7 Year Itch

I worked as a Saturday boy in Pearsons and made good friends with the old mechanic there- a certain Cliff Shrubb who had become bored of his own company brazing frames in a shed. In 2002 I persuaded him to build me a track frame for which he charged me almost nothing as long as I told no one the cost nor asked for the specs of the tubes.

Custom geometry with slightly oversized tubing, sloping top tube and a new-to-road bikes 1" threadless steerer. Cliff was a true master when it came to brazing and so I had it clear laquered to show off his craft. It got its debut at the 2003 Good Friday Meeting with pretty basic bits and borrowed nice wheels.

A couple of years later my friend Scott got Cliff to make him something similar. We thought we looked very cool on matching bikes in matching kit for madisons!

During the national madison champs in 2006 I crashed, denting the top tube. Cliff filled the dent and I had the front of the bike sprayed in a pearlescent white. The bike got gradually upgraded over the years but eventually I realised that it wasn't as fast as the modern carbon bikes that were coming through. 14 year itch?!

Cliff had died by 2016, however he had taught Richard Hallett to build frames in the meantime, so there was only one person I was going to to get a replacement faster, more modern bike made by! The arrival of the Hallett didn't mean the end of the Shrubb though. I will never get rid of it and it is literally irreplaceable. It still gets raced occasionally 20 years after that Saturday boy bribed his old friend with Eccles cakes to build him a frame. RIP Cliff.

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Not in chronological order. With my wife(then girlfriend) visiting a local shop that carries some used bikes, I remarked that this one reminded me of my first ‘real bike’. I walked out of the shop only to notice that she stayed behind. She soon came out with this one in tow. A ‘97 nothing-special Hardrock. I quickly turned it into a fixed gear and served me well that way in 700c and 650b mode for a number of years. In 2015 we had our first son and I immediately made it my first dadbike. 26” and gears. It’s had my xtracycle on quite a lot, and it’s been the first bike either of our two oldest have gone for rides on in the Yepp seat. It’s at the welder being repaired now, and will likely be the first bike our 4mo daughter will go on when she’s ready in a few months.

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Your bike's story and pictures are excellent, thanks for sharing!

Thanks and you're welcome!

Heartwarming story. The kind of bike that‘s become a family member.

Amazing <3

Cool af!

Poignant as hell man

Thanks all

I’ve had this for 14 years. Currently living in the spare room en-suite since we converted garage.
It’s still with me after all the abuse I received on here when I first joined ( at the same time) and 7 years ago it tried to kill me when a plastic bag blew into it’s front wheel and I broke both wrists both elbows and had to have my hands wired back together and my thumb screwed back on.
It’s still the only bike I would run into a burning house to save.

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A couple of old, shit photos of my Donohue. I've had it for nearly 10 years now I think. It's currently looking a bit sorry for itself, in pieces. I'm hoping to build it up again soon though. I'd never sell it because I have a lot of good memories around it, including a tour of France and functioning as my work bike for a fair while. That and it's absolutely fucking battered so probably isn't worth anything.

Edit: please don't BDHU me, that photo is years old and I hadn't yet seen the light.

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12 years and a very extensive rebuild and I still love it. I bought it from @peter_v as a fairly period correct and lovely build with a mixture of 600 Tricolore and Arabesque (if I remember correctly) and went on to have braze ons for brifters added, a respray and modern-ish DA build.

Double four spokes is always a good look.
Hopefully see it down at HHV in that guise sometime soon!

Wow that's a blast from the past! The respray really makes it pop. Nice to see you're still riding this one Erik <3

I'd never sell it

Gutted as I went through a phase of lusting after this bike...but also respect! Hope you get back to riding it soon and please post more photos when you do.

It's often there at an Open Meeting as my spare bike nowadays exactly like that!

When I started reading this thread I hoped there'd be a poo brown langster. Thanks!

Anyone got one of those chrome Bianchis still running?

Another sort of Longevity

'Dragonfly'

In use 1934-1995
Now living in retirement in France.

This was my Mum's bike. It was a 21st birthday present which she continued using until she gave up riding at the age of 82.

It wasn't a particularly good machine even when new - its original price had been 4 guineas (£4.20p) but my Grandfather shrewdly purchased it as old stock for 3 guineas. The Williams C34 chainset you can see in the photo might suggest reasonable quality, but it's not original - I fitted it towards the end in order to reduce her gearing slightly, from 46 to 44x18 (63").

My dad and I often told her she should have a better bike, and on at least two occasions she was given one. She did try them, but in the end always reverted to the Dragonfly.

At one point, about 1980, she complained to me that there was something wrong - it didn't feel right and the chain had gone very tight. When I looked at it the problem was obvious - both chainstays had broken and it was only the chain that was holding it up. My reaction was 'Well, that's it, you really will have to get a new one now.' Her response: 'No, please find a way to mend it'.

If you look at the top picture you can see where plates have been brazed onto the chainstays. We didn't dismantle it - just did the brazing in situ and painted over it. This lasted the rest of her life.

I can't really explain her attitude, but she was like this about other things she owned (sewing machine, fountain pen etc). I think the fact she'd done some interesting sounding Youth Hostelling on the bike when she was young may have been a particular factor with the bike - this included one day of 150 miles riding from Wilderhope YH (near Ludlow) back home to Teddington - carrying touring luggage.

She could reasonably have claimed to have a very modest carbon footprint so far as travel was concerned!

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/end of thread

Amazing story.

Really wonderful

Your mum sounds like a cycling legend

Lovely. The fork crown on the Cliff Shrubb is bangin. Nice hearing about you working in Pearsons with him - Eccles cakes bribery and all. The later Hallett is a great connection to Cliff. Had dinner with Richard on a Rough Stuff Fellowship weekender in north Wales, he's a top bloke, making very nice bikes.

Have a look at the Pedal Club August lunch report (in General) and follow the link to the VeloUK article - you will find an interesting connection with Cliff Shrubb.

Carol! Thanks for that info, lovely to see her looking so well.

Great story!