90s Kirk revolution and bonus Scott

[Pirate-monkey]

Having been into MTBs in the 90s (before I could drive) I had a Trek 830 antelope which was stolen, replaced with a Carrera then I bought my first first Scott vertigo comp which I sold (and regretted ever since) so when one came up for sale 10 years ago, albeit a later one with snd Ali rear triangle, I jumped on it and it’s now my dedicated off-road bike. Still despite being a 25 odd year old bike it still rides brilliantly.

Fast forward to a couple of days ago, another bike I really wanted back in the day came up for sale locally so I snapped it up, a Kirk revolution. I’m planning on a complete rebuild (it’s stripped already) but I’m torn between going for an authentic retro build or just “building it” it’s only going to see road use with the occasional track as I live in a semi rural location. Any way have some pics.

 

[Pirate-monkey]

Well I stripped the Kirk frame down, the shifters didn’t work, the brakes were past saving, the rear wheel was grooved from rear pad wear and I had to use an angle grinder to the cranks off, but here is the painted frame.

My daughter chose the colours (she’s 5) and I hope to pass the bike on to her at some point. I painted it purple whilst was upside down, then pink from above once flipped over which had given it this cool neon look. It’s has 5 coats of lacquer to protect it.

So far I’ve got an ibeam stem, some Indy S forks and some Araya rims on Polestar hubs with an 8 speed cassette and an XT rear mech. The front was an LX which I’ll re use as it’s frame specific and in good condition, just needs a clean and a re-grease.

 

[Mickeyspinn]

Cool paint

 

[slippyroots]

Looks cool. Weren't these cast at 10000 Deg C in a top secret bunker?

 

[Pirate-monkey]

Looks cool. Weren't these cast at 10000 Deg C in a top secret bunker?

Yeah something like that. Injection moulded frame, the brake mounts, dropouts and rear hanger are all bolted on and the threads for the BB are bonded in. It’s quite a bit of engineering for the 90s

 

[Pirate-monkey]

Spent today cleaning some retro wheels. I got some 32hole Araya rims that have been mounted to some Polestar hubs.

Wasn’t sure what to do about tyres but remembered I had a pair of aggressive 2.3s that were originally on the Scott that I switched for more road friendly ones. I put those back on the Scott and have put the 2.0s on the wheels for the Kirk.

 

[Pirate-monkey]

Started building the frame up today. Only the headset, forks and a Club Roost Ibeam stem, oh and seat post clamp because it takes a few seconds to slip on

Forks are some old Indy C’s I had laying around. Not the best fork in the world, but after a service and a clean, they’re back to their best.

 

[goshow]

Well I never.

Just found this on the web. I never realised they were British. I always thought they were American.

Frank Kirk thought up this remarkable bike while working as a designer at the Ford plant in Dagenham, England. The frame is made of cast magnesium, and was a dramatically different approach to frame design than the typical bicycle frame with round tubing. The story goes that the bumpers on the Ford Sierra were the actual inspiration.

Magnesium is one of the lightest metals by volume , although its rigidity is quite a bit lower than steel. Magnesium is inexpensive and very environmentally friendly. Kirk boasted that a cubic meter of seawater contained enough magnesium to make a bike frame (although a tremendous amount of electricity is used in the process. It takes only 8 seconds to mold one frame.
The Kirk revolution was a development of the earlier Essex built Kirk Precision bikes following major investment by Norsk Hydro and distribution by Dawes Cycles of the UK. following lots of breakages the project ultimately failed and the bikes remain as a legacy to the pre welded Aluminium and Carbon era.

 

[Siish]

Well I never.

Just found this on the web. I never realised they were British. I always thought they were American.

Frank Kirk thought up this remarkable bike while working as a designer at the Ford plant in Dagenham, England. The frame is made of cast magnesium, and was a dramatically different approach to frame design than the typical bicycle frame with round tubing. The story goes that the bumpers on the Ford Sierra were the actual inspiration.

Magnesium is one of the lightest metals by volume , although its rigidity is quite a bit lower than steel. Magnesium is inexpensive and very environmentally friendly. Kirk boasted that a cubic meter of seawater contained enough magnesium to make a bike frame (although a tremendous amount of electricity is used in the process. It takes only 8 seconds to mold one frame.
The Kirk revolution was a development of the earlier Essex built Kirk Precision bikes following major investment by Norsk Hydro and distribution by Dawes Cycles of the UK. following lots of breakages the project ultimately failed and the bikes remain as a legacy to the pre welded Aluminium and Carbon era.

Everyday is a school day, i never knew this, i owned a kirk revilution in my much younger years, since then ive had a soft spot but never had the nerve to own another one due to the breakage issues.

although there were rumours of dawes ties on my friendship group but i could never get any evidence of this at the time. My friend group always called it a dawes kirk 500,

 

[goshow]

Everyday is a school day, i never knew this, i owned a kirk revilution in my much younger years, since then ive had a soft spot but never had the nerve to own another one due to the breakage issues.

although there were rumours of dawes ties on my friendship group but i could never get any evidence of this at the time. My friend group always called it a dawes kirk 500,

If old Fords are anything to go by, the Kirk 500 is about to cost more than diamonds.