Not sure if folks here are into motorcycles too but I'm going to hype my friend, Paul a little bit.
Paul Brodie has a YouTube channel, he used to run Brodie Research and Technology during the 1990s building mountain bikes in Richmond, B.C.
He builds replicas of Excelsior OHC twin board track bikes now. He builds the frames, engines and everything in his shop in Langley, B.C.
Excellent. I don't know if you know who he is but I met Buzz Kanter and his wife on a car tour. Great people. Buzz is insane. He road his 1911 motorcycle across the US and back again. He owns some crazy number of vintage bikes.
@alsancle
Sounds like a very cool guy.
I'm sure Paul and Buzz know each other. The motorcycle world is just like the ca world and everybody knows each other.
Great work.
I knew of him from the mountain bikes because I basically lived on a mountain bike during the early-mid 90’s. Frame building has always fascinated me. He does incredible work.
@Hupp31
I raced mountain bikes in high school.
I wanted a Brodie so badly but could never scrape up enough money to buy one.
My father happened to be doing some building maintenance work in Paul's shop and took me there to meet him. Made a big impression on a 14 year old me.
Years later I decided to look him up to say thank-you. We've become friends since then.
I now own a tricked out 1996 Brodie Expresso, signed by the man himself.
I've also met Chris DeKerf and Toxik Harald through Paul.
@ShawnG That must have been an awesome thing to see as a kid. That’s the way I felt about another hand built frame that was hanging in my local bike shop, a Spooky Darkside. I wanted that thing bad even though it probably wouldn’t have been any better than the metal matrix Univega I had. Like you, I also did a nostalgia build of a bike that had been out of my league. It looks cool, but it’s a classic case of “don’t meet your heroes”. Any photos of the Brodie?
@Hupp31
Nice, I have a Cannondale Gemini from when I was doing dumb things quickly.
Here's the Brodie. Pulstar hubs, Deore DX groupset, Odyssey straddle rods for the brakes, Syncros stem, Profile bar and bar ends, Ritchey Megabite tires. The Cromag seat isn't era correct but everything else is.
Thing is light and crazy fast.
@ShawnG Awesome! That’s a 90’s build alright…anodized components, 150 mm stem and narrow bars. I’m sure that rides very similar to my Univega Boralite. Climbed great and handled super quick. It would just put you over the bars in a hurry if you didn’t respect it.
@Hupp31
Thanks!
Those Univegas got good reviews back in the day.
I had a set of Girvin forks in carbon when they were made by Noleen but I couldn't get a shock stong enough to work with a 230lb rider.
I've got a 2000 Marzocchi Z3 Flylight fork but I can't bring myself to put it on that bike because I'll have to change to V-brakes or discs and I'm sure it will mess everything up in the handling department.
@ShawnG The metal matrix Univegas rode great but most of them broke, which is how I came to have it. Bike shop owner raced it and broke the first frame. Assembled the warranty frame and sold it to my sister’s boyfriend who rode it for a few years and broke that one. Then he gave me the second warranty frame to build up with the components I already had. Never should have sold that one. But if you really want to play in the woods there are better options now. I have a lot of fun on this beast.
Visited the Curtis Museum in Hammondsport NY today and saw these.
@alsancle very cool.
@alsancle That Curtiss is way cool but I shudder to think what it must have handled like.
