Members' bikes

[Under the arches]

Yep finished these off.

Now on my baked bean machine. I just need to get a spoke fitted into the wheel & I will look forward to my first camping trip on a bike. My tent fits into the pannier just. The material of them is solid as.

Pleased 

[Blodwyn Pig]

WP_20180202_16_30_13_Pro by mark tilley, on Flickr

sorry for the poor phone pic, the lens must have been a tad misted up. Here's 'Olive' on this year's CTC Winter weekend 'Ruff Stuff', up at Beverley YHA. Olive seemed to cope with the glutenous stuff better than the MTB's.  it was 'well muddy'

[Kim]

Looks like you found exactly the right consistency of mud.

[sg37409]

A wee saunter on the brommie, first in 2018.

5AB1E1BD-69B4-4C7C-B973-4442E92AC534 by sg310, on Flickr

[andyoxon]

Recent addition to the fold, and very first MTB.  1995 Saracen Powertrax, now with 1.75" (44mm) Schwalbe Silento touring slick-ish tyres and 65mm bluemels. Tange Chromoly DB frame seems a goody.  I may add a rack for commuting purposes.

Saracen-PTrx_95 by aaekoxon, on Flickr

[Paul H]

Latest home for my Rohloff hub, Thorn Mercury, necessitated by a cracked Ti frame and the only OTP frame that suited my needs.  Required the hub converting to disk brake and external shift box.  Had it since November, a couple of thousand miles,  2 Audax, Festive 500, mini tour and the usual commuting, different to it's predecessor, pros and cons but on the whole I like it.
 
Thorn Mercury by Paul, on Flickr

Wayfarers bench by Paul, on Flickr

Previous incarnations of what I still think of as the same bike, though there's not much of the original left.   They're  probably already in this thread somewhere.

Tiroll by Paul, on Flickr
Day 6 Welcome to Berwick by Paul, on Flickr

[Robh]

Very nice bike, that 

[LEE]

Recent addition to the fold, and very first MTB.  1995 Saracen Powertrax, now with 1.75" (44mm) Schwalbe Silento touring slick-ish tyres and 65mm bluemels. Tange Chromoly DB frame seems a goody.  I may add a rack for commuting purposes.

Saracen-PTrx_95 by ao, on Flickr

My 1996 Forcetrax (bought new).  Absolute joy to ride as a "camping bike" conversion.  In fact I'll be using it tomorrow to ride to my early morning Wattbike class given the weather forecast.

Same Tange frame but I swapped the brakes and levers for V Brake setup (I never found cantis I liked). Bars are Thorn "Comfort bars" with ergon grips via a Quill-to-Ahead converter post.
2.0" Marathons but I'll go bigger when they wear out.

]

[andyoxon]

Recent addition to the fold, and very first MTB.  1995 Saracen Powertrax, now with 1.75" (44mm) Schwalbe Silento touring slick-ish tyres and 65mm bluemels. Tange Chromoly DB frame seems a goody.  I may add a rack for commuting purposes.
...

My 1996 Forcetrax (bought new).  Absolute joy to ride as a "camping bike" conversion.  In fact I'll be using it tomorrow to ride to my early morning Wattbike class given the weather forecast.

Same Tange frame but I swapped the brakes and levers for V Brake setup (I never found cantis I liked). Bars are Thorn "Comfort bars" with ergon grips via a Quill-to-Ahead converter post.
2.0" Marathons but I'll go bigger when they wear out.
...

Nice.  I'll probably go to V-Brakes at some point.   I notice a small frame difference at the top of the seat stays.   The silentos roll nicely on the road - I need to play around with what the best pressures are for tarmac vs gravel etc.  I got caught out trying to do some of the Ridgeway last weekend, finding some very sticky clay/mud which really clogged with cantis & mudguards on, but bike's great on harder/drier rough surfaces.   Still getting used to the original 7-speed - requires more hopping about on the front rings to find the right gear.

[LEE]

   Still getting used to the original 7-speed - requires more hopping about on the front rings to find the right gear.

