Retro Bikes of Quality

[legrandefromage]

I'll put this up for others to read if they've never seen it before:

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... ng&start=0

And as for Breezer #1 - surely its a historical artefact rather than a 'quality' bike? The craft had to have been perfected first for the 'quality' to appear.

To quote the chat room: ''just innovative bikes would have done''

That would have prevented the spam and discussion?

 

[legrandefromage]

Build a bike in the shed in the UK - its homemade

Build a bike in the shed in the US - you are an innovator

I don't think you could have got it more wrong.

Breezer#1 was shed built yes, one of the first mountainbikes for one of the first mountain bike races so yes it is also innovative and home made at the same time, the two are not mutualy exclusive. How many bikes do you see today with a secondary down tube? Other than tandems, cruisers and the Roberts tourer that parks in our bike sheds at work I can't think of any. Evolution killed this one off, Joe may have found it too heavy or an alternative way of strengthening the frame.

If it's in reference to a UK built frame that's just another mountainbike built to look like a mountainbike in someone's shed then yes it I would call it home made.

If you're talking about your green meanie then yes it could well be home made but that doesn't stop it being innovative. Drum brakes, I would call that innovative, someone trying something different to see if it worked. It would do away with the clogging suffered by cantis (and shite chainstay mounted u brakes). Evidence of someone thinking lateraly to build a bike suited for the UK's crap weather. Why it didn't catch on I don't know, maybe there was some flaw with the drum brakes available at the time having dodgy seals that alowed them to fill with water and corrode solid necessitating regular stripping and greasing to prevent this (bitter experience from British motorbikes), I don't know but for whatever reason, other than on Clelands, I've never seen them on MTBs.

The two examples have as much in common as they have differences, bits of them worked that would have been used on other designs and bits of them didn't which wouldn't have appeared on subsequent designs.

EDIT: Off topic as it has nothing to do with Retro mountainbikes, Cliff Shrubb, great and little known UK frame builder, builds in a shed. He built the frame that holds the UK bicycle speed record (videos on You Tube somewhere) he also built the track bike that Sean Yates took to the Olympics. I don't think anyone would call them home made.

Thats not true going by the opinions of some here

 

[doctor-bond]

I'll put this up for others to read if they've never seen it before:

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... ng&start=0

And as for Breezer #1 - surely its a historical artefact rather than a 'quality' bike? The craft had to have been perfected first for the 'quality' to appear.

To quote the chat room: ''just innovative bikes would have done''

That would have prevented the spam and discussion?

Nice link to the Jack Taylor, but the rest is confused.

You're still fixating on definitions: in what world is that Breezer anything other than a bike of quality? No really, step back a moment and have a word.

I'm glad the chat room has been found its collective thinking cap, but sorry, "just innovative", like "we're not worthy" is too prescriptive.

Bikes of quality please -- so simple: not a bid to redifine the site or to alienate anyone who (like me) has and loves some nice mid range stuff: bikes of quality - there are loads out there, post 'em.

 

[Tad]

And as for Breezer #1 - surely its a historical artefact rather than a 'quality' bike? The craft had to have been perfected first for the 'quality' to appear.

I don't mention quality, and I agree the word quality has caused much of the toy out of the pram throwing here but I think we all now know that the OP meant Retrobikes of distiction and innovative and... bikes, or have I got it all wrong and should I go off to bed in a huff?

I would like to submit this pic as consideration for Retrobike of distinction status.

 

[legrandefromage]

I would like to submit this pic as consideration for Retrobike of distinction status.

 

[REKIBorter]

Joe Breeze was building road bike frames long before his Breezer #1 MTB

 

[CTK]

Build a bike in the shed in the UK - its homemade

Build a bike in the shed in the US - you are an innovator

Kind of true but its not the Americans fault!

Graeme Obree- made a bigger design breakthrough than any of the MTB ones above (IMO!) and broke the hour record as well and what was the story? Bike Built From Washing Machine Parts!

I'd say: Innovate in a shed in the US and you are an innovator.

& innovate in a shed in the UK and you are Geoff Apps.

 

[StanleyButterfly]

Sorry I can't go back and do the whole quote thing but it is stunning that anybody in this place would question the quality of Joe Breeze's #1. It took him ages to make it and it is a masterpiece. If I could have 1 bike in the world, that would be it. No doubt in my mind. What the heck are we doing here if we can't even recognize the quality in Breezer number 1?

 

[hollister]

 

[Neil]

FPWM