BoTM Bike of the month February 2022 - fillet brazed special

[pw_pw_la]

Annnnnnd, there's the winner! ; )

Man, it's tough picking between this and the Dave Yates so far for me...

So much history between the two of them; from across different eras, oceans, countries and scenes.

 

[retrobikeguy]

That cooks is a beaut!.... Agree with the above, we have a winner!

I'll throw one in for sh*ts and giggles, it has been in a normal month (VAR mod check welcome) but since it's a special I'll throw this in..... from the shop with the worst reputation for customer service ever I give you the Dave Hinde 653,

This frameset Is fully fillet brazed and was a wreck when it came to me so have a look at the journey.

https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/dave-hinde-653-fillet-smoothness-😘.395304/



And I'm sorry if you haven't heard of it or you think it looks a bland colour but it is a fine bike.....

 

[pw_pw_la]

That's really nice!

I like it a lot.

Looks functional, proper. Meant to be up a mountain.

And I like the colour too. You don't see that shade of blue enough.

 

[WimVDD]

I already entered this bike in a "normal month" but since it's "Fillet Brazed month", I'll enter it once again.

In fact, it isn't exactly the same bike I'm entering as I did some changes since. After I bought the frame in 2019, I built it as a "classic" Ritchey: Logic canti's, brakes, crankset,... but soon I had to admit I was fooling myself. This Ritchey Project 20 frame wasn't an (early to mid) nineties classic one, it was a 1997 one built for V brakes. So when I had the opportunity to buy a 950 XTR groupset for a reasonable price, I decided to go for a more period correct build.

I swapped the canti's and Gripshifts for XTR V's and STI's, changed the Logic (BCD 110) crankset for a Compact one and the SID for -almost miraculously found- 1" Judy SL forks.

So here's my 1997 Ritchey Project 20 (once again).

Will take better pics before the end of the month but storm Eunice already threw some roof tiles through the roof of my veranda, so I'm not about to risk my life to take some pics right now.

Wim

 

[GeneralOsik]

Ooooh, so far, it's between the "Dave" bikes for me, and I'm leaning towards the Hinde over the Yates.

Is there a list of planned special months this year? If there's going to be a lugged month, I want to make sure I have my current project finished by then.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

I’m throwing this one in the mix for your consideration.

It’s OldSkoolReTool’d’s 1982 CUSTOMIZED COOK BROS. RACING STRAIGHTFRAME with fillet brazing and internal cable routing done by myself back when mountain bikes were first starting to evolve.

I may be a bit biased since I have owned it for 40 years (since new); but
I think It has a lot of (my) Heart and Soul embedded into it.

It has the DNA of a Racing Cruiser.
…..came to life as a Klunker.
…..came of age as a full fledged Mountain Bike of its time.

It also has some deep roots into its early local mountain bike scene.

Here is the link to its thread: https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/1982-cook-bros-custom-fillet-brazed.441404/

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What I've been waiting for. May I vote now?

 

[velofrog]

Am I the only one that loves the CBR but thinks that stem ruins it….?

Looks like it should be holding scaffolding up, not mounted to a beautiful fillet brazed frame!

 

[pw_pw_la]

Yeah, probably ; )

I mean, I get it.

On any other bike, Etc.

But how can you not love the original Cooks bmx stem on this build?

For me, the only thing I don't like about the whole thing are those grips.

But that's not enough to sway me from thinking it's one of the greatest bikes ever!

OK, I'd change the sweep of the bars and the saddle, if it were mine. But still. It's glorious!

 

[velofrog]

I think the bike is epic, and the stem is super-cool…. just not on that!

And I agree about the grips, bars and saddle…. but thought if I mentioned all that in one post I’d be burned alive at the stake!

 

[pw_pw_la]

Hahaha.

It wouldn't be RB if someone didn't piss all over your fancy bike parade!

It's half of what this place is all about!