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Whilst all three Swift saddles are currently fitted with hex heads there was a standard tensioning bolt with them. The shortened saddles aren't held together with the usual larger head copper rivets but smaller ones made from what looks like aluminium. Whilst they are actual rivets on the steel...

On close inspection there are signs of the loops having been removed, though this has been very neatly done. Whilst there are feint file marks where the loops should join onto the titanium saddle, the missing chrome on the edges of the steel saddle makes me believe that they have been removed.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. It did cross my mind that they may have been made from standard Swift saddles where the leather had stretched that much that it could no longer be tightened. However, neither of the shortened saddles have the saddle bag loops you would normally expect to find...

I have aquired two shortened Brooks Swift saddles but can't find out anything about them. Was this ever a standard short model from Brooks? or do you think they have been modified? The leather is a sligntly different shape on the shortened version and there are no saddlebag loops. For...

The specification of the bike in the picture; Shimano groupset, large flange hubs is what I remember as typical for the Saracen Conquest model. The earlier 1984 Saracen ATB had a mainly Suntour groupset, small flange Suntour hubs and a distinctive braced rear brake hanger. There must be...

On hearing of Geoff's passing, some of his friends have found it theraputic to write down their thoughts. This is from Moira Hay, the partner of another pioneer of British mountain bikes, the late David Wrath-Sharman, founder of Highpath Engineering who began making Geoff Apps influenced...

And this from Jeremy Torr, frame-builder for Cleland Cycles & English Cycles and co-founder of the UK Mountain Bike Club: Geoff was a brilliantly free thinker and impressively original designer and creator of all sorts of things, including bicycles. He shared his ideas on bikes with me way...

I recieved the following tribute from Joe Breeze on the 16th of August: I’m very sorry to hear of your loss. It is our loss really, as Geoff was an inspiration to our shared movement. That more mountain bikers are not aware of Geoff Apps’ contributions to the sport should be remedied. I...

Yes, they are rare and owners often to want to hold onto them because they ride so well. Regretfully there are no modern equivalents being made. You will need to be patient, but I will let you know if I hear of any that are for sale. On the positive side, when fitted with a long seat-post, frame...

The English Cycles Metro-Trekker was produced for a short period in 1985 whilst the Muddy Fox courier sales took off in a big way the following year. So I was wrong when I presumed, earlier in this thread, that the Metro-Trekker was Jeremy's 'response to the phenomenal sales of the Muddy Fox...

Yes, Cleland Geometry from Geoff combined with engineering from Dan Chambers.

No Geoff Apps designed bicycle are currently being made. The last one I know of was the Mk2 Cleland Landseer in 2019. This was commissioned by Geoff Apps from Dan Chambers to explore the possibility of a production version of the Cleland Landseer design. However, it is likely that enthusiasts...

Yes, I took over the annual December Wendover mountain bike rides from Geoff Apps when he moved out of the area in 1988, and continue to do so. I also started occasional summer rides after a few riders complained about the weather and trail conditions in December. Paradoxically fewer people...

The Range-Rider in the link posted earlier has been fitted with 700c wheels when it was designed for 650b, resulting in an increased chance of wheel/toe overlap. I'm 6ft 2" with size 11 feet and have never had any issues with my toes hitting the front wheel or mudguard on a Cleland or Highpath...

Geoff Apps, short reach with hardly any of the rider's weight on the handlebars can be replicated by using handlebars that move the hand position closer to the saddle even if this results them being behind the steering axis. Also, by using a smallish, (short reach) frame fitted with a long...

One leftfield modification I have used for long rides when my back is playing up, is to reverse the stem. This can reduce the lean angle of the rider and so improve rider posture. Doing this doesn't have the negative effect on handling you might expect and if you find the aesthetics challenging...

Einstein said, "Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be changed from one form to another". (First law of thermodynamics) Therefore it is impossible for a mechanism to give out more energy out than you put in. The best the engineers can do is reduce the energy losses inherent in...

As you say, a far steeper slope can be ridden when bike has lots of momentum going into the slope. In fact if the slope curves upwards, and the rider is going fast enough an almost vertical slope can be ridden momentarily. Or even beyond vertical as is the case with motorcyclists riding the...

Because the 1984 Wendover Bash was the UK's first multi-discipline MTB event, Channel 4 TV sent a camera crew to cover it. However, there was no internet or catch-up streaming back then, and so to record a program you had to find it in the TV Times, Ceefax or Oracle listings and set your BetaMax...

The 1984 Wendover Bash took place at a time when no one really knew that mountain bikes were here to stay. Some, including the directors at Raleigh believed it would be 'a short lived fad' and so initially decided not to manufacture MTBs. And many early riders were concerned about being...