peetee
Senior Retro Guru
Back in the ancient mists of time……well, 1983, or thereabouts, I was a spotty, skinny youth who discovered cycling. Around about then and for many years after I was skint so thumbing through Cycling Weekly and Bicycle Magazine was as close as I could get to a proper bike from a proper builder. I remember Dave Yates being featured in a couple of mags and, being a fellow North-Easterner I was hooked on his bikes.
Better times came and so did better bikes but his workmanship was still out of my reach; I could have saved up, but good bikes from local shops (I had moved doon sooth) distracted me too much.
Then the Evil of the Bay tempted me to take a look at a frame in the right colour, right size, right tubing and with the right name. It’s had a previous life but I reckoned it would be worth a punt.
I am a proper stickler for really good steel frames and, by ‘eck, is it fab to ride!
I finished assembling it this morning and took it for a 15 mile spin this evening.
I averaged way over my normal speed on this route and me and the bike were in total harmony. One of my best rides ever.
Thanks Dave. I know you’re out there and, much as I’d like to have bought a frame in 1983 (ish) I’m not sure I’d have appreciated it as much then as I do now.
Better times came and so did better bikes but his workmanship was still out of my reach; I could have saved up, but good bikes from local shops (I had moved doon sooth) distracted me too much.
Then the Evil of the Bay tempted me to take a look at a frame in the right colour, right size, right tubing and with the right name. It’s had a previous life but I reckoned it would be worth a punt.
I am a proper stickler for really good steel frames and, by ‘eck, is it fab to ride!
I finished assembling it this morning and took it for a 15 mile spin this evening.
I averaged way over my normal speed on this route and me and the bike were in total harmony. One of my best rides ever.
Thanks Dave. I know you’re out there and, much as I’d like to have bought a frame in 1983 (ish) I’m not sure I’d have appreciated it as much then as I do now.