Mine is still the original gearing, which means it spins out quite quickly but I don't mind, it forces me to slow down and take in the views.

It's done more miles in France, as my camping bike, than in the UK.  Soon it will be back on the Motorhome for more rides through Sunflowers.

[zigzag]

finished building my gravel/do-it-all bike, a few minor upgrades coming to get the weight under 10kg. the position is spot on, no toe overlap (a common issue with cx/gravel bikes) and it can maintain a decent speed, but still looking for fast all-round tyres.

[ElyDave]

The new Cruzbike, ready for roll-down and handling testing and getting used to the front end
Will add bar tape when I'm happy with the brake lever position.



and here's my 90's MTB now used as a runabout, with marathon racers

[IanDG]

2018 modifications to Genesis Equilibrium - switched back to the Ritchey Classic bars and from a 48/38 double to 46/34/24 triple, swapped STI's for bar end shifters and fitted Panaracer Pasella 25c tyres.

IMG_0623a by ian, on Flickr

IMG_0621 by ian, on Flickr

[neil]

Ha, was very surprised to see this when just doing a Google search.

I am Neil who is in that article with Tommy Quick. I worked there for about 8 years, straight out of school. I remember that guy and still have the actual paper it was in. It was a pretty accurate account and description of the shop. Tom is still doing well and well into his 80's. He was an engineering genius and although I have zero qualifications of note he taught me so much that I still use today. His teaching and approach has helped me do what I do today, will be 20 years at Condor this year.

Thanks for sharing.
All the best
Neil

So, as mentioned up thread I have a new bike, who has been christened Dakota as she is one shade of grey.  Dakota Johnson played Anna, the female lead character in the film adaptation of “Fifty Shades of Grey” - my new bike is a toothsome lass both lithe of limb and body, much like Ms Johnson – I hope she’ll be pleased if she ever finds out.
 
During the summer of 2015 I finished building Fred my Surly Disc Trucker, here he is on comedy off-roading mode …



… and Fred’s steel frame proved to something of a revelation as the last steel framed bike I rode was in the mid-80s.  Suddenly my alloy framed Ribble 7005 winter trainer / audax machine felt choppy and rough, even with carbon forks and hand built wheels.  Despite Son of Oscar the Ribble being a trusty friend since 2009, since which time we have traveled many thousands of miles together over all manner of terrain and at every hour of the day and night, my mind turned to replacing him with a steel framed bicycle that was substantially lighter than Fred.
 
The thread I linked to in the previous paragraph prompted that nice man Torslanda of John’s Bikes, Manchester to offer me a Reynolds 653 lugged frame built by TJ Quick in 1990 for Robh of this parish.  Even from the photos the frame looked lovely with its Stronglight headset, shot-in seat stays (now I know what they are!) and dropped crown fork.  John said he also had a nice pair of wheels with Ambrosio Evolution rims and polished Ambrosio hubs – a deal was done! 
 
The frame and wheels seemed to offer the chance to have a bike that was different from the Ribble and markedly different from the Surly, which in heavy duty tour mode weighs in at 18kg!  To make the difference all the more marked I decided to go for the SRAM Apex group set.  I have never used SRAM kit and none of my bikes have ever had a compact double.  It’s also been a long time since I rode a bike with integrated brake levers and shifters; both Fred and the Ribble sported bar end shifters.  With mudguards (PDW Full Metal Fenders off the Ribble) and pedals Dakota weighs a bit over 10kg.
 
And here she is …







It wasn’t just Dakota’s looks and potential that attracted me, but also her heritage.  She was clearly built by a craftsman so I have researched TJ Quick.  Tom, or Tommy as he appears to be also known, Quick had his first shop in the early 50s having been a frame builder with Holdsworth beforehand.  They offered him a job after he’d asked them to check over a frame he’d built in his garden shed.  After a couple of moves he ended up with a shop in Stansted Road, Forest Hill.  Tom developed a reputation for lightweight road bikes and track bikes, the latter no doubt helped by his proximity to the Herne Hill Velodrome where his bikes were often seen.  There are reports of him building a few mountain bikes later in his career and he also built the triplet used by The Goodies on their BBC telly programmes.   Tom undertook general engineering jobs as well as building frames sold under other brands.  Apparently he retired in 2000 to enjoy his golf and in 2013 was reported as being in his 80s, I hope Tom is still going strong – I’d love to meet him.

