wicked wrenching customs

First a little backstory...

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Before living in Canada, I was aware of brodie bikes here in Australia. I had seen a few being ridden on trails and in shops, but they were all the later bikes that were designed and exported by Cybersport. They were aggressive DH/ Freeride style dual suspension and hardtail bikes, and to be honest they never took my fancy. I just simply saw them as another Norco style bike from Vancouver, I was completely ignorant to say the least!...

 

Then I moved to Canada, and was working in a bike shop in Toronto with some really cool guys who also appreciated bikes from yesteryear. They introduced me to the 'true brodies' - bikes that were actually built when Paul was running the company. The bikes were beautiful, and when I first saw a Gatorblade fork in the flesh I was completely taken back with it's design and looks. It brought a whole new perspective of the brand to my mind, and I realised what we had missed out on in Australia as the original bikes were never imported there. I knew I had to start adding some real brodies to my vintage collection.

 

This ClimbMax was the first bike I found. It is also the earliest one in my current collection. The frame is stamped #1390 and according to Paul's book paul brodie- the man behind brodie bikes, was built in 1991 just before production moved to 1"1/8 head tubes.

 

The build I had envisioned for it was relatively standard, I had seen images of it built up by the previous owner and he had pretty much nailed it. Just a few small differences to suit my preferences. The group is Shimano XT M730/732. The cranks were a good find as the black versions are quite hard to get, the most common are silver. The wheel set I built is XT hubs laced to Araya RM rims, and the cockpit is a mix of Syncros and True Temper. Panaracer Smoke tires and an original Avocet saddle to finish things off.

 

It is a fantastic bike to ride, the forks track amazingly well- better than any other rigid fork I've ever ridden. Riding this bike secured my love for vintage brodie's, and it wasn't long before I found myself selling off other bikes to create more room for more of Paul's bikes. Here's a personal view for those interested in the ride quality- It has been said by many that the best riding steel frame from the era are Fat Chance's, well I've owned and ridden both now and I can honestly say that I think the brodie is superior in craftsmanship and ride quality. I have since sold my Fat and many other 'dream steel' bikes to accommodate more brodies, thats how good they are!