Build thread - Brodie Sovereign '95

[PanoIgano]

It looks fantastic, great job on the build. That first ride is always great as you 'get to know' the bike. Lovely pictures too!

Thanks Phill! Still a proof of concept with some parts to change in the future like the handlebars and the rigid forks but it’s already proven its riding qualities to me…

 

[PanoIgano]

It's a good rabbit hole to go down with common ideas being shared and built on, although not everyone comes out of it smelling of roses.

You are referring to Paul’s book I guess and the chapter where he speaks about Kona?

Anyhow if you have any online resource mentioning this part of the story do send it across. I like my hole when I can get one…

 

[PanoIgano]

I still own this build thread a list of all the parts used in this Sovereign. I would also like to ride report as it's quite different from the Yo Eddy. Hopefully, I will find the time for this soon!

 

[Imlach]

Bike looks

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Anyhow if you have any online resource mentioning this part of the story do send it across. I like my hole when I can get one

Not quite the rabbit hole you're looking for, but he mentioned that period in an interview

There sems to have been some confusion in the early days amongst brodie kona and rocky fans and your involvement with The Bicycle Group (Kona) what role did you play in those early days with TBG and the likes of joe murray (kona welder) ?

We signed a bad contract with the wrong people and ended up in a situation that was unworkable for us. It escalated into a 2 year lawsuit. After the first year we got a better, more expensive lawyer, and so did they. Our great friendship with Joe Murray eventually blew up as he got caught in the middle. The lawyers got paid, neither side was able to claim victory, but we, Brodie Research and Technology Inc., finally had our freedom. And that's all I need to say..

https://www.brodiebicycles.com/brodie-blog/the-story-of-paul-brodie-bicycles-and-motorcycles

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Joe gives Paul a lot of credit for innovations too. I think they just got stuck in a bad legal battle, they both just wanted to make bikes

MBA: What were some of the pivotal moments in bike design and theory that got the sport through the early days?

JM: Sloping top tubes were big, and I give Canadian builder Paul Brodie credit for making that happen. The first days of Kona, we called the bikes Cascade, and we also raced and sold Brodie bikes. So, we adopted the sloping top tubes pretty much before anyone else and used the 71/73 geometry. Frame geometries never really changed until we started making the top tubes longer. I recall getting a prototype Marin made with a 23.5-inch-long top tube, 70-degree head angle and a 130mm stem. Times have changed!

https://mbaction.com/the-original-mountain-biker-who-was-and-is-joe-murray/

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Okay, now it's turning into a rabbit hole. This is just a great article on the history of mountain bikes in Canada
https://mmbhof.org/the-british-columbians/

 

[PanoIgano]

Thanks a lot of this! So I have ended up with my hole in the end

 

[PanoIgano]

Adding to the above articles from @MattiThundrrr I also found of interest (for owners of TANGE Prestige tubing bikes at least) this one from PinkBike: https://m.pinkbike.com/news/now-that-was-a-bike-1990-mantis-valkyrie.html

It explains the added value of Prestige tubing in that they were withstanding higher pressures before failing than most other cromoly tubing of the time:

 

[PanoIgano]

So after exchanging some informative messages on Brodie decals with a kind member of this forum I went on and removed the art dept decal from the chainstay.

Before:


After:


I also got another stem, the only Syncros I could find at 90mm:


Thing is, I find the current one a tinny bit too long which translates to moving the saddle almost all the way forward. While steep seatube angles is my thing, I found the position a bit too much especially when descending on technical singletrack.