An article written by Magnus Miles and published in The Independent in April 1993 gives you a sense of what Tom Quick and his shop were like:

I am not a serious cyclist in the competitive sense, but I like to do a 50-miler now and then, and when I do I want a decent set of wheels under me. I have done a few long trips on my mountain bike, but it is hard work, so I decided to treat myself to a hand-built road bike, a fast tourer.  A lot of bike shops are a bit flash for my liking: I wanted a more traditional type of place. When someone recommended TJQ in Forest Hill, south London, run by Thomas Quick, who builds bikes on the premises, I liked the sound of it and one day I decided to call in.

Behind the counter was a young man in glasses. I told him what I required and he prepared an estimate. It was soon obvious that he knew what he was talking about. It was also obvious that the bike would not be cheap: he came up with pounds 700 for a fully-fitted machine.

While we were talking I became aware of a lurking presence in the room behind the shop. I had heard that Mr Quick was a modest man. 'Er . . . is that the workshop through there?' I asked. 'Yes,' replied the young man, in a way that prevented further questioning. Mr Quick was clearly not going to make an appearance on this occasion.

But when I went back a couple of weeks later, they were both in the shop. Mr Quick looks like a cycle engineer should look. My decision was made. 'I've decided to have my bike built here,' I announced. And at that moment, I realised that the decision was not up to me. It was up to Mr Quick. He looked at the young man; then at me again. Yes, he said, he would build me a bike.

'I understand you make the bikes on the premises,' I said.

'Yes, I build the frame and paint it, and young Neil here will fit the gear.'

'Right,' I enthused, 'I'll leave it all up to you, then. I don't know anything about bike-building.' Mr Quick did not pass comment but merely glanced at Neil, then at my primitive mountain bike, which I had parked inside his shop. Mr Quick is of the old school and I do not think he likes mountain bikes much.

He produced a tape measure. 'First, we'll have to see how tall you are and measure your legs.' He said 'legs' as if the word were in inverted commas.

As Mr Quick measured me, I said: 'I'd like the colour to be British Rail red.' Mr Quick and Neil glanced at each other again. He wrote something in his notebook, then crossed it out. You could have Post Office red or signal red, he told me; there was no British Rail red. I chose signal red.

'And everything else black,' I added. They both looked at me. 'Everything?'

'Except the chrome bits,' I corrected.

My only other specifications were a Brooks racing saddle and Cinelli handlebars, which have an attractive sweep.

'It will be Reynolds 531 Competition Tubing,' Mr Quick informed me.

And that was it. A couple of weeks later I received a polite letter: 'The cycle which you ordered is now complete and ready for collection. The price is as quoted pounds 700.'

I went up on the bus to pick it up. A beautiful red machine stood in the middle of the shop. Mr Quick seemed pleased with it.

I thought I saw him smile as I rode away. And it goes like the clappers.

The chap called Neil mentioned in the article is Neil Manning who is now Condor's Production Director.

I'm extremely grateful to Torslanda for offering me the frame and doing such a good job building it up.  He also got the rear triangle resprayed, you can't see the join!

[Robh]

Hi Neil

It's nice to see this tale coming around to some sort of closure.

I remember you from Tom's shop when I bought the frame, and we also met again at the London Bike Show some years back, when you were on the Condor stand.

It's wonderful to learn that Tom is still going. At the time my experience of bike shop owners was that they were an entirely miserable bunch. Tom changed my mind on that front: he invited me back into the store room to show me the tubing that he would be using for my build, he listened to my questions, and I think he even (I may have imagined this) offered me a cup of tea and half of his cheese sandwich.

That frame meant a lot to me, and I thought long and hard before passing it onto Torslanda, who I thought would do it justice. It seems that he did. When he built it up and passed it onto Oscar's Dad I was very pleased that it had it found an appreciative new owner.

