1989 Roberts Phantom

[markjohnson76]

I thought it was about time I made a thread of sorts for my 1989 Roberts Phantom. It must be a pretty rare bike, I think I’ve only seen one other post about a Phantom so hopefully this will be of interest to some. Here it is as it stands today, just needs a Chas Roberts and Columbus decal…..

 

[markjohnson76]

I was working one august day in 2019 and had some time to kill so did my usual habit of scrolling through Facebook marketplace ads looking for retro gold. I stopped in my tracks when I saw an ad for a ‘man’s bike’ with some poor quality pictures of an old mtb with Roberts on the down tube. Here’s the pics from the ad, see if you’d have tried to message the seller as fast as possible like it did. It was about an hours drive from me and I was meant to be going straight home but unbeknownst to my wife I took a big detour….

 

[markjohnson76]

It was £50 for an old Roberts with no stuck post and a Ringle wheel set. The kind of deal that doesn’t come up that often. The seller was an old guy who recommissioned bikes from the tip and police auctions, he knew Roberts were meant to be good but saw this as an old tired mountain bike that was a bit past it. There was a bit of a ding in the top tube but ok other than that. I knew it was a fairly early one and prob not a white spider and defo not a DB. Here’s some more pics as found.

 

[markjohnson76]

A couple more, note the 1989 frame number.

 

[markjohnson76]

I set about researching what it could be and found the link on here to the Roberts Phantom review from 1989 or 1990. The tubing and design were an exact match. The tubes and really ovalised in opposite directions and it seems they’re made from Columbus Max OR which I don’t think had been out for that long. The wheels were really nice Ringle on Mavic 221 which weren’t cracked and were super smooth. The red and blue combo wasn’t really my taste so they were sold about a year later.

 

[mk one]

Very nice. What is the fork?

 

[markjohnson76]

During my research I found out that the frame was probably made by Winston Vaz who worked for Chas Roberts back in the day. I was pleasantly surprised to find out he was still in business building beautiful steel frames and not only that, his workshop was less than a mile from my house I gave him a call and told him what I’d found and he said to pay him a visit. Here’s a few pictures of Winston with the Phantom and also with his brother Mario who paints frames still in the top floor of the same workshop in Hither Green, South London. Mario worked for Chas Roberts in the paint shop too.

 

[markjohnson76]

Winston said he was pretty sure it was a Phantom and confirmed it as an 89 frame and that he made it. He and his brother are super cool guys and we’re really welcoming and interested. Winston’s workshop is a fascinating place. If you have a dogs Bolx from the early 90s or white spider, Phantom or Leopard then it’s likely Winston made it in Chas Roberts workshop.

 

[markjohnson76]

The frame needed the dent rolling out and a cable guide replacing on the top tube. Winston said he could do the work no problem, and who better to do it anyway? Mario said he’d repaint it when I was ready. Just had to choose the colour and a nice rigid fork. I put a wanted ad for a fork here and on Facebook. Someone got in touch saying the had a nice Zinn 753 fork in 1” with the right length steerer. It seemed like it would work really well so we met in Peckham to do the deal. I can’t remember who sold it to me so if you’re reading this get in touch! The welds on the fork weren’t that pretty so Winston refinished and brazed the fork to make it nice and smooth. The ovalised tops perfectly match the frame tubing. I think they work really well with the frame.

 

[markjohnson76]

Then just had to choose the colour! Took a while. Usually I love a loud 90s paint job but the frame seemed to lend itself to something more classy. So metallic British Racing Green was chosen. Mario did the paint and added the decals for free. I then needed some parts. Rather than raiding my parts bins I got lazy and repurposed my Orange Aluminium O.