One of the perks of having a local reputation for caring about these old bikes is every so often, someone seeks you out for advice or help finding a home for their vintage mtb. And once in a rare while, that bike happens to be something special...
Nice score Shamus! waiting to see the final results of a nice restoration as we are used to see from you! is the frame bigger than your usual frame size? Jef from Vancouver
Thanks Jef! It was well worth the ferry ride to pick it up. To say I jumped at the opportunity would be an understatement. Here are a few photos of the stripped frame. The paint was pretty rough, but the original paint and colour had to be preserved, an easy decision.
GoGetter0508, I believe Rod Kirkham started thinking about designing a mtb frame back in 1982. There were a couple early prototypes, but OffRoad Toads weren't available until 1988-ish. The first Toads were fillet brazed (by Derek Bailey of Rocky Mtn), then in 1990/91 they redesigned the frame and offered a tig welded frame (by Chris DeKerf), as it was lighter and would (hopefully) appeal to the racing crowd south of the border. Other rare Toad frames include e-stay design, disc brake, and titanium. I think there were only about 300 Toads produced.