Joe Breeze made fewer than 100 mountain bikes in total. This Series 3 is considered one of the most coveted machines in the history of the sport - James Huang / Immediate Media
Instead of using paint, Joe Breeze plated the entire chromoly frame with nickel to protect it from corrosion - James Huang / Immediate Media
Joe Breeze is today better known for his townie and commuter bikes (he's a big advocate of using bikes as transportation) but he was truly one of the earliest pioneers of mountain biking - James Huang / Immediate Media
Back before bikes were more often made in Asia - James Huang / Immediate Media
The nickel plating is holding up remarkably well considering that this bike is over 30 years old - James Huang / Immediate Media
Joints were gorgeously fillet brazed - James Huang / Immediate Media
Breezers were built with horizontal Campagnolo dropouts back in the day. Note the bolt-on rear hub, too - James Huang / Immediate Media
The unicrown fork features a sleeved construction that boosted strength without requiring bigger (and rougher riding) large-diameter blades throughout - James Huang / Immediate Media
Such sleeved rigid forks are rarely seen these days - James Huang / Immediate Media
Mountain bikes were meant to be genuinely useful in the early days. Racks were often fitted to carry essential gear - James Huang / Immediate Media
Short chainstays were very much not the norm in the 1980s - James Huang / Immediate Media
Serial numbers actually provided useful information. For example, this one was built by Joe Breeze in 1983, and was the 43rd bike built. Note the impossibly elegant cable guides, too - James Huang / Immediate Media
The bottom bracket shell is filled with a Phil Wood cartridge bearing setup - James Huang / Immediate Media
The matching stem clamps to a short stub that's brazed into the steerer tube - a sort of threadless/threaded hybrid - James Huang / Immediate Media
A Swiss coin is brazed to the top of the steerer tube 'stub' and then nickel-plated along with the rest of the frame, fork, and stem - James Huang / Immediate Media
Anyone else remember needing to use stepped housing ferrules? - James Huang / Immediate Media
This Brooks B-72 leather saddle is in impressively good shape - James Huang / Immediate Media
Shimano MC-70 cantilevers handle the stopping duties - James Huang / Immediate Media
The Sugino AT forged alloy crank is fitted with 28/36/44-tooth chainrings - James Huang / Immediate Media
Shimano's very first mountain bike rear derailleur - James Huang / Immediate Media
This logo is incredibly significant for mountain bike nostalgia buffs - James Huang / Immediate Media
The Specialized Stumpjumper tires are starting to show a bit of dryrot but then again, they're in better shape than many people we know of similar age - James Huang / Immediate Media
The matching Shimano Deore XT front derailleur sports a chromed steel cage - James Huang / Immediate Media
Suntour BMX pedals! Note the Suntour-branded bolt heads - James Huang / Immediate Media
The high-rise Specialized aluminum handlebars are clamped in the stem with requisite shims - James Huang / Immediate Media
Suntour friction shifters are mounted front and rear - James Huang / Immediate Media
The Magura brake levers are massive aluminum bits - James Huang / Immediate Media
Araya dominated the rim market back in the 1980s - James Huang / Immediate Media
The Phil Wood hubs are also nickel plated - James Huang / Immediate Media
While the rear hub is fixed with bolts, the front is a traditional quick-release - James Huang / Immediate Media
Just to put this in context, demolition work on the Berlin Wall didn't even start until 1990 - James Huang / Immediate Media
Awesome - James Huang / Immediate Media
It’s a golden age for mountain bikes right now with a wealth of fantastic options in all sorts of different specialties. If you had the idea of riding off-road nearly four decades ago, though, your options were distinctly more limited as the sport was just getting off the ground. The solution? If you were Joe Breeze, you just built it yourself.
null
Of all the mountain bikes of historical value, few are more highly coveted than original Breezers: the first bikes purpose-built for riding off-road, and of which Breeze made fewer than 100. Like the two generations that came before it, this 1983 Series 3 is built with fillet brazed chromoly tubing and horizontal Campagnolo dropouts, all finished in a gorgeous – and incredibly durable – nickel plating that not only looks fantastic but has stood the test of time.
Joe breeze is today better known for his townie and commuter bikes (he's a big advocate of using bikes as transportation) but he was truly one of the earliest pioneers of mountain biking
One of most coveted labels in mountain bike history
The matching fork bears a sleeved unicrown construction that boosts strength in a critical area without requiring larger-diameter tubing throughout the whole length (which would compromise the ride quality). Up top, the custom stem employs a novel threaded/threadless hybrid setup with a threaded headset but a stem that clamps on to short stub brazed into the steerer tube.
Geometry reflects the thinking of the day, with long chainstays, short (and level) top tube, and slack seat tube, all of which were tailored to backcountry exploring and bombing down treacherous dirt fire roads.
Such sleeved rigid forks are rarely seen these days
The beautiful fork features a sleeved, fillet brazed unicrown
Dedicated componentry was more widely available by the time the Series 3 came out, and many of the brands featured here are still recognizable today. The drivetrain includes Shimano’s first-generation Deore XT derailleurs, Suntour thumbshifters, and a forged alloy Sugino AT crankset. Shimano also provided the wide-profile cantilever brakes, which were matched with beefy Magura two-finger levers – that were made in West Germany before the two sides were unified.
Wheels were built with Phil Wood hubs (with matching nickel-plated bodies!), Araya rims, and DT Swiss 14g straight-gauge spokes, all wrapped with original Specialized Stumpjumper tires.
Short chainstays were very much not the norm in the 1980s
Chainstays were seriously long back in the day
If you must know, total weight as shown here is a hefty 14.52kg (32.01lb) – not exactly light as a feather. Measured in terms of its significance, though, original Breezers are about as heavyweight as they get.
Instead of using paint, joe breeze plated the entire chromoly frame with nickel to protect it from corrosion
Special thanks go out to the folks at Pro's Closet in Boulder, Colorado
James Huang is BikeRadar's former technical editor. After leaving BikeRadar in 2016, he worked at CyclingTips and Escape Collective. He now runs the Substack cycling publication N-1 Bikes.
This website is owned and published by Our Media Ltd. www.ourmedia.co.uk
