Shogun Trail Breaker

[focomat 1c]

I have not seen any reference to Shogun MTB's in this forum ? There may be good reasons for this ? however I suspect that a degree
of 'techno snobbery' may be involved !
I have an original example of a Trail Breaker, it was made in Japan with a Tig welded frame having forged dropouts and q/r wheels
front and back. It has a Shimano 200GS groupset and is finished in a fetching shade of red/pink with black forks
I am not sure when 200GS came out, and realise that this is not a 'high end' groupset. Unfortunately I can't get close enough to the
bike to get any date codes for the present.
My guess is that this bike dates from the late eighties ? and was at the lower end of the MTB market place at that time. However
I think it is superior to the many 'catalogue' MTB's that were emerging around that time, and could well be an un-recognised
classic that will only increase in value over the coming years !!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry no photos available, however Google Shogun Trail Breaker and look for colours as above

 

[raidan73]

Re:

While most bikes that came stock with a 200GS gruppo won't get much interest the main reason there aren't many on here is that Shoguns just don't come up very often. We stocked them BITD and the ones a little higher up the ladder were really nice, well spec'd bikes

 

[Robertson73]

Re:

My first MTB was a Shogun Trailbreaker 3 .I remember saving up for months to buy it,cost me £350 new in 1989(quite a lot of money for a 16 year old YTS trainee to pay out!)The bike had a good spec for the money,and was pretty well made too.I 'm not too sure about the snobberry issue, but i would much rather see a Shogun on here,than some of the awful Raleigh Mustangs that people post!!!

 

[k-rod]

now now, kids ... play nice!

 

[Robertson73]

Re:

now now, kids ... play nice!

OK,I went a bit off topic there! But, as I was saying,Trailbreakers were good entry level bikes.I have fond memories of mine,it stood up to loads of abuse! (until the day I went to my local garage for supplies!)I can remember lying the bike down on the ground,before I entered the shop.This must be one of the daftest things I have ever done! Because moments later an angry pensioner,looking for his fix of four star,drove straight over my bike,and then buggerred off!!......The Trailbreaker had morphed into a Trailbanana in a matter of seconds! :shock: ........To add insult to injury,I then had to carry 'THE WORLDS HEAVIEST BANANA' back home with me!!!.....Lesson Learned....Never trust a pensioner!

 

[boxxer]

I started on a gate sized "he'll grow into it" Trailbreaker 2 with 100GS

It was a bit heavy had a long head tube but boy could I make it fly!

Ended up selling it in 1995 by which time it had Manitou 1's, XT / XTR and a smattering of Hope! It may not have been much but it took me places I'd never been before or since....

 

[Robertson73]

Re:

Sounds like a few of us have fond memories of our Trailbreakers.I had never seen another one about,when I had mine,so I know they are not that common........Anyone got one?...Had one?...Restoring one?....If so,let's see them!!!

 

[focomat 1c]

Managed to get the bike out over the weekend, here it is
The rear mech dates to 1989 which is later than expected. The brakes are purple 'Control'
and the levers are Suntour. The rest is pretty original

 

[Robertson73]

Re:

Glad to see you finally got the Trailbreaker out ........Looks like a nice original example!

 

[weeman_mtb]

Re:

I couldn't let this thread drop into the archives without showing off one of my favourite bikes. I salvaged this in a very sorry state from the scrap yard, it has some original parts still on there such as the chainset, mechs, shifters and stem but the rest was junk/missing. This is an older photo of the bike, it now wears some big chunky tyres from a Dawes and a more comfy saddle.

This may be easily the heaviest bike that I own but it's also the best fitting, I did 60 miles of canal towpath on it a couple of years ago, it's just the perfect all-day ride.

It's biggest claim to fame is winning bike of the ride at the Forest of Dean at the last national ride there, although to be fair I think Drystonepaul does have a soft spot for low end crap .

It's a bit of a turd, but I love it, my Shogun Trailbreaker..........