BRC Gonzo / Araya MF-26 Pro?

[johnv]

Well, just about finished with the Haro, so thought it was about time to get a build thread started on this one.

Started off a few months ago with poorly photographed ad on marktplaats. Geometry looked interesting, could see the chain stay mounted rear brake, but looked too slim to be a u-brake in the photo (possible rollercam?). So I took a punt, made a bid and a couple of days later went to inspect and pick it up. Was really happy to find an interesting bike with a mix of parts. I bought it only because of the suntour roller cam brake. Never had a bike with one before.

Bike is badged as a BRC Gonzo. Quick google search reveals it was a Canadian company importing Japanese or Taiwanese frames for the North American market in the late 80s and early 90s. Not very highly regarded though. This fitted with the owner story that the bike was owned by a Canadian relative who moved back but left the bike in NL.

First thing I did on getting the bike home was cut out the cables and clean up around the bb to see if I could find a frame number to help trace the frame origins. Frame number was barely decipherable apart from the first three giveaway letters ... ARY ... an Araya made frame.

Araya have PDFs of all their catalogs online.
http://araya-rinkai.jp/wp/wp-content/up ... e_1988.pdf

Quick search reveals the same frame as the 1988/1989 MF-26 pro. Same lugs, same detail around the top of the seat stays, same seat post mounting for a pump...

Photos next.

 

[johnv]

Re:

Full bike


Seat stay detail


other views

 

[johnv]

Re:

Bit puzzled by the odd mix of components. Original wheels and rear mech are long since gone. Brake levers are early bl-m700, mated with br-m730 front cantis. Shifters are suntour hidden band type, not sure of the exact model ... need to check the catalogs.

I'm converging on a plan to make this a drop bar tourer, with rear and possibly also front racks, with top bar mounted shifters as per the Araya catalog. Paint is pretty poor, so will have to be redone, likely dark blue or green. Not going to be badged BRC, but also won't make it look like a full MF-26. I am tempted to put a single Araya badge on the head tube though ... I think that should be ok.

 

[dirttorpedo]

Re:

Yes, BRC was a local brand. I didn't know about them until they started flooding the market with Taiwanese built bikes - generally copying Norco and other higher end builders. I think they were around many years before that as I've seen some old 70's cruisers badged BRC in the local CraigsList. They didn't get a lot of love locally either, but I recall them being well spec'd and coming with decent frames. The graphics were a bit fugly. I'm not sure when they went out of business. One of my friends road one across Canada using it as a touring bike. He still has it.

That's a nice sedate example of an earlier model.

 

[johnv]

Re: Re:

Yes, BRC was a local brand. I didn't know about them until they started flooding the market with Taiwanese built bikes - generally copying Norco and other higher end builders. I think they were around many years before that as I've seen some old 70's cruisers badged BRC in the local CraigsList. They didn't get a lot of love locally either, but I recall them being well spec'd and coming with decent frames. The graphics were a bit fugly. I'm not sure when they went out of business. One of my friends road one across Canada using it as a touring bike. He still has it.

That's a nice sedate example of an earlier model.

thanks, shows for me a bit how odd the world is. Put a Muddy Fox badge on it in the UK, or a Koga Miyata badge in the NL and there would be quite some affection for it

+1 on the fugly graphics though - this bike is a fine example of that

 

[dirttorpedo]

Re:

thanks, shows for me a bit how odd the world is. Put a Muddy Fox badge on it in the UK, or a Koga Miyata badge in the NL and there would be quite some affection for it

+1 on the fugly graphics though - this bike is a fine example of that

Well, there were a number of local brands that had a strong showing like RockyMountain, DeKerf, Ken Legge, Offroad Toad, and Brodie. Even Kona is considered a local brand by many, and they were popular here. The mass market was pretty heavily covered too with well established brands such as Norco, Nishiki, Kuwahara, Canadian Raleigh's, Peugeot. There were a number of other Canadian brands like Miele, Marinoni, Proctor/Townsend, etc. Toss in American brands like Ritchey, Diamondback, Marin and other Japanese brands like Univega, Miyata, etc. and there isn't much room for poor little BRC with all that competition for the hearts and minds of the local riders.

 

[johnv]

Re: Re:

thanks, shows for me a bit how odd the world is. Put a Muddy Fox badge on it in the UK, or a Koga Miyata badge in the NL and there would be quite some affection for it

+1 on the fugly graphics though - this bike is a fine example of that

Well, there were a number of local brands that had a strong showing like RockyMountain, DeKerf, Ken Legge, Offroad Toad, and Brodie. Even Kona is considered a local brand by many, and they were popular here. The mass market was pretty heavily covered too with well established brands such as Norco, Nishiki, Kuwahara, Canadian Raleigh's, Peugeot. There were a number of other Canadian brands like Miele, Marinoni, Proctor/Townsend, etc. Toss in American brands like Ritchey, Diamondback, Marin and other Japanese brands like Univega, Miyata, etc. and there isn't much room for poor little BRC with all that competition for the hearts and minds of the local riders.

haha ... yes, of course, with that strong competition, no wonder they struggled