That is fit.

End of transmission.

it's spent the past 11 years in an attic!

Someone spent $4500 (that's what I paid for mine) on a frame like that and stuck it in a loft? Insane.

Someone spent $4500 (that's what I paid for mine) on a frame like that and stuck it in a loft?

Apparently so… I do wonder why, maybe he saw it as an investment or maybe he just never got round to building it up? being a bike shop owner I guess he got it at a decent rate (I thought they were around USD$6000 frame only)?

I ordered mine through the now defunct Irvine Bikesource. I think $6000 was for a complete bike. Oops, were you ripped off?

They used to be imported by Dream Cycles. Based in Norfolk as I recall. The UK price was over 3000 quid.

Oops, were you ripped off?

Honestly, I think I paid a good price for it all, pretty sure the last frame I saw sold in the US went for around USD$3500 (frame only that is).

I still say split and flog..
Pretty but split and flog.

Ooh, no-one's mentioned the Cook Bros stuff. I used to lust after those cranks back in the day. Dark red ones. But the black will do! Lovely.

they're one thing I don't think I'll part with, they're fitted with very nice (and blingin sharp!) Egg chainrings and a Royce Ti BB as well, schweeeet as maaaate! 🙂

That does look very nice and all in incredible condition. Enjoy it.

can we please do a sweepstake if you split.

That is one absolutely stunning array of parts.

It has been suggested before but if it was mine I would definitely strip off all the parts, put them in a glass case to drool over, then build the frame up with a nice lot of modern parts and rag it round the trails with a huge grin on your face 😉

It has been suggested before but if it was mine I would definitely strip off all the parts, put them in a glass case to drool over, then build the frame up with a nice lot of modern parts and rag it round the trails with a huge grin on your face

As has also been said before, the problem with that idea is that you'll have more fun ragging a more modern bike round the trails, so why not keep it as a proper retro bike.

you'll have more fun ragging a more modern bike round the trails

Debatable, in much the same way as saying Caterham R300 drivers will have more fun than someone driving a Morgan Roadster !

I would just have to know how the frame rides – the parts are less important, to me at least.

I think I may know of some history of this bike – and why it ended up in a bike shop owners attic!

A guy I used to work with (who also passed away recently) had a house in Barmouth. He was mad about bikes – had dozens, rode loads and commuted every day to work by bike – a great bloke.

We would talk lots about bikes and he was always raving about the Ibis Bo Ti. He had only ever seen one of them – in a bike shop somewhere in Wales. The story goes that a guy went into the bike shop and ordered the bike to be kitted out with all of the top end kit – no expense spared. Given the extent of the purchase, some money exchanged hands prior to it being built (of this I have no idea how much). Anyway, the guy said he'd come back to pick it up soon, but apparently left no contact details.

The bike was built up and the bloke never turned up to collect. The shop owner apparently then hung the bike in his window for display for years and it was never collected. I am guessing that it then ended up in his attic.

It sounds too much of a coincidence that two such bikes would be around in pristine condition – so I am assuming they are one and the same!

A wonderful story Psycle, thanks for sharing, and it is indeed a lovely thing to behold.

But this remark above –

That is one absolutely stunning array of parts.

hits the nail on the head. It's not really a bike yet. Not properly. It's never been ridden, and that's the be-all and end all of it's existance, it's single sole purpose. And that's a crying shame.

It is a lovely thing to own for sure, but sometimes when something is just too good to ride, like that is, at that point it loses its appeal for me.

I would just love to know what it rode/rides like.

The bike was built up and the bloke never turned up to collect. The shop owner apparently then hung the bike in his window for display for years and it was never collected. I am guessing that it then ended up in his attic.

It sounds too much of a coincidence that two such bikes would be around in pristine condition – so I am assuming they are one and the same!

Interesting addition to the story Monkeyp, thanks for that 🙂

It's not really a bike yet. Not properly. It's never been ridden, and that's the be-all and end all of it's existance, it's single sole purpose. And that's a crying shame.

I agree that it hasn't achieved it's orignal purpose yet, but I wonder if it hasn't 'transcended' this and become something else, a work of art perhaps? All a bit wishy washy I know, it is after all a bike and it was built to be ridden and too have fun on, it was never built as a showpiece (say as a one-off custom jobbie for the NAHBS or somesuch)…

Received an email from John Castellano (the designer of the Bow-ti and it's ilk) this morning, in his words:

What to do – what to do… It would be a sin to ride it, and probably a bigger sin not to!

Hurrah he said ride it…. or did I read what I wanted.

lets have a go pshycle… 🙂

mmm – maybe the bike is cursed – buyer never collects (dead?), shop owner dies, lusting MTBer dies – I'd watch out Pshycle!!!

teleological, that's a big word isn't it! guess it does apply here, though isn't it normally to do with God?

Monkeyp, do you remember the name of that bike store by chance?

cheers 🙂

it's spent the past 11 years in an attic!

I think I may know whose this was, am I right in guessing its from Hampshire and he's got a lot more interesting stuff that loft, an unused Roberts Dogs Bollox for instance.

Chris had a house in Barmouth, however I think he knew some guys from Builth Wells Cycle Team/Club – to be honest it could have been anywhere in that band of Mid Wales! It does however fall within the Rhayader region you mentioned

I think I may know whose this was, am I right in guessing its from Hampshire

As far as I know, the chap lived in Wales. Googling around a little, I suspect he may have been Jed Ireland, owner (?) of Greenstiles Cyclery in Llandrindod Wells. Not completely sure of this, but it ties in with what I know so far…

That sounds like it could be the one as they have a place in Machynlleth – this was Chris's regular riding area. Jed obviously had an infallible concience to have kept it this long untouched – maybe in the hope that the owner would collect it at some point!

Or more likely he just didn't have the time/wasn't that fussed about it!

I think if I had several grands worth of unclaimed bike lying around for the best part of 11 years I would have considered selling it!

It's got to have cost in the region of £6k to build

I know that park!!!

have you put this on retrobike yet?
they're going to cream themselves…
you might also get some interested parties offering you money for parts

It's got to have cost in the region of £6k to build

No way, a lot of the bits at the time weren't that expensive. The notable exceptions are the frame and wheels.

new set of wheels and drivetrain…

Why oh why would you change what is a very nice bit of history, if you sell off parts and replace them, its not the same story / bike

Just get it riding and enjoy it, splitting it, changing it or the like would be a sin!

Why oh why would you change what is a very nice bit of history, if you sell off parts and replace them, its not the same story / bike

AFAIK, the spokes on the wheels aren't replaceable, so wouldn't want to risk damaging them… won't be selling them, they'll be kept for the occasional dry & sunny 'posers' pootle 😉

The SRAM shifters and mech, well I'm not a huge fan of them, as has been pointed out they do clash with the rest of the bike, plus they appear to be worth quite a bit of dosh (if I can find the right buyer) so they'll probably go to fund some nice XTR bits (maybe retro, maybe new…)

Cook Brothers cranks and rings, well I like these as well, but they're a bit too nice (to me) for general use, so they'll be kept but probably not ridden.

but they're a bit too nice (to me)

isnt that the idea of that build? the whole thing is nice, retro but nice. Just think it would be a shame to change it from what the original person did, imho and its begging to be ridden…

I think you need to buy a bike shop to hang that in.

😆 🙂

psychle – I ride mine all year round. I bought it fair few years ago and love it, even did the passportes du soleil on it a couple of years back, as somebody said before, just ride it. You'll change parts as they go and I agree with some, the mix of parts is a bit dodgy, altho some of very nice.

Mine rides just fine.

On mine, I've changed the alpes shock for new fox one and that worked a treat, I also sent mine to steve potts and had disk brake mounts added, he cleaned the frame and made it look like new. To the guy who has a broken frame, steve potts has built a complete bike to scratch recently and can replace all the tubes, even the thin one. I run mine with 100mm forks and they are fine but I wouldnt go longer.

Get in touch mate if you want any more info.

Thanks TPM, I've just had an email from John Castellano saying that he doesn't do that type of repair anymore, but for 6000 bucks he'll build me a 'Bow Ti 2'.

Excuse was that most of the other tubes on the frame would probably fatigue soon anyway.

I'll get this tube fixed, then see how we go. Steve Potts sounds a safe bet (or Enigma bikes perhaps)

I would only recommend steve, his work on my bike is awesome, totally a work of art.

psycle, please accept my apologies for the crude pic but I’ve just come accross your thread and thought this might be of interest..

your frame is the top-left of the four..

Greenstiles cycles in machynlleth sometime in ’99.(I managed the shop for a few years). All the frames were bought by a guy called ray, a very colourful character! In the pic are 3 moots mootaneers and your bow-ti. We initially built him up a merlin xlm, sometime around ’97 I think. He carried it down the road from the shop with a dustsheet over it so it wouldnt get marked! He then came in periodically with huge amounts of cash and orders for the frames in the pic, plus lots of high end parts. We talked about building them up, then he just disappeared! I’ve still got the negatives so could do you a couple of prints of the pics if that would be of interest?
Very sad to hear that jed has died, he was one of the nicest people you could ever meet.

man that bike is fantastic 😯 😀

Could do with a clean