Always had a thing for old school downhill bikes. The amount of engineering and craftsmanship for simply being pioneers of the sport is beyond amazing. Beautiful bike Sir.
The bikes history is even MORE fascinating than the design. Thank you for taking the time to create your video and narration. It's very much appreciated. 👏
It's a really innovative design you have there! It has many features that have become popular in modern DH bikes, such as a high pivot design that reduces pedal kickback, a sealed drive train, and less weight and fragile parts hanging off the swing arm. I've had the pleasure of seeing this bike when you brought to the BC Bike show a few years ago. It's nice to finally hear about it's history and the adventures it's had!
If I were to see a bike like/similar to 69'er, I would think it was cutting edgte, state-of-the art... not designed and build by 1998. Truly amazing. Thanks for sharing this work of art. 👍
It's taken way too long for me to sit down and enjoy this story, but now that I have I thank you both. Next on the list is the " ... motorcycle from an old B&W photo ...", as only Paul Brodie could!
I wish that I could just be a fly on the wall in your shop. Especially back in the time of this bike! Also, thank you for sharing this interesting bit of history 👍.
What a killer setup. It sort of reminds me of my Balfa BB7 from 2003 (It was retired from DH racing in 2002, so it was older) It's the one bike I miss, that I shouldn't have let go of. We all have the one bike that we shouldn't have gotten rid of! If not, then hold on to the ones you have! Thank you for sharing this story!!
The 69er reminds me of the downhill bikes Allen Millyard made, he also utilised a nexus hub but kept the drive chains enclosed. You make something and then the world changes, a great story.
You're a legend Paul. That bike is so badass. If you and Mitch did a series designing & fabricating a 69er (or maybe a 63er) with modern geo and components the internet would lose its mind. Custom made full suspension bikes are all the rage right now. I'm sure you've seen all the traction Neko Mulally is gaining. The pinkbike crowd would eat it up.
Thanks you VERY much Paul for showing this beautiful piece of engineering. So cool to look back at a bike from the early years and see the solutions people were coming up with for early suspension, this bike was way ahead of it's time looking at it if I remember what was around back then. Glad that you got it back, definitely deserves a place on display for you and others to admire it. 69 degrees, for back then that was insane slack, now Trail bike are anywhere between 64-68 degrees and DH bikes around 63-64.
One of the most enjoyable videos I have watched. The passion, engineering and research to locate and bring home this bike is amazing. Thank you for sharing this story. A true part of history!
What an utterly beautiful creation, I can really feel your touch and soul in this one. No wonder she found her way back to you! Love all these amazing stories!
Good times 1997, I used to drool over the Specialized DH bike at the store, $5k was a lot of money then for that kind of money you can buy a decent car, being a collage student money was none existence. The 69er for some reason always reminds me of Meccano, loved Meccano when I was a kid probably why I liked the look, still some innovative times back then. Paul what you achieved in 25 years is an accomplishment on it's own, well done & all the best for futures to come keep doing what you love.
That's one heck of a bike story 😳 over so many years. 😳 It had to be satisfying at the end of the beginning. That's a very nice puzzle you have there 😀 interesting.
Oh Paul, thank you so much for this. One of my all time favourite things to do is building bikes. I have a Marinoni commuter bike that Marinoni himself built the custom frame then I hung Campagnolo all over it. It took about 3 years to get together but it is a wonderful bike. Building custom bikes is about as much fun as I know how to have.
That is very cool. Both the bike and the story. People are always curious about anything even slightly unconventional on races and events, so I can imagine this bike was getting quite some attention.
What a bike Paul ! Could be still up to day with minimal upgrades… This fork is a beast ! And your idea of the hub as a gearbox is brilliant ! I don't understand why the MTB's world doesn't get rid of the derailleurs. These things suck, whatever the brand, when you ride in muddy greasy trails. And what is MTB if you don't ride muddy trails ?
I have a modest collection of DH bikes, one of those is a GT IT-1. It's very similar to this with a jackshaft and Shimano internal gear hub in the frame. Yours was way ahead of the curve. Those Hope C2s were great brakes at the time. Looks like someone ran your bike with a Rockshox Boxxer drop crown at some point which causes those top tube dents.
I had those same RST forks....bought them from Universal Cycles. SO soft, I could never get them stiff enough, they were so mushy. Stiffer springs, nothing could get them from diving badly.
I have a 155mm rotor that looks identical but its off a mini bike and might actually work for you if the thickness is close! I'm going to measure the thickness and get back to you with the thickness. I know for a fact it isn't less than 4 millimeters and I know its not over 5.5mm. Very cool video and impressive story about the bike!
When I began to watch it seemed to me that it was a rather boring story, but closer to the end I realized that a huge amount of labor was invested in this device (even in addition to restoration). This is great.
As a craftsman I can tell how much though and work went in to that bike and transmission system. It’s functional and that makes it very beautiful. There are some things I do regret selling, and that are lost in the history. Glad you got it bought and back to where it started.
I want to say I remember seeing pictures of this at On Top back then. First mountain bike was a Brodie, great bikes. Blew up an 8-ball on that A-line drop as well! Ended up a little too deep on the transition and the wishbone decided it had had enough.
Funny, I think a lot of the 8-Balls blew up, something to do with the leverage ratio if I remember correctly. We were riding along Lynn Valley Road just at Kirkstone, my buddy hops his 8-Ball off of the 3 foot wall onto the sidewalk, catestrophic failure. That's not what broke the frame, that was just the final straw. Good times man, good times.
The bike is really nice, It reminds me of the Millyard Racing DownHill Mountain bike MR001. Do you know this bike? I think you might find his (Allan Millyard's) Channel interesting he is also into things on two wheels. For the MR001 he also made the shocks himself... it has some unique features which you might have also been able to do if you had had more than 100 hours. It is my dream to one day build a bike similar to both of yours which includes a motor. On your bike: why is the big bearing necessary? If you were to build a similar bike again what would you change? Can you also maybe show what the finished custom E-Mountain Bike made from stainless steel you did looks like fully built up?
Thank you. Yes, I have seen Allen Millyards work. I subscribe to his channel.The big bearing on the right side of the Nexus hub is one half of the upper swingarm pivot. If I was to build it again? Not sure, never really thought about it. Send me an email and I'll send you a pic of the finished E-mountain bike.
It is a piece of history. But it is also a living model. There are many aspects of the design and construction that are transferable to other human powered machines.
I can't decide what is better, the bike or the story! Almost all the weird bikes I built got cut up and thrown in the scrap, but I do have one that was never even ridden, only in an art show, still have it, and unlike most things I make, it is very pretty! Thanks!
Paul, what an awesome bike😎 Have you tried emailing Hope? They might have a disc on the shelf or even make you one. They are based in Barnoldswick UK. My father in law lives there and knows a few people that work for them. If you like I can ask him to ask them 👍
@@paulbrodie I dont suppose they have any drafts laying around, would they? Or any they are willing to share with you? Im sure you know a machinist that can whip that up for ya... (insert sarcasm voice here) always love what you do!!
What a cool story and an even cooler bike! Your work is proven and can clearly stand the test of time Mr. Brodie, I really like how you built the shop and then started working on the house lol,,,, Priorities!!
Huge amount of work here! Thanks for sharing Paul! The frame suspension is whats unique here! All the rest can be upgraded to latest, but if you ask me, if someone repeat the same with cro-mo frame, this will be "immortal" and "unbeatable" in every direction! This BEAST is definitely waiting for some more "shredding"!
this is one of the coolest custom bikes ive ever seen. what a unique design! downhill bikes already look cool, but this is a whole new level. and what a story!
I'm not even into bikes but I enjoy both the stories and the enthusiastic explanations of how the designs work. You are clearly a good teacher when you can draw people from other fields and have them trying to apply bicycle design concepts to other ideas.
@@paulbrodie Weirdest part is I found you searching Brodie while looking for disc golf videos. ru-vid.com But watching a few of yours have given me a few ideas to help improve a buddy's Soapbox derby cart. and the hunger to continue improving my knowledge and designs
Hello Paul, this was quite a story which you told in a very interesting way. I still have the first motorcycle which I had at 16yrs of age. I restored it in 2010 but will never part with it now, I am 59yrs old so the bike is an old friend. Thank you for yet another great video/ story! Kevin.
I had that exact Hope hydro brake on my very early self-built 99 Gary Fisher Joshua Y-frame with a Marzocchi bomber fork. Had a ton of fun with it and won a few local DH events. Miss those days.
It feels so good for me to hear such a passionate old school story or might as well became historical for us in such time, this story reminds me everything about my passion as a pro cyclist in my younger years, i've join a lot of races in my early 20s, i've failed so many times and won races not so many as i've remembered but the spirit and passion always remains, just like this story you have just shared to us, Thanks a lot Bro...
That was surprisingly entertaining. The longer and more drawn out a story is the quicker I will shitcan it …BUT…I was just hanging on every line!(I must be loosing it).I am a bike enthusiast and love machined projects and this cat spins a good yarn.This oyster had a Pearl;thankyou
Thanks Kelly. We will be doing more videos with a storyline. I like to say that everyone has a story; some people just tell their stories better than others.
I have always liked the internal hub shifting design. I had a strumey archer 3 speed back in the day. The best part is you can convert to a belt drive and kiss that messy chain goodbye. What a great story. This bike is a legend
@@paulbrodie yes Ive been swapping these massive heavy bricks from old bike to new bike for years and I'm still running them today on a bike I still ride often.
@@paulbrodie Oh I misheard then. I thought you were saying it had to get parts rebuilt by another shop! That's even more impressive and the look is still amazing.
@@Aubreykun My friend Dan manually machined the rear hub in 1997, I think because I was short on time for some reason... The third owner, Chris, couldn't get ahold of me, so used a fab shop in Vancouver to make and repair parts.. No CNC.
Do you still need a disc? I have a brand new centre lock (c2/bulb) one in the shed, I'll double check the fitment when I get home. Love the bike and enjoyed hearing your story, jt
Great story told by a proper raconteur. Similar story about one of my bikes: I am the 4th owner and an old friend of the previous three, one of whom is sadly no longer with us. The bike is about to get a respray by a chap who already did one for me, to a very high standard ... will hopefully happen in a month or so. It's an English 1970s road bike and will get ridden.
Love it. Great story. Always find your videos inspiring. Always been a fan of Hope components too. From early Hope titanium hubs in early 90’s and now still running early Hope Mono Mini brakes..Pro 2 hubs..Bottom Bracket..on my MTB. Just always like well engineered,non ‘throw away’ anything! Hence loving your care and attention to detail,striving towards perfection and beautiful engineering..that in my mind crosses the border between engineering functionality and art.
3:16 Love the early Hope disc brakes!!! I had a set of the first generation of those too on my mid 90´s full sussie - but I only had 4" travel f&r!!! It was a Klein Attitude to begin with, stuck a Pace carbon RC96 fork on it, then a Hope front disc, and as the upgrades evolved moved to a Cyclecraft CSP-02 full sus frame and added the rear Hope disc etc etc - loved those days when everything (head sets & BB´s etc) were all of a standard and you could roll over continuous upgrading!!
Got to the end of the video - I think I might have the right discs on my old bike above - I had two sets of wheels & discs one DH & one XC - I´ll have to nip to my storage unit but can check for you.
Beautiful story. I'm going to share this with my brother. He's a bike enthusiast and may already be familiar with you. If not, he will be jazzed to learn of you, and to see this amazing video.
Amazing stuff Still ride a hand built Sovereign up here in Kelowna, I’ll never part with that bike Had a few Brodie bikes over the years but the old hand built classics were the best Thanks Paul
Thank you Paul! Excellent to have both the history/backstory of the bike and the design story. Thinking back the bike that may have inspired the gearbox idea could be a Nicolai, they were building some very niche, forward-thinking designs back then, you were certainly way ahead of GT (iDrive) /Mongoose & Honda. Love the channel, love the variety of projects. “It’s a good fit”….
