Its a.... Sonic........Helmut Burns-London.

[sunympholepsy]

Lush. A very special bike.

Small world…
I’ve met Helmut a couple of times in his post framebuilding years. A very nice, no nonsense man who knows his stuff. I am sure he would be delighted to see it restored to its glory. His workshop was at the back of my mates’ Stuart’s (of Bikefix fame) old shop. Erik Jansen used it for a while after Helmut stopped building frames. Before his recent retirement to Mallorca he was still building wheels and selling Gebhardt chainrings and Stuart inherited his leftover stock. I’ve recently built a couple of sets of wheels using some of his spokes.

 

[sinnerman]

Thank you for adding that, i would love to hear a lot more about him, and see so much more, for me it was very much an underground brand, and scene i guess.

My first memory of Sonic was the inclusion of his bike in the MTB book, shown here at the beginning of the thread, and i guess that was the influence for me with the assembly for this frame.

The one piece bar and stem needed to be adjusted for me, as it started life with a negative rise, but i feel that small difference has made a huge improvement for me to be fair.

The frame/fork/bar-stem, Fuselage..? is perhaps as light as any other offering I have, even with the heavier Campagnolo its still very svelte, it really does lend itself very well to the Avocet slicks, its pretty rapid, nimble. agile I guess, takes me back to using one bike for all purposes BITD when we could only afford one bike.

 

[raidan73]

Jeez that was well worth the wait Carl. I’m looking forward to checking out the pics on my computer, when I’m back at home

 

[sinnerman]

Jeez that was well worth the wait Carl. I’m looking forward to checking out the pics on my computer, when I’m back at home

Sorry Adrian, It has been a while.

 

[sinnerman]

 

[raidan73]

The one piece bar and stem needed to be adjusted for me, as it started life with a negative rise, but i feel that small difference has made a huge improvement for me to be fair.

Just re-read the thread over. This is one of my favourite projects of yours Carl, and there's been a few beauties. I remember the pics from that e-stay review, like it was yesterday, but couldn't tell you what I was doing this time a week ago! The brain is a funny thing

So you've had the Candybar angle modified? I still looks like it has significant negative rise?

 

[Jimmy oldskool]

That is a thing of beauty!!!

 

[sinnerman]

Just re-read the thread over. This is one of my favourite projects of yours Carl, and there's been a few beauties. I remember the pics from that e-stay review, like it was yesterday, but couldn't tell you what I was doing this time a week ago! The brain is a funny thing

So you've had the Candybar angle modified? I still looks like it has significant negative rise?

I know how that feels Adrian...lol.

The bar/stem is still at a slight negative, but far far higher than it was, I could never have ridden the bike how it was, far too old these days and it would have crippled me.

 

[JCS]

Re: Its a No Name guessing Game...!



Its a Bike Messengers Bike, For delivering parcel/letters etc around London. 26" wheels, built to take the daily abuse of kurbs, flights of steps, Tagging London buses, avoiding black cabs, but with slicks, Road gearing, and suitable profile bars. Very Fast. I like the subtle padding to protect the paint from the courier bag, leaving locked up, and help protect your nuts....LOL.

A lot of fixed gear these days..

I always thought the London bike couriers in the 80’s looked super cool and seemed to be quite early adopters of MTB’s.

Zipping through the traffic riding the latest Muddy Fox or other 26” wheel bike customized for maximum speed and endurance in the urban jungle.

I guess MF tapped into that buzz with the Courier model.

 

[sinnerman]

I always thought the London bike couriers in the 80’s looked super cool and seemed to be quite early adopters of MTB’s.

Zipping through the traffic riding the latest Muddy Fox or other 26” wheel bike customized for maximum speed and endurance in the urban jungle.

I guess MF tapped into that buzz with the Courier model.

It was a cool time for sure... A time where handle bars became increasingly narrow..!