I own an 88’ Brodie climbMax c/w gatorblade. It’s a beautiful brodie IMHO. As is my tendency, I’m always thinking of ways to improve on my stable without taking on more bikes. If I’m only going to own one brodie I need a fillet brazed frame right?
Right.
One other nigel with my climbMax is the size, it’s border line too big. Never really bothered me, it does not feel too big when I ride it and actually fits quite well but the idea of finding a next size down frame would be another plus.
At the swap meet last May a fillet brazed climbMax (rare to see) with a P2 fork was up for grabs, size 18” and I snoozed, just was not ready to fork out the cash that day and I’ve been kicking myself ever since (as have others I know) it was a more than fare price.
If finding a fillet brazed brodie frame, frame/fork or even complete bike is an ambition to have, living in BC is a plus for sure, they are not coming on the market often even in these parts. I’ve made a few contacts in recent years within the collecting community and put feelers out recently to several of them.
Well, my main man Retro_Roy came through this weekend. An 87’ romax c/w matching fork was reluctantly sold to me from one of Roy’s buddies.
The reason this frame/fork was sitting unused is that it has some pretty nasty chain suck damage. More than likely the chainstay will need replacing but finding a matching tube has apparently become very difficult lately. I’m in contact with a former Rocky Mountain welder that recently joined our riding group to look at all options. I may still reach out to Paul, he’s pretty busy I hear and fully out of correct Tange chainstays though.
I think the yellow/red fade is quite lovely and there is a good chance I will end up with this colour combo in the end. Solid red or solid yellow are two other colour choices I’ll consider, The frame and fork need a full re-spray though, there are far too many rust spots and chips for some simple touch ups. The drive side BB cup required my bench vise to remove, there was a stem wedge stuck pretty good in the fork steerer now removed.
So my climbMax frame and gatorblade will be on the market at some point to help fund this build and all parts off the climbMax moved over to the romax.
Below are some photos of the frame fork as received and after some sanding of chainstay issues, removal of some surface rust from the chainstay bridge and stays, so far no pin holes.
Further below are pics of a quick mock up I did this morning, yep, she’s my dream vintage MTB already
Right.
One other nigel with my climbMax is the size, it’s border line too big. Never really bothered me, it does not feel too big when I ride it and actually fits quite well but the idea of finding a next size down frame would be another plus.
At the swap meet last May a fillet brazed climbMax (rare to see) with a P2 fork was up for grabs, size 18” and I snoozed, just was not ready to fork out the cash that day and I’ve been kicking myself ever since (as have others I know) it was a more than fare price.
If finding a fillet brazed brodie frame, frame/fork or even complete bike is an ambition to have, living in BC is a plus for sure, they are not coming on the market often even in these parts. I’ve made a few contacts in recent years within the collecting community and put feelers out recently to several of them.
Well, my main man Retro_Roy came through this weekend. An 87’ romax c/w matching fork was reluctantly sold to me from one of Roy’s buddies.
The reason this frame/fork was sitting unused is that it has some pretty nasty chain suck damage. More than likely the chainstay will need replacing but finding a matching tube has apparently become very difficult lately. I’m in contact with a former Rocky Mountain welder that recently joined our riding group to look at all options. I may still reach out to Paul, he’s pretty busy I hear and fully out of correct Tange chainstays though.
I think the yellow/red fade is quite lovely and there is a good chance I will end up with this colour combo in the end. Solid red or solid yellow are two other colour choices I’ll consider, The frame and fork need a full re-spray though, there are far too many rust spots and chips for some simple touch ups. The drive side BB cup required my bench vise to remove, there was a stem wedge stuck pretty good in the fork steerer now removed.
So my climbMax frame and gatorblade will be on the market at some point to help fund this build and all parts off the climbMax moved over to the romax.
Below are some photos of the frame fork as received and after some sanding of chainstay issues, removal of some surface rust from the chainstay bridge and stays, so far no pin holes.
Further below are pics of a quick mock up I did this morning, yep, she’s my dream vintage MTB already