Thank you for your help all of those years ago. Thanks to Torslanda for the rebuild and I hope the Oscar's Dad is enjoying the frame. It's great to think that this lovely piece of craftsmanship is still out there, eating up the miles

[neil]

Great to hear Robh, nice to be reminded about those days.

All the best

[Torslanda]

Small world. And what a fabulous story!

Just a shame Oscar's Dad's pictures don't show, we are both, justifiably I think, proud of that build.

[mr ben]

I had my commuter nicked recently, and decided to replace it with an undesirable rigid mountain bike from a bike recycling place that I volunteer at.  This was going for £70 (that's the higher end for this type of thing) but since I was going to do the work on it myself they let me have it for nowt.  We swapped the knobbly tyres for some slicks which were almost unused and since I've had it I've also used my Schwalbe studded winter tyres.  We also found an old rack which I had to bend in several places to fit so I hope it holds out.  So far I've spent about £11 on new bar tape (reduced because it was that silly stuff that changes to white half way down, but I didn't need that bit), and 17p on mudguards (Aldi spring water, contents used on plants and in kettle.  I may splash out on a second bottle for full coverage).  Pedals and saddle I already had going spare.  It's funny how once you get into the recycling mentality you're reluctant to spend any money whatsoever.

The frame is unmarked but the bars have Scott something on them so I can only assume it's one of theirs.  It's steel and much lighter than the random aluminium frames I was also looking at. There are a fair few bits of surface rust which I hope add to the undesirable nature.  I've never got my head around Shimano's hierarchy but I can tell the components are better than I'm used to, by feel/movement and the fact that the v brakes have things to keep the pad movement parallel to the rims. It's got canti bits too.

It's got a ridiculously long stem, which I'd like to change, and a laid back seat post, so I can only assume the previous owner had short legs and a very long back. Eventually I'd like a hub dynamo (when I rule the world ALL bikes will have one) and proper mudguards.  I've become rather attached to it already, my only problem is that I tend to refer to my bikes by manufacturer (they've never had names) and I don't really know what to call this one.

[hatler]

Very cool indeed.

[Paul]

If the chainset and rear mech are original (I suspect they might be) I’d guess the bike was born in the early 90s. I always liked the look of that black LX kit.

[Arellcat]

If the chainset and rear mech are original (I suspect they might be) I’d guess the bike was born in the early 90s. I always liked the look of that black LX kit.

Black LX ran from 1993 to 1996.  Your looks to have LX all round, which suggests it's original.  Normally the dérailleurs would've been upgraded (or downgraded) as they wore out, while brakes tend to soldier on.  It would've had cantis originally.

The Scott Sandoa and Summit had STX dérailleurs and chainsets while the Boulder was all-LX; the Sandoa came with low end hubs; the Summit gained QRs.  All three bikes came with the Scott AT3 handlebar; I had the AT4 Pro on my Trek 850 of the early 90s.

Most steel-framed Scotts of the 90s had a semi-lugged joint at the top of the seat tube, but that detail seemed to be reserved for the higher end bikes.  The Boulder of about 1995 was all black, while the Sandoa was purple and the Summit silver and black.  So I would suggest it's a Boulder under the black paint.  This one looks pretty similar, just a larger frame.

[Paul]

I think I have some LX cantis. They wouldn't be a patch on your (what I suspect are XT) v brakes but if you go old-school mad let me know and I'll have a look.

Are the shifters original? Can't tell from the pic.

[mr ben]

Wow, thanks to you very knowledgeable folks.   It does look very much like that Boulder.  I'll try and remember to take a few pics of the details.

I'll do my best to look after it, but also keep it looking superficially scruffy (not unlike myself) to deter anyone else trying to take possession.

[Finrodfelagund]

Here's my new build.  Great service and advice from the staff at Bob Jackson Cycles.

https://pin.it/fsrgqmeflxqe5t

[Paul H]

Here's my new build.  Great service and advice from the staff at Bob Jackson Cycles.

https://pin.it/fsrgqmeflxqe5t

I like it