go off to university and "make something" of myself. Watching people like Brodie at work gives me a new appreciation of the sort of stuff my dad did all day and I can see why he enjoyed his work...something I never understood then.

I look forward to seeing the finished bike, it will be a really special one off.