Retro Bikes of Quality

[kaiser]

I would like to submit this pic as consideration for Retrobike of distinction status.

The bloke with the dodgy beard is Joe Breeze and the bike is Breezer #1just after winning Repack in 1977.

(shamelessly lifted from this thread: http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... 2A&start=0)

Yes, the saddle is at a funny angle, yes it looks like a road frame with some extra bits brazed on. It probably doesn't handle or stop anywhere near as well as stuff we ride. It probably has a multitude of other flaws ("idiosyncracies" or "character" if you will) in its design, but, I nevertheless feel it worthy of Retrobike of distinction status. If it wasn't for the early pioneers I wouldn't have mountainbiking as a hobby. If it wasn't for their experimentation, discovering what was shite and what worked then taking this in to consideration in the next iteration of the bikes they built in their workshops we wouldn't have all this stuff to argue about.

I'd be interested to know what the tyre size was. Are they the same 26" we all know and love today?

but is it 'quality?' in deference to the first post of course

Theres none higher IMO!

 

[legrandefromage]

Build a bike in the shed in the UK - its homemade

Build a bike in the shed in the US - you are an innovator

 

[sinnerman]

I would like to submit this pic as consideration for Retrobike of distinction status.

The bloke with the dodgy beard is Joe Breeze and the bike is Breezer #1just after winning Repack in 1977.

(shamelessly lifted from this thread: http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... 2A&start=0)

Yes, the saddle is at a funny angle, yes it looks like a road frame with some extra bits brazed on. It probably doesn't handle or stop anywhere near as well as stuff we ride. It probably has a multitude of other flaws ("idiosyncracies" or "character" if you will) in its design, but, I nevertheless feel it worthy of Retrobike of distinction status. If it wasn't for the early pioneers I wouldn't have mountainbiking as a hobby. If it wasn't for their experimentation, discovering what was shite and what worked then taking this in to consideration in the next iteration of the bikes they built in their workshops we wouldn't have all this stuff to argue about.

I'd be interested to know what the tyre size was. Are they the same 26" we all know and love today?

but is it 'quality?' in deference to the first post of course

in its time, when they were cobbling it together from road and touring amd motorbike parts, i would say they were using the best bits they could possibly find.....it was repack....!!!!!!!!! so yes in 1977 when they gave birth to the mountain bike...........i VOTE yes to that question.....!!!!

 

[Tazio]

I'm a bit of a classic car nut.

If people are in the Ferrari Owners Club or the Bugatti Register they are seen a collectors of beautiful exotica.

If people are members of the Ford Owners Club Or the Morris Owners Club they are seen as a bit odd and probably working class.

We are in the odd position on this site that there are the equivalent of both types here.

 

[Dr S]

Build a bike in the shed in the UK - its homemade

Build a bike in the shed in the US - you are an innovator

Thats probably because the guy in the US was doing it ten years before the guy in the UK.
There are some exceptions of course but that is the general rule.

 

[sinnerman]

Build a bike in the shed in the UK - its homemade

Build a bike in the shed in the US - you are an innovator

Thats probably because the guy in the US was doing it ten years before the guy in the UK.
There are some exceptions of course but that is the general rule.

you are right we are normally a little behind.........sadly..........!!!! :cry:

 

[halaburt]

I don't think anyone who's ever seen a Joe Breeze handbuilt (i.e., "Series") bike would suggest the workmanship and quality is anything but first rate... probably among the very best of any of the NorCal builders.

 

[legrandefromage]

Build a bike in the shed in the UK - its homemade

Build a bike in the shed in the US - you are an innovator

Thats probably because the guy in the US was doing it ten years before the guy in the UK.
There are some exceptions of course but that is the general rule.

you are missing the point - nothing to do with 'when' but more to do with 'what'.

And those 'exceptions' would have made a big difference given a change of citizenship.

 

[Tad]

Build a bike in the shed in the UK - its homemade

Build a bike in the shed in the US - you are an innovator

I don't think you could have got it more wrong.

Breezer#1 was shed built yes, one of the first mountainbikes for one of the first mountain bike races so yes it is also innovative and home made at the same time, the two are not mutualy exclusive. How many bikes do you see today with a secondary down tube? Other than tandems, cruisers and the Roberts tourer that parks in our bike sheds at work I can't think of any. Evolution killed this one off, Joe may have found it too heavy or an alternative way of strengthening the frame.

If it's in reference to a UK built frame that's just another mountainbike built to look like a mountainbike in someone's shed then yes it I would call it home made.

If you're talking about your green meanie then yes it could well be home made but that doesn't stop it being innovative. Drum brakes, I would call that innovative, someone trying something different to see if it worked. It would do away with the clogging suffered by cantis (and shite chainstay mounted u brakes). Evidence of someone thinking lateraly to build a bike suited for the UK's crap weather. Why it didn't catch on I don't know, maybe there was some flaw with the drum brakes available at the time having dodgy seals that alowed them to fill with water and corrode solid necessitating regular stripping and greasing to prevent this (bitter experience from British motorbikes), I don't know but for whatever reason, other than on Clelands, I've never seen them on MTBs.

The two examples have as much in common as they have differences, bits of them worked that would have been used on other designs and bits of them didn't which wouldn't have appeared on subsequent designs.

EDIT: Off topic as it has nothing to do with Retro mountainbikes, Cliff Shrubb, great and little known UK frame builder, builds in a shed. He built the frame that holds the UK bicycle speed record (videos on You Tube somewhere) he also built the track bike that Sean Yates took to the Olympics. I don't think anyone would call them home made.

 

[doctor-bond]

Sadly i have to agree with Utahdog to an extent that this thread sucks. This thread should have been about those 'we are not worthy' bikes that you would sell your granny for. Its not about elitism or snobbery, just holy bikes. There are a thousand other opportunities to show off mid range tripe on this website ( I own mid range tripe too before you have a go). It would have been nice to have had a really different thread that contained nothing but the very best... But not this time.

This one was about quality bikes. All the stuff you speak off would easily fit under that umbrella, but it looks like you are searching for a narrower church? I'm sure there is fun to be had with a "we're not worthy thread."