I think you could expect to 5 or $600 for a fillet brazed bare frame like that. Tom had frames made by Toyo in Tokyo to fill the demand for his product in Canada. These were made according to Ritchey's design, but because they were made offshore, many do not consider these to be true Ritcheys. These frames can be had for 2-$300. I have one of the latter and for me its a keeper.
That database is a really good resource for early mountain bike info. I’ve done a fair amount of reading on there. Definitely recommend.
That actually doesn't sound too outlandish. When compared to Breezer1, it's a bargain! What would a Stumpjumper of the era fetch? Tom's hand welded originals have got to have more worth than the overseas copies
Not sure. A first run 81/82 would probably have good collector value but they were so massed produced, I think it was something like 50,000 in 83? That's a pretty common bike so value should be pretty affordable I would think. Especially if it doesn't have all the original parts.
100%, at least to me anyways. I wouldn't mind having either one in my garage but an original would be sweet. Being on a working class budget the serious collectors bikes are probably well out of reach.
Now that's comedy!! They might find someone that wants to throw that kind of money at it but I think they need to drop a 0 and cross their fingers. Beautiful bike though.Ironically enough, from the Budget Bike center, an $18000 Stumpjumper
I definitely feel you there. So many things are out of reach of my budget as well. It's why I became familiar with the less famous welders from the mid school era, I have a better chance of finding something welded by Brodie or Teesdale or Dekerf. Sublime quality without the historical cachet. Rocky Mountain used to have a sticker which the welder would sign after the bike was painted. The signature would disappear if it got wet
That's a very cool bit of mtn bike history that I didn't know, thanks for sharing it! I do like the early Rocky Mountain bikes. Sounds like I need to learn more about them so I can know what I'm looking at if I find one at a swap meet or something. The more budget friendly bikes do appeal to me. The Stumpjumper copy analogy is a good one. An early Univega Alpina would be cool too. But real early, like '82. They were super mass produced and not as high quality as the Stumpjumpers from what I've read. I know next to nothing about collectible downhill bikes though I have wanted a Kona Stinky for some time now. Paul Brodie built an awesome downhill bike many years ago which he recently bought back and restored. I think there's a video about it on his Youtube channel. I like watching is frame building videos, he's amazing. He builds amazing motorcycles too.
https://nsmb.com/articles/paul-brodie-rebuilds-his-one-1998-69er-dh/
That's the one. That thing is unbelievable!! I'd just mount it on a wall somewhere to stare at when I should be doing something.
