Dave Lloyd 753 ???

[secret_squirrel]

I wish I had that sort of luck I tell ya

On the bright side at least you dont have the luck of the member who sold it

 

[painter09]

some fantastic replies and infomation supplied by you guys above and realy apreciated the british steel thread is an eye opener with some fantastic looking rides making this bike want to hide its head in shame :roll: but i do remember the story of the uggly duckling and how that ended ive just had a look at the frame and the numbers do indeed start LL wot a fantastic way to start the day,

I bet you're a bit blown away by all the interest and comments in this thread? I honestly thought that your OP was tongue in cheek and that you new exactly what you had managed to get your hands on

My fault, far too excited to see, and wasn't expected....

your not the only one whos excited and the response was not expected, my only thoughts at the time of purchase were, brakes for the zaskar and crank set, pedals for the rock lobster, oh how i wished this frame was 19 inch and not 17.5 or it would be on its way to argos right now, did you have any luck with the date from the numbers above ?

 

[NeilM]

I'm sure there are others lurking about, just like this one and Ringo's, but by my reckoning, not including 2 or 3 demo / review bikes which may or may not still exist, we now know of 6 possibly 7 CATS, and this is the only one I have seen made of 753.

 

[dablk]

if you decied to keep the rear mech i'll take the frame.. same spot in worsley?

enjoy

 

[NeilM]

did you have any luck with the date from the numbers above ?

1990 build then, which ties in with all the other features on the frame, including the tubeset and also the through the top tube brake cable.

Nice.

 

[sinnerman]

I'm sure there are others lurking about, just like this one and Ringo's, but by my reckoning, not including 2 or 3 demo / review bikes which may or may not still exist, we now know of 6 possibly 7 CATS, and this is the only one I have seen made of 753.

Agreed. The reason for all the fuss for me, is the tube set.
It Makes it just that little bit extra special. Quite remarkable too, just how much the geometry of frames changed in four years when compared to the one Ringo picked up on ebay recently.

 

[sinnerman]

some fantastic replies and infomation supplied by you guys above and realy apreciated the british steel thread is an eye opener with some fantastic looking rides making this bike want to hide its head in shame :roll: but i do remember the story of the uggly duckling and how that ended ive just had a look at the frame and the numbers do indeed start LL wot a fantastic way to start the day,

I bet you're a bit blown away by all the interest and comments in this thread? I honestly thought that your OP was tongue in cheek and that you new exactly what you had managed to get your hands on

My fault, far too excited to see, and wasn't expected....[/quote]your not the only one whos excited and the response was not expected, my only thoughts at the time of purchase were, brakes for the zaskar and crank set, pedals for the rock lobster, oh how i wished this frame was 19 inch and not 17.5 or it would be on its way to argos right now, did you have any luck with the date from the numbers above ?[/quote]


I think you got a very good buy, and if the seller on here didn't know, he didn't do bad either, especially given what it might cost to get right, if you wanted it done correctly. Jig and treat the frame, make any repairs and then paint work.

I would take another look at the frame sizing before you disregard it as no good though, it looks like it was sold as a 19 to me, is the seatpost seized and could I ask you to send me a good pic of the repair, perhaps via pm.? I would think from the frame number it was built August 1990.

 

[NeilM]

Quite remarkable too, just how much the geometry of frames changed in four years when compared to the one Ringo picked up on ebay recently.

I think Dave Lloyd was well ahead of the game with the CATS, which is why it is such a shame that he did not continue to make frames.

Perhaps his bikes were just a little too far ahead, as the bike I have which ride wise is the closest match to Ringo's CATS is the Fuquay..... chance or a common theme that neither make bikes any more?

 

[sinnerman]

Quite remarkable too, just how much the geometry of frames changed in four years when compared to the one Ringo picked up on ebay recently.

I think Dave Lloyd was well ahead of the game with the CATS, which is why it is such a shame that he did not continue to make frames.

Perhaps his bikes were just a little too far ahead, as the bike I have which ride wise is the closest match to Ringo's CATS is the Fuquay..... chance or a common theme that neither make bikes any more?

You have lost me completely Neil... :| Please explain Im lost.

 

[NeilM]

You have lost me completely Neil... :| Please explain Im lost.

Sorry Carl. What I meant was that you only have to look at Dave's frames and you see features, like through tube cable routing, which are only now becoming common place on mtbs. Also, look at Ringo's CATS, then look at my Yates 853, and you will see a similar style of bike, only the Lloyd was produced twelve years before my Yates. As far as I can see, he was a long way ahead of the market and perhaps he was just too far ahead.

As for the comparison with Fuquay, my comparison is flimsy at best, and is based on the riding experience of only three bikes, but all three are fast, fleet of foot and quite aggressive, something I like but possibly not what everyone wants. Lets face it, there are a lot more DOGS BOLX out there than CATS and Fuquays combined, so clearly Chas was producing what more people wanted at the time.

There could be a host of reasons why Dave Lloyd and Greg Fuquay stopped producing mtb's (none of which are any of my business), but it could just be that what they wanted to build was not what people at the time wanted to buy... no matter how good they were (and in my opinion, they are / were very good).