I just really like old bikes. You have probably figured that out already if you've read any of my blog. Whenever I see one for sale, I just want it. Not to ride necessarily, but just to appreciate. Take pictures of it, and get it on the internet somewhere. There's really nothing fancy about this BRC, but this is a straight up time capsule from 1988.
This Boyes and Rosser Cycles Sierra came from West Point Cycles in Vancouver. I'm really guessing at it being an '88 model because I bought it along with a 1988 Rocky Mountain also from West Point.
This Boyes and Rosser Cycles Sierra came from West Point Cycles in Vancouver. I'm really guessing at it being an '88 model because I bought it along with a 1988 Rocky Mountain also from West Point.
On the Sierra we have a Shimano Exage Trail groupset, six speed index shifters, non-hyperglide, fairly awful plastic covered steel brake levers and brakes, and somewhat interesting shifter/brake lever integration. It's funny that I think of Shimano's STI brake/shifter pods - and that's Shimano Total Integration btw - as a 1990 or 1991 thing. They were the future, replacing the woefully outdated thumbshifters. But really as we see here, they were doing it much earlier on the lower-level groups.
Other great old features; colour matched stem and handlebars, albiet in a screwball setup. Short and very tall stem with a narrow bar, which was the style at the time, of course. I'd say this frame is a medium, meant for someone 5' 9" at most. At 6 feet, I can ride it, but it's cramped. I'd need a longer post and stem to be comfy. Biopace chainrings, which we all laughed off the market back then. Science brought them back, for some road racers anyway. And check the all-plastic Wellgo pedals with white bodies and black cages. They spin very nicely.
It really feels like this bike has less than 100km on it.
Other great old features; colour matched stem and handlebars, albiet in a screwball setup. Short and very tall stem with a narrow bar, which was the style at the time, of course. I'd say this frame is a medium, meant for someone 5' 9" at most. At 6 feet, I can ride it, but it's cramped. I'd need a longer post and stem to be comfy. Biopace chainrings, which we all laughed off the market back then. Science brought them back, for some road racers anyway. And check the all-plastic Wellgo pedals with white bodies and black cages. They spin very nicely.
It really feels like this bike has less than 100km on it.
It seems that Stuart Boyes was a entrepeneur running a bicycle and part importation business in Vancouver as far back as the 70's. It was described as an MEC like operation. You can find some pics of their old parts out there, but there's a not a ton of info available.
Seems that nobody knows who Rosser was. I found a post from someone that worked there in the late 70's who said the staff all joked about Rosser being a fictious racer maybe?
Anyway, I'll be putting this up for sale here, and be lucky to get $60 for it. Which is kinda sad as it's perfect; the index shifters work, the brakes feel good, and it rolls smoothly. But it's ultimately an old bike that's not a well-known (and therefore not sought after) brand, and even though I'd rather have this bike than a brand new, $200 bike from a box store, I'm in the minority on that desire.
Normally, I'd want to fix up the cable housing as it's way too long, but it's not going to make it worth any more, so why waste my time on it? I have a ton of other things to do, which I'll let you know about soon.
Seems that nobody knows who Rosser was. I found a post from someone that worked there in the late 70's who said the staff all joked about Rosser being a fictious racer maybe?
Anyway, I'll be putting this up for sale here, and be lucky to get $60 for it. Which is kinda sad as it's perfect; the index shifters work, the brakes feel good, and it rolls smoothly. But it's ultimately an old bike that's not a well-known (and therefore not sought after) brand, and even though I'd rather have this bike than a brand new, $200 bike from a box store, I'm in the minority on that desire.
Normally, I'd want to fix up the cable housing as it's way too long, but it's not going to make it worth any more, so why waste my time on it? I have a ton of other things to do, which I'll let you know about soon.
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