2001 Rock Lobster Tig Team 853 (19 1/2lb)

[Student Bob]

Hi kids. This is my (taiwanese) Rock Lobster TIG Team 853. I figured I'd post a few pictures here for posterity before I singlespeed it and realise my weight-weenie dream by bolting the parts onto a Schwinn Homegrown Pro frame with some ti RC31s (hopefully saving a meaningful 2lbs....).

I used it for racing BITD, so it got dipped in titanium and carbon and it weighs in at a skinny 19 1/2lbs. Quality. Needless to say, teetering on the edge of weight-weenieness doesn’t come with problems. Like the time the pivot bolt for the front brake lever fell out on a descent during a race…. And of course my elbows and knees are still covered in scabs and bruises from last weekends pootle. Ah… Good times.

The forks were handmade by some guy in Totnes out of some leftover 853 tubing. I spec’d the forks to counteract that horrible ‘suspension corrected geometry’ malarkey that has ruined bicycle handling, so they’re nice and short. Needless to say the bike changes direction like a cat on carpet. I guess nowadays it’d be called twitchy? Pffft.

Frame: Rock Lobster TIG Team 853
Fork: Custom Guyser 853
Headset: King
Stem: ITM Millenium 100mm
Handlebar: Specialized Thermoplastic
Grips: Ritchey Foam WCS
Barends: Lovingly butchered
Brakes: XTR v’s
Brake Levers: Technogen Techlite
Shifters: Suntour XC Pro
Front Derailleur: XT
Rear Derailleur: Sachs Plasma
Cassette: Goldtec ti nitride 12-28 8spd
Chain: Some sachs thing with slotted links
Cranks: Syncros Forged
Crank Bolts: Syncros Crank-o-matic
Chainrings: Syncros ceramic
Bottom Bracket: Syncros ti
Pedals: WTB 250 Stealth
Hub Skewers: USE Spin stix Ti
Rims: Mavic XC517CD
Hubs: Hope ultralight front and ti-glide rear
Nipples: alloy
Spokes: DT
Tyres: Panaracer XC Pro 1.8 folding
Tubes: Air-B
Saddle: Flite Evo 2 carbon
Seatpost: USE carbon alien

Weight: 19 1/2lbs

 

[orange71]

now that's one of the nicest looking bikes I've seen in a while. Those forks are awesome - would this guy in Totnes consider knocking up more sets like these? :shock:

 

[al]

Sweet!

I think we need an online campaign to get Guy Rogers knocking up frames and forks again.

al.

 

[peteteamtig]

Wow

Bloody 'ell mate that is a sweet Sled ! Love the forks . I would kill for a pair of those! A perfect match paint wise too !!

My own weighs in around 24 pounds , but its a large frame .

 

[Student Bob]

Shucks. cheers guys!!

I first heard of Guy thru Hot Pursuits bike shop in Totnes about 15 years ago. He had a rickety shed in the area that he built out of. Hot Pursuit used to have some very tasty examples of his handiwork hanging in the window. Beautifully made stuff with real attention to detail.

No idea what happened to him as a builder though. My forks would have been made around 2000-01 so he had a fair few years of building. It'd be great to coax a TIG torch back into his hand tho', he'd make a fortune out of retrobikers....

 

[was8v]

I had one of those Sachs Plasma rear mechs!

Snapped clean off through the plastic just under the mounting bolt after about an hours use.

 

[Ernie]

now that's one of the nicest looking bikes I've seen in a while. Those forks are awesome - would this guy in Totnes consider knocking up more sets like these? :shock:

http://www.idevon.co.uk/profile/127883/ ... it-Cycles/

just phoned the above link..not far from me , about 20 miles, spoke to a very helpful gent, the guy who built these fork retired a few years ago, i got the impression that he had left the area{Devon}. The gent who gave this info told me that a Bristol based firm called ARGOS RACING could help or build something similar. Hope this help
Ernie

 

[Dave_Mars]

Nice bike there.. But do the forks really need an 853 sticker on each leg?

 

[jjprestidge]

Interesting to see these bikes are still around.

I remember Guy from the days when Hot Pursuits was owned by John Spurr. He had something of a reputation for puncturing and breaking things when we went out on group rides. Seem to remember lending him a front wheel (with some trepidation) at Newnham back in the early 90s.

I would be surprised if he had retired, though - he certainly wasn't particularly old at the time, and we're only talking 17 or so years ago. I suspect that, like many others who were involved with Hot Pursuits, he moved on to pastures new when John sold the business.

Incidentally, I have a fillet brazed MTB frame and fork from the early 90s, built by Sonic Cycles in London sitting in the garage. It was built for me from very light Columbus tubing (total frame weight was 3.5lbs) but has been gathering dust since about 2000, when I moved abroad. Might try to do something with it after seeing this, but I don't know how easy it is to find some of the parts (eg 1" headset, etc). Any thoughts on this?

Cheers,

JP

 

[Ernie]

put a wanted advert on..you will be amazed at the bits some people keep and the help on this forum is second to none ..great bunch

Ernie