due to popular demand by quite a few people, im putting up this guide to i.d. all big daddies. ill be putting up alot here, and im sure ill add more as time goes on.
but here goes
/////a little history. the big daddy is the signature frame of the god of flatland, kevin jones. throughout the early 90s,kevin was very elusive and really the only place to see him ride was to buy a dorkin vid and see all the new stuff he was doing,along with all the other top riding by the other plywood hoods, but alot of people really wanted a flatland bike with his name on it. somewhere in 92 peregrine got together with kevin for a signature frame. the prototype came out very similar to craig lepaige's (also plywood hood alumni) signature peregrine frameset.
the kevin jones peregrine frameset never went beyond the prototype.
late summer/early fall 92, hoffman runs the idea across jones about a signature frameset and a spot on the team. the deal with jones on the team is there is no deal,meaning he doesnt do the sprocket jockey shows,b.s. contests or even be in hoffman bikes videos, kevin designs the framesets and gets a royalty off everyone sold. kevin jones and brett downs design and draw up the bluprint for the big daddy on kevins parents pool table. the design was 50/50. blueprints get to hoffman by nov 92.
early 93, kevin is first riding around and spotted on his black prototype big daddy.
chase g on his black prototype
////summer of 93,production frames are available,in chrome or green. made by s.e.(only one batch of s.e. made big daddies were built),no serial numbers, 3/16th rear dropouts,two cable guides, the "marlboro" box bb wishbone and the coaster brake bracket on the bottom of the chainstays. IF ANYBODY HAS ANY AND I DO MEAN ANY PICS OR SCANS AT ALL OF THESE FIRST GEN BIG DADDY DECALS,PLEASE PLEASE CONTACT ME.
frame
forks, 1/4 dropouts (notice how the bend is curved on the legs compared to ramp room forks that are more kinked)
day smith in ride bmx
bmx plus test
ridebmx uk
mirra on one in 93
chase g in 93
matt gipson on one, bs comp sept 95
here are some others. also if you watch in madd matt you can see that in some parts alot of the team was still using s.e. made stuff with later decals at the time as production had not yet moved in house into the ramp room.
jay on an s.e. with later decals
kevin jones in 95 on an s.e. with later decals
kevin again. 93
////may 94,production starts in house in the ramp room.
the big daddies were a primary focus during the summer of 94 as alot of people wanted to get their hands on one. very similar to the s.e. made bds. rear dropouts got upsized to 1/4 inch, and lost a cable guide with new decals. the very very earliest ramp room bds came with the coaster brake bracket on the bottom of the chainstay.i think this is where the misconception on s.e. vs ramp room big daddies came from. i dont think these came with serials (if somebody has info on it lmk)
this is a hoffman bikes file photo taken in early 94.
frame
(the one in the back)
this is when they started coming with a B4xxxx serial number on the inside of the left dropout(even tho this gen ran until mid 95,they still got a B4xxxx serial number), the coaster brake mount went onto the seatstays instead of the chainstays. forks got a kink on the leg instead of a curve. colors for ramp room stuