1987 Cameron Rebuild & Wiki - A Wee Face Lift

[Neo aka Goggles N.]

Re:

So fun to read these stories about Harv Cameron. Like many in this post, Cyclelogic was also my home away from home as a kid. I was lucky enough to own three Camerons (broke several more) and spent many Harv Nights learning about engineering fundamentals and how to optimize cigarette lifespan (after each puff, you must immediately extinguish the cigarette). Sadly aluminum does not have an infinite fatigue life and I can no longer call up Harv for a repair. My Cameron is too precious to ride any more, but I do use it regularly as a prop when I teach mechanical engineering to university students. It was the first of his bikes that used a four-bar linkage for the rear suspension, perfect for riding down the Volvo stairs, Skulls, Mudslide, Vietnam or Everest. Serial number 4-Neo

 

[jimi911]

That is so rad!!! I treat my Cameron lightly as well. It’s seen enough hard riding in the Don

 

[Jack_diamond]

Re:

I can't believe I'm just finding this thread now. I pretty much grew up at Cycle Logic. Lived a few blocks north of the shop on Sherwood. I think the very first time I rolled up to the shop would have been around 1986 having just had the crank on my Raleigh Rocky III literally fall off. This was how I met John, who wasted no time making fun of my bike, of course. But he, or more likely, Henry put the crank back on and got me on my way. I started hanging around the shop pretty much all the time, my friends and I making a nuisance of ourselves and drooling over Yetis, Ibises, Bontragers, Fishers, Ritcheys and, naturally Camerons.

The "stealth" bike pictured earlier on in the thread was the most lust-worthy of those days. A matte black badass MTB that Harv had apparently spent a few hundred hours on. It looked it.... It still looks totally badass and ahead of its time.

No way I was affording a Cameron in those days, so I bought a Fisher HooKoo EKoo, which was stolen by the "local" bike thief in a matter of a couple of months. Lesson learned and insurance money in hand, I bought a 1990 Stumpjumper Comp. 7 Speed Hyperglide had just been introduced.... Beat the everloving shit out of that bike and still have it.

When I was 18 and just out of high school I ended up working at the shop for the spring/summer. Building bikes, selling bikes and living the culture of this highly idiosyncratic, almost cultish shop. What a collection of characters, both employees and customers, with John as the ringleader, holding court over it all. We were ultra bike snobs, dripping with attitude, but sold a ton of great bikes out of this tiny little shop. We had bikes no one else had: Sure tons of ProFlexes but also all the Mantis Models, IRD (ever seen their elastomer FS bike?), AMPs and of course all the bikes Harv made pretty much came through us.

In my second summer at the shop (94') after cracking my ProFlex I was able to get Harv to build me a frame (pictured below). Took all the XTR parts from the Flex and put them on the Cameron. Wild bike. Rode beautifully, but as the Mountain Bike Action article pointed out, prone to a fair bit of lateral and twisting flex. As a result I broke a couple of swingarms, which Harv was really good about fixing.

Among shop insiders "Harv Nights", as they were called, became legendary: Head over to his place at Donlands and Mortimer, drink some beers, see whatever fascinating thing he was messing with at the moment and chat about bikes and whatever other arcana that might pop up. Harv was fascinating and interested in so many things besides bikes. A true builder/inventor. He even built his own geodesic dome up north as a cabin/camping spot.

Great to see all this appreciation of his work. He is truly missed...

 

[jimi911]

I love the these FS Cameron. So cool!!!

 

[voob]

I am the owner of and still have the 3 FS frames that were posted on page 2.

I will never forget Neo and Jack Diamond and rest of the Cycle Logic Cameron group ridding the rattlesnake rockgardens chanting:
"Billy is got the rubber boot". The Cameron FS Bikes with the leader fork were the ultimate Kelso/Rattlesnake bikes at the time.

 

[voob]

Here is some pics of the 4bar V2

 

[voob]

The MBA test

 

[Neo aka Goggles N.]

Re:

This is fantastic stuff Rubber Bootie! Great memories in the Don with you! I remember Harv discussing the design change to add those gussets to stiffen up the rear stays on your model. I believe it also allowed him to use a thinner wall diameter tube. Yours had a more substantial shock and spring as well.

 

[Neo aka Goggles N.]

Re:

This is fantastic stuff Rubber Bootie! Great memories in the Don with you! I remember Harv discussing the design change to add those gussets to stiffen up the rear stays on your model. I believe it also allowed him to use a thinner wall diameter tube. Yours had a more substantial shock and spring as well.

 

[Neo aka Goggles N.]

Re:

This is fantastic stuff Rubber Bootie! Great memories in the Don with you! I remember Harv discussing the design change to add those gussets to stiffen up the rear stays on your model. I believe it also allowed him to use a thinner wall diameter tube. Yours had a more substantial shock and spring as well.