Does anybody know...

[RustyGold]

Does anybody know if the 'Fat Tire Flyers' book by Charlie Kelly has any good pictures, and descriptions, of Bob Burrowes yellow Schwinn?

I'm wanting to do a recreation/tribute/copycat version, but the pics I find aren't so great for determining what parts were used.

Thanks,
Jason

 

[MazdaFlyer]

I have the book I’ll take a look.


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[RustyGold]

Thanks Mr. Flyer...greatly appreciated. It is the yellow '59-62 twin straight bar cantilever bike.

Jason

 

[MazdaFlyer]

Thanks Mr. Flyer...greatly appreciated. It is the yellow '59-62 twin straight bar cantilever bike.

Jason

Lots of references to Bob Burrows in the book but I didn’t find any photos with his bike.


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[RustyGold]

Thanks! I'll probably try shooting an email to Gary Fisher (original builder), Charlie Kelley, and Bob Burrowes (if still alive)...maybe Alan Bonds as he seems somewhat accessible.

One of my favorite frame styles, and with all the talk of pre-war Schwinns/Excelsiors being the top choices back in the day...was really a shock that Burrowes won the first official repack race on a middleweight, and was at the top of the boards in many of the successive races. The basics are covered, but I'm hoping to dig up more specifics. In general, twin bar frame, bmx bars (though I've seen pics with a more MX bar), truss rods, drum brakes front and rear, hairpin saddle, 7" cranks, suntour thumb shifter, and exercycle quick release seat post clamp...its a start.

How's the book?

 

[MazdaFlyer]

When the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame museum was in Crested Butte we visited years ago. I took a bunch photos. I have no recollection of whose bikes were there. Somewhere I should have some pics.
The museum relocated to Marin, CA in 2015 as I recall. Their website didn’t show much in the way of photos. Maybe you could contact the museum.
https://mmbhof.org/contact-us/


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[MazdaFlyer]

There is a vague photo in the book of a T-shirt that Burrowes had made.


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[MazdaFlyer]

Thanks! I'll probably try shooting an email to Gary Fisher (original builder), Charlie Kelley, and Bob Burrowes (if still alive)

How's the book?

The book has a lot of text information, facts and figures. Lots of words but I was disappointed in the amount of pictorial history, I wish there were more photos.



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[RustyGold]

There is a vague photo in the book of a T-shirt that Burrowes had made.

That's the bike! The pic that the shirt was made from a Wendy Cragg photo...

...and some more from a series of pics from a wreck...so, that's cool ...

 

[RustyGold]

The book has a lot of text information, facts and figures. Lots of words but I was disappointed in the amount of pictorial history, I wish there were more photos.

Bummer...I was hoping it had some focus on the bikes and would be stuffed full of building ideas. I'll probably pick it up, anyway.

 

[Speed King]

Bummer...I was hoping it had some focus on the bikes and would be stuffed full of building ideas. I'll probably pick it up, anyway.

The book is definitely worth owning. Entertaining read about how it was from the og players.

 

[MojoK]

Charlie Kelly still visits the MTBR site. Here's a link to his gallery pages...

https://gallery.mtbr.com/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=271689

 

[RustyGold]

Thanks...36 pages and not a single pic, but, still a worthwhile journey

 

[Speed King]

Bummer...I was hoping it had some focus on the bikes and would be stuffed full of building ideas. I'll probably pick it up, anyway.

Have you visited here?
http://www.clunkers.net/

 

[RustyGold]

Yep...but, no Bob Burrowes that I can find

 

[LukeTheJoker]

...and some more from a series of pics from a wreck...so, that's cool ...

View attachment 92040 View attachment 92041 View attachment 92042

Ouch...

 

[Chad T]

This looks like the same bike....but with a different fork?

Found a higher res pic from the front.

http://bikinghistory.com/files/original/68ab25f224df7b5712d803b2fad93b53.jpg

..and a high res version of one of those crash pics.

http://bikinghistory.com/files/original/bfeb6f61f1d23088b7160540e710a310.jpg

 

[RustyGold]

Thanks Chad T

Hi res pics downloaded. It looks like that show pic is from Fairfax Fat Tire Fest in '06...so, its good to know that it was still a survivor in '06...and in Fairfax...so, maybe it is owned by the museum . Also good to see that I'm not limited to a hairpin saddle, which is not a good look for a middleweight .

I went down a rabbit hole following these pics...I ran across these pics that I thought were pretty cool (all survivors)...

...and this...a hand made titanium klunker...

edit...for most the survivor bikes, the name of the OG owner is in the file name.

 

[Chad T]

Hard to beat the klunker rabbit hole! Cool pics.

Post for that show pic said '05 Fairfax Fat Tire Festival. Was in this thread on mtbr. https://forums.mtbr.com/vintage-retro-classic/old-photos-surface-251546.html

Lots of good pics in there. This other pic from Fairfax '06 looks like it has the gold bike you posted. What are those bikes? Looks like your Bob bike is parked way down at the other end. Has to be a good pic of that bike somewhere.

Another pic of Bob from Repack #4 and he's not crashing..(but he hasn't started moving yet)..

I might have a set of those bars. Came on my kid's '76 Scrambler and I replaced them with the Schwinn ones. I think those are just dept store MX bars from back then. You gotta find them yellow grips.

Can't find a pic that shows the ends of the straight bars on that Toronado frame. I've noticed there are 2 different types? Some that continue from the seat stays and some that are separate and welded to the seat tube?

Here's the site that has the Bob Burrows pics.

http://bikinghistory.com/items/browse?tag=Bob+Burrowes

Probably tons of pics on there. Searched Bob Burrows and got 2 pages worth.

 

[RustyGold]

Hard to beat the klunker rabbit hole! Cool pics.

Lots of good pics in there.

Yes there were, that was one of the holes I plunged into

This other pic from Fairfax '06 looks like it has the gold bike you posted. What are those bikes?

Mert Lawwill Pro Cruisers. There is a bit of builder incest between Champion and the Pro Cruisers

Another pic of Bob from Repack #4 and he's not crashing..(but he hasn't started moving yet)..

I might have a set of those bars. Came on my kid's '76 Scrambler and I replaced them with the Schwinn ones. I think those are just dept store MX bars from back then. You gotta find them yellow grips.

Best shot of the front hub! I found mention that they were 'bmx' bars, but no specifics. Could be Scrambler based on the year...but, they look too wide to be off your average bmx bike (24" - 25" wide was about the standard then).

Can't find a pic that shows the ends of the straight bars on that Toronado frame. I've noticed there are 2 different types? Some that continue from the seat stays and some that are separate and welded to the seat tube?

Continuous...misidentified here as a '50s Spitfire...

Here's the site that has the Bob Burrows pics.

http://bikinghistory.com/items/browse?tag=Bob+Burrowes

Probably tons of pics on there. Searched Bob Burrows and got 2 pages worth.

Those pics have already been harvested

Jason