doctor-bond
Feature Bike
Ever since I was gifted an Andy Powell road bike about 15 years ago I’ve had a soft spot for his work - the frames are in many ways just conventional British frame building, but they do seem to ride very nicely, and rightly command a loyal following.
Perhaps less conventional, was that he was pretty quick out of the blocks making mountain bikes when they emerged in the U.K. during the first half of the 1980s. The first bikes were lugged Ritchey copies using his own name and the newly-available MTB specific tube sets that Reynolds had created: from 1984, they are some of the earliest of very few U.K. built mountain bikes. But soon there was a range of lugged and fillet brazed models under the Overbury’s brand - among the first to sport sloping top tube geometry.
Over the years I’ve owned a Pioneer and a Wildcat from Overbury’s, but I’d always hankered after an Andy Powell MTB to complement my road bike. The first that came to light on here was a green one from 1984 which @mrkawasaki got hold of as frameset and built up. So I coveted that for a while. And then a few years later, @The History Man scored a complete bike in red which was also from 1984 and largely original (Link to THM thread) So I coveted that for a while longer - 9 years in fact.
Well, all good things, etc, and when Jason was thinning his collection earlier this year, I grabbed the chance to buy the red Andy Powell.
As I mentioned, it’s originality (especially the paintwork) was a big appeal, but the first owner had swapped the bar and stem at some point. I’ve elected to reinstate Bullmoose bars using a set of Nitto fillet brazed that have a wonderful sheen. It’s a had a strip and rebuild with new cables, grease, chain and tyres, but the Early XT Tourney/ Deerhead group is in fine fettle and sports a rare and useful 32t six speed rear block; and the wheels are superb. Saddle and pedals not original but are in keeping and have a nice aesthetic.
This is only going to get used for dry bimbles, but today’s first shake down ride shows it has a smooth and eager ride quality that belies its age and is very compelling.
Perhaps less conventional, was that he was pretty quick out of the blocks making mountain bikes when they emerged in the U.K. during the first half of the 1980s. The first bikes were lugged Ritchey copies using his own name and the newly-available MTB specific tube sets that Reynolds had created: from 1984, they are some of the earliest of very few U.K. built mountain bikes. But soon there was a range of lugged and fillet brazed models under the Overbury’s brand - among the first to sport sloping top tube geometry.
Over the years I’ve owned a Pioneer and a Wildcat from Overbury’s, but I’d always hankered after an Andy Powell MTB to complement my road bike. The first that came to light on here was a green one from 1984 which @mrkawasaki got hold of as frameset and built up. So I coveted that for a while. And then a few years later, @The History Man scored a complete bike in red which was also from 1984 and largely original (Link to THM thread) So I coveted that for a while longer - 9 years in fact.
Well, all good things, etc, and when Jason was thinning his collection earlier this year, I grabbed the chance to buy the red Andy Powell.
As I mentioned, it’s originality (especially the paintwork) was a big appeal, but the first owner had swapped the bar and stem at some point. I’ve elected to reinstate Bullmoose bars using a set of Nitto fillet brazed that have a wonderful sheen. It’s a had a strip and rebuild with new cables, grease, chain and tyres, but the Early XT Tourney/ Deerhead group is in fine fettle and sports a rare and useful 32t six speed rear block; and the wheels are superb. Saddle and pedals not original but are in keeping and have a nice aesthetic.
This is only going to get used for dry bimbles, but today’s first shake down ride shows it has a smooth and eager ride quality that belies its age and is very compelling.
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