A first uk MTB?

[passiflora]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Old-offroad-bicyc ... 19c6812aab surprised no one has mentioned this. I would expect this is quite rare?

 

[IDB1]

Iirc Vindec were fairly low quality and the one I've seen on ebay recently-ish (not this model, admittedly) failed to make the £5 starting bid a couple of times..

 

[pete_mcc]

Careful now! I owned a Vindec Trekker, a big boys version of that one and it preempted the MTB market in the UK. It had many 'ahead of it's time' features:

-29" wheels (well, 700c cross wheels)
-grip shift and Rohloff hub (um, a sturmey archer 3 speed)
-riser bars
-jones style truss forks (as seen on this one)

They were another great British company, like Pashley, that made butchers bikes and posties rides along with sportier models but in latter years became relatively low rent.

I think this bike is from the late 70s/early 80s and was a rival to the Raleigh Strikka and Grifter, but is a pile of shite obviously!

 

[IDB1]

Careful now! I owned a Vindec Trekker, a big boys version of that one and it preempted the MTB market in the UK.

The one I was talking about looked a bit like a Raleigh Bomber.. found a Vindec dedicated forum and further googling revealed that they were quite low quality for the time (Raleigh being quite good quality at that time by all accounts)..

If not for that little snippet, I'd have bought it for a fiver (because I secretly wanted a Bomber)..

Don't shoot the messenger Pete... personally I think they look pretty funky

 

[pete_mcc]

I don't mind people knocking them and would rather no one bought them as I think mine was rusting as soon as I took it out of the shop!

as my line line attests:

but is a pile of shite obviously!

They were certainly lower than Raleigh and had similar pressed steel frame parts like the mighty Pashley postie bike.

A while back there was one on eBay that was almost certainly my old bike, it sold for next to nothing and I was never going to bid. Its a bit like a nasty disease: You struggle with it, get some expert help in ridding yourself of it, finally get over it and can laugh about it years down the line but you really wouldn't want to put yourself through the pain ever again!

 

[dyna-ti]

That would make one tasty project

 

[IDB1]

http://vindecbicycles.proboards.com/ind ... &thread=48

Might want to check out some of the posts on that forum matey... phrases like parts no longer available and bottom bracket not available don't instill one with confidence...

Which is a shame... imo...

 

[spesh]

LOOKS LIKE AN UPSIDE DOWN FRAMED GRIFTER LOL