…really narrow cut flat Syncros bars.
the narrower the better back then… basically enough room for grips ,levers and shifters and that was it!
Brodie Bikes: How It All Began
I was in high-school in the early 90s, and my friends and I all dreamed of getting Brodie mtbs. Seeing Mr. Brodie tossing swag to the crowds at local races like the Vedder Classic and the Test of Metal only added to our awe; he really was as cool to us as Kurt Cobain and Chuck D.
The summer after I graduated from high school I saved up enough to buy a used Romax with a manitou fork and black and white splatter paint (with matching frame pump!). I still remember the incredible feel of riding it. Vancouver has seemingly always been rife with bike thieves though, and it was only three weeks before some punk climbed in a basement window and stole it.
That same summer a friend found a coveted gator-blade fork at sports junkies (a consignment shop) and installed it on his Rocky Hammer. Very cool, but it also ended up stolen within the year.
We all thought the Brodie Roadie was the coolest road bike imaginable. It must have been one of the first sloping top-tube / straight blade fork designs.
Paul Brodie is a LEGEND! Thanks for sharing the story of the early days!
I really love this story. Thanks for sharing. It would be fantastic to set up a series of articles, or even a short video, on the history of the bike scene in Vancouver. So much to talk about…Syncros, Dekerf, RaceFace, Rocky, Brodie, Roach…I could go on.
Black Mood
Yeah……..but when he was in a good mood he'd scrounge a paper bag and scare the bejezuz out of the four guys in the next room building wheels by blowing up an acetylene bomb!
:scream: :eek2: :???: :cry:
someone was sighning bike tags with famous ice hockey players names.
I always thought that was BP.
Freedom of contract. We sell them guns that kill them; they sell us drugs that kill us.
Awesome article. Well done.
Wrong. Always.
Loved this article, more like it please!
At one point in the early 90's I had my answer hyperlight (or taperlights…I forgetr) bars down to 21"…now running 31" bars….lol.
the narrower the better back then… basically enough room for grips ,levers and shifters and that was it!
Flat bars with a shim!
There's nothing better than an Orangina after cheating death with Digger.
My first mtb (brand spanking new) was a red 1984 Ritchey with the Cro Mo bullmoose bars.
The bomb model had the aluminum bull moose bars. Mine was the first run of the first ever off-shore (Made in Japan) Ritcheys. It looked just like the first pic (aside from the chrome bars) but rocked the under-the chainstay U brake.
It (seems to be a common theme) was stolen and replaced it with a sweet, radically sloped top tubed 1987 RM Blizzard.
Paul is the Father of the sloped top tube.
Great article.
Back in '87 I saved up all my hard earned money (I was a bike messenger) [HTML_REMOVED] got me a brodie romax with a slick green to purple fade paint job. Bought all the parts [HTML_REMOVED] assembled my dream bike.
I remeber racing that bike in the Can Ams [HTML_REMOVED] BRC series in Whistler [HTML_REMOVED] I rode it everyday as a messenger.
What an amazing piece of machinery [HTML_REMOVED] art.
On occassion, I bump into someone from the old gang who still remember the romax [HTML_REMOVED] ask if I still have it.
Unfortunately, it was stolen many years ago…if you see old romax #206, say hi for me.
Thanks Paul!
ah, here we go - romax w/ gatorblade fork. sick:
My first real mountain bike was an brodie rocket, painted the most amazing gold i have ever seen.
It was perfect! I think I was in grade 6 or 7 at the time.
I always had such a huge smile on my face when I rode it!!!
superheros
I like bikes
My commuter bike is rocking a Gatorblade. Maybe its a collectable and i should remove it?
My commuter bike is rocking a Gatorblade. Maybe its a collectable and i should remove it?
and sell it to me?
I had a holeshot which was a great bike, when the chainstay weld cracked just before the 5 yr warranty was up Brodie was good for warranty, Redshred in WL told me Brodie was the best for warranty and would always give their customers something no matter how hard the rider had been on the bike
My first real mountain bike was a Brodie Bruzza which I used to bomb around the Don Valley in Toronto with. I brought it with me when I moved out to Vancouver and it was the bike I learned to ride Shore on. I'm not a lightweight and I pounded that bike harder than I would imagine any bike could take, including numerous growing pains riding in places where a beginner on a hardtail was a tough sell (AKA big crashes in full armour). The bike took everything and I didn't so much as have to replace a component for years. Looking back on it I'm amazed it wasn`t smashed to pieces on numerous occasions. It's got huge sentimental value. The bike is still sitting in my bike room and though it's got a lot of scuffs and chips and scrapes the frame is still like a rock. One day I've vowed to rebuild it up nice and shiny.
At some point I upgraded to a Brodie Diablo (with a few component changes). That bike brought me into the Whistler bike park scene and the heavier freeride trails and all the skills that came with that. It felt like a tank riding uphill but flowed downhill like water. I rode it for many years on every type of trail and again pounded it hard, and crashed often in ways I expected the bike to not survive. It shrugged off all the abuse and just kept going. I've since moved on to other bikes but the roots I set down in mountain biking were all Brodie.
Currently riding a Brodie Dynamo for my 26k commute to work and I've had the same experience. Totally solid. I can attribute the grand majority of my love for mountain biking to Brodie, and I've been in contact with the company itself for questions etc. many times and they've always been great to me.
The majority of the bikes I've owned have been from Brodie and so big props to Paul and everyone over there. I'm glad he decided to get out of that cab.
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