1993/94 NTI Rock Lobster™ ..the poor mans Bontrager

[Mike Muz]

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Nowt wrong with a bit of lilac, KK!

 

[Retro Spud]

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in the words of an another early 90's Icon.... THIS IS WHY

 

[Retro Spud]

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and courtesy of Mr Sinnerman ....why ALL Rock Lobster are NOT equal

or put another way the difference between an NTI Lobster and later re-incarnations bearing the same name.

After Paul Sadoff went to the far east for his single steel model, which was distributed in the UK by N.T.I (Nicol Trading) and only available in either green or blue. that is.... about where it ended.

After this, Merlin cycles bought the rights to use the name, and on their OWN went to the far east and imported alloy and steel frames by the container load, and assembled them here in the UK to whatever spec you could afford, doing mental mail order deals using surplus O/E shimano etc etc, this was supposed to be there flagship range, topping that of the home branded Merlin frames, which in all honesty come the end, there was very little difference between the two.
At this Paul remained hand building frames in the U.S, with absolutely NO involvement at all with the UK mail order firm, selling the generic far east frames of the same name.

The and only involvement Paul had was when he took the original steel wishbone design to the far east for manufacture, leading to the UK supply of the NTI supplied stock.

To be fair to those of us who were doing a roaring trade with Bontrager frames, when Bontragers were selling hand over fist and we couldn’t get them due to demand outstripping supply, we all turned to the Paul Sadoff designed (NTI supplied) ROCK LOBSTER.
They sold and sold well, getting great reviews too. Hardly surprising really given Paul did his time with Keith at the beginning, and they were...to my mind, of a similar mindset.
To my mind, all Merlin did was cash in, and buy the "rights" to a good name. They needed a brand name at the time, and they exploited it well. It always got good reviews in the mags, but then, the way it was being done, and the massive low cost on the generic frame, coupled together with higher spec than the competition on test, it wasn’t really surprising the masses bought into it. The sum of the parts and all that....... :facepalm:
To be fair, hundreds of bike shops up and down the country were buying "Generic" far east frames, and building bikes using O/E surplus from suppliers cheap, ( from the likes of Saracen/Southwestspares etc etc).

Everybody was at it, another example was the "Handsum Dog" range, im sure some will remember.
The only difference was MerlinMailOrder had already used a Name "Merlin", but what they wanted a brand giving a level of Kudos, (given how well real bike shops were selling Bontragers and Rock Lobsters to real cyclists,).
Buying the use of the name RockLobster for this purpose, must have been like finding a Golden goose to them. They certainly had the buying power, and advertising budget to do with it, what thers with brands like "Handsum Dog" could not.
With all this said and done, I suspect for the small amount Paul (Sadoff) gained from the deal, I can’t imagine he will want reminding of it. (IMHO).

 

[Retro Spud]

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Postman arrived today, with some nice hubs.






even though I can't true a wheel I never the less had to build it.. I find the challenge quite therapeutic

Anyway I've got this idea in my head to build a Green and Black bike...





and just to prove I can get the rim in the right place




and some bling from a little friendly astronaut, just need a cassette now for him to buddy up with.

 

[tintin40]

Re: My trip down memory lane… NTI Rock Lobster

like the black hubs.

 

[Retro Spud]

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Have you got a photo of your original Rock Lobster Nick?

Will,
It took a while but after a rummage through old pic’s my Dad came up with these two Gems (I use the term "Gem" loosely) taken in 1994 at the Year 2000 / Ozone Winter Series run by Gerry McGarr
which from memory started in October and Chepstow must have been round #1 as the foliage in the background is still green and some of the summer plants are still up, however I must have been expecting it to be chilly as I didn’t take shorts.
Looking back it must have one of the first races I did as I'm still using toe clips :shock: and probably why my parents turned up.

Back the mid 90’s XC was the main event and all Year 2000 raced events were held on Sundays however by the late 90’s they were sadly relegated to Saturdays to make way for the burgeoning D.H scene …. Not sure of the order but I think the six rounds that year were…. (one it took in Cannock)

Chepstow - HoptonHeath – Shobdon – Colsty Woods – Forest of Dean – Ashton Court

Goes without saying I didn’t win the Ozone on offer, and made do with my “Taking Part” medal which I still have along with plenty of great memories, so much so that many years later I built my own Ozone up.

Any way here’s bike N765 complete with a goofy rider… as my 9 year old daughter called me. :shock:
Never did win anything of note on that bike, a 5th was as close as I ever came to the podium and even then as the number suggests N was for novice so it wouldn't have been a moment bathed in glory
One of my overriding memories is battling with a rider who only ever registered himself as “Cosmic Shrew” …..never did beat him.

Today that nemesis is Mike Muz. And I’m resigned to playing second fiddle there too

 

[Gerard]

Re: My trip down memory lane… NTI Rock Lobster

Nick nice and thanks for the history on RL and the relationship with Merlin.

Personally never been a fan of green always think of army, drab etc, but electric green might work and you could adopt the moniker “Cosmic Shrew”....blue looks good too even if ridden by Goofy!

 

[Retro Spud]

Re: My trip down memory lane… NTI Rock Lobster

Personally never been a fan of green always think of army, drab etc, but electric green might work and you could adopt the moniker “Cosmic Shrew”....blue looks good too even if ridden by Goofy!

I've always liked the dark green although it was a flat powder coat just like the Blue. however as a fan of Argos's work I'm keen on going Dark Metallic green and period Black XT. Subject to chat with Mark or Garry most likely #74 Forest Green Metallic or #47B Flamboyant Forest Green
back in the day I'm sure VW did a Golf GTI/MK2 Scirocco in forest Green that looked of the scale cool
Naturally if this was an Iconic frame rather than a poor mans Bontrager I'd be a bit more considered/respect full but its not, and trying to recreate a clone of my race bike could ruin the memory...
At the risk of sounding like a misogynist, its like meeting your first girl friend again and realising that uber trim pert teenager tucked away in your memory bank is actually a middle aged women. Nothing wrong with that but some things are best left alone.

As for the insult from a 9 year old, I must admit I didn't see that one coming :shock: I'll be the first to admit I look as awkward on a bike as Chris Froome (sadly the similarity ends there)
so I was expecting a bit of ribbing .....but not Goofy

 

[player]

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Nice one mate, i love it when the old racing pics come out and the memories come flooding back

Those Bonty forks suit the frame very nicely.....

 

[Gerard]

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Nick

#47B Flamboyant Forest Green

gets my vote...will look very cool.

Just don't get a Kermit jersey to wear with it , no telling what a 9 year old might think!

Cosmic Kermit.....