1985 Rocky Mountain “Avalanche”

[Woodsie]

I’m used to seeing this very early Rocky decal on the Sherpa/Super Scooter models from 1984. Those were lugged frames made in Japan and were the earliest frames Rocky imported under their own name.
I had also seen this photo below of what appeared to be a filet brazed frame sporting the same early decal. I always wondered what this bike was but had never seen one in the flesh. It was pretty clear to me it wasn’t the lugged Sherpa or Super Scooter.

 

[Woodsie]

A couple of years ago (yes it’s been a while in the making) I was alerted to an early filet brazed Rocky Mountain frame that was available. This is the original photo provided by the seller to @rsmtb and he scooped up the bike together with its stable mate, another early filet brazed Rocky Mountain. The two bikes ended up in the careful hands of @Retro_Roy and fortunately for me this black and grey fade beauty was too small for Roy!

 

[Woodsie]

Roy confirmed the frame to be a Brodie built frame with the serial number 041. After a bit of consultation with Paul he very kindly gave me a copy of the build specs for the bike and although he didn’t have a specific build date it is thought to be early 1985. He commented on the brodie brake hanger as an early effort that was too time consuming and subsequently dropped as a design feature not long after. He also told me that he would have painted the frame also and you can see the fade style that featured in some later Brodie frames.
Paul’s notes state that this model, despite having no decals to denote it, was called “Avalanche” and that number 042 was the last Avalanche he made. The Avalanche model appeared again in 1988 and 1989 as a Japanese made sloping top tube design based on the Thunderbolt.

 

[Woodsie]

The bike had led a pretty relaxed life in Palm Springs having made a 1986 journey South from Vancouver with a couple of retirees. Apparently the frame had hung unsold for a good few months during 1985 and the bike was eventually built up in 1986 which accounts for the mix of Deer Head and XT components. I figured since they were original to the bike (not to mention virtually unused) I would leave them put. I needed to source a proper saddle, pedals and bars together with some appropriate tires.

 

[Woodsie]

I’ve collected some more period correct parts over the past year or two and it’s pretty much complete I think. I looked at the specs on Rocky models from the 1986 catalogue (couldn’t find a 1985) to get an overall build spec appropriation. Tires are original IRC X1 Peak and the pedals I used are Suntour xc2. The leather Rocky Mountain branded Selle Italia Anatomic saddle was a bike swap find along with a lovely set of Nitto Bullmoose bars. Grips are of the period OGKs.

 

[Woodsie]

And here it is as of today. I love the 80s relaxed geometry (69 degree head angle) and the Bullmoose bars. It’s a lovely ride and gets a lot of attention when I ride through town.

 

[Woodsie]

Last year (pre completed build but still rideable) I took the old Rocky to Crankworks Whistler to hang with its grand kids.