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Pictures of old and obscure suspension bikes

HardtailHack

used an iron once
Jan 20, 2009
6,628
5,442
On my last ride I let out a pretty loud "Whoa, and Ellsworth!" there's not too many of them in Oz, not long later I bumped in to a guy running bar ends and probably an 80mm travel fork.
I need to get to the densely populated XC trails more often, I could just pull up a chair, drink some beers and giggle at the weirdness.
 

Bikael Molton

goofy for life
Jun 9, 2003
4,010
1,144
El Lay
Anakin, FRM, Leonardo... c’mon you are just making up random words. :brows:


Down here the beez kneez at the XC trails are the overpriced FRM Anakin frames, dressed with equally overpriced Leonardi bits. Gosh, they look and ride like a 90s hardtail.



Yet they are full suspension frames :D.


 

canadmos

Cake Tease
May 29, 2011
20,190
19,155
Canaderp
Down here the beez kneez at the XC trails are the overpriced FRM Anakin frames, dressed with equally overpriced Leonardi bits. Gosh, they look and ride like a 90s hardtail.



Yet they are full suspension frames :D.


Did they get the seat tube and head tube mixed up in the weld department?
 

Jk Purvis

Chimp
May 24, 2020
6
2
Also, for the first time in DH bike history, there's an orange reflector on the rear wheel
Haha yeah my bad.... Back rim was toasted so I used a spare off a road bike I had.... Not many options open while everything is shut during covid 19! It's 20+ years old so I'm making it functional.
 

Electric_City

Torture wrench
Apr 14, 2007
1,993
716
Haha yeah my bad.... Back rim was toasted so I used a spare off a road bike I had.... Not many options open while everything is shut during covid 19! It's 20+ years old so I'm making it functional.
It's fine with me. I was just busting ya all in good fun.
 

ianjenn

Turbo Monkey
Sep 12, 2006
2,998
702
SLO
I spent many an hour beating these hydro formed pieces into butter smooth submission when they were down in SLO in the 90's (before Kinesis and the abomination they are now).
Shaums March and Richard Lancaster were doing their best to break them. The factory was a old paint store with a tin roof and swamp cooler. It got nasty in the summer.

No DH bikes in '92 my ass, these were around in '89 with full hydraulic brakes and an inverted fork biatch!
Moto from the get go.

View attachment 145639 View attachment 145640
They where around the corner from my work Robert Reisinger came in once a week with his wife.
 

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,850
9,556
AK
Unidentified bike, anyone know what this is?View attachment 148285
Those are clearly the mountain cycles pro-stop brakes, but a lot doesn't seem to add up. Like why is it running a triple crank? Looks like some 1.8 xc tires or something too. The fork looks a lot newer (not new, mind you, just like the stuff that was showing up a few years later) than the rest of the bike. It looks more like a mock-up or someone's personal project, but it doesn't seem to conform to any known design that I remember from the era. Look at the bottom of the "seat tube" on it, again, that doesn't make sense. Why isn't it hollow and why is the diameter so much larger than the seatpost?
1596484524883.png


*also wears a mask
 
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iRider

Turbo Monkey
Apr 5, 2008
5,648
3,089
Unidentified bike, anyone know what this is?
Later generation full hydraulic Pro Stop disc brakes, Cannondale Moto fork (I think the 120 mm version), Fox Alps rear shock, new-ish Shimano cranks. Looks like someone used old parts to build a bike.

Edit: sniped!
 

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,850
9,556
AK
Structurally, it looks like it'd fall apart in like 3 seconds of riding.
 

ChrisRobin

Turbo Monkey
Jan 30, 2002
3,346
190
Vancouver
I had a set of those Prostop brakes. They were cool to look at because of the machining but worked like...well they didn't work. Only one piston would push out a brake pad while the other brake pad was fixed in the caliper. The rotors were neat since they were 'floating' rotors. The version I had had clear brake lines so you could see all the air bubbles.
 

OGRipper

back alley ripper
Feb 3, 2004
10,647
1,116
NORCAL is the hizzle
Agreed. Lots of questions/head scratchers with that one. I'm guessing some kind of design exercise/enginerding project that never went anywhere, but I figured I'd try to tap the collective monkey knowledge.

As for the triple, maybe it was just ahead of its time as one of the first long travel trail bikes. On that note, is it me, or do those tiny tires make the wheels look bigger than 26"?

And yes, looks flexy. :banana:
 
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Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,850
9,556
AK
I had a set of those Prostop brakes. They were cool to look at because of the machining but worked like...well they didn't work. Only one piston would push out a brake pad while the other brake pad was fixed in the caliper. The rotors were neat since they were 'floating' rotors. The version I had had clear brake lines so you could see all the air bubbles.
Well that kind of system is not all that different than what cars and others have. I believe my Magura Gustavs were the same, one side was "fixed", the entire caliper slid back and forth on pins (floating caliper).

Clear brake lines? What kind of wizardry is that!?
 

ChrisRobin

Turbo Monkey
Jan 30, 2002
3,346
190
Vancouver
Well they were white but you could see the red mineral oil inside. The problem was the sloppy tolerance between the hose fittings and the levers and calipers. All kinds of air would get inside.
 

HardtailHack

used an iron once
Jan 20, 2009
6,628
5,442
There is an importer in Australia that still has a bunch of Brodies and Tomacs for sale, I have a look every six months or so for a giggle.
Another was still trying to flog off ancient Voodoo Ti frames, they were dated when they were released.
 

dump

Turbo Monkey
Oct 12, 2001
8,194
4,419
There is an importer in Australia that still has a bunch of Brodies and Tomacs for sale, I have a look every six months or so for a giggle.
Another was still trying to flog off ancient Voodoo Ti frames, they were dated when they were released.
Any pics/link?
 

iRider

Turbo Monkey
Apr 5, 2008
5,648
3,089
Holy shit, in which warehouse was that stuff hiding? Are you sure this is not just a glitch in their IT system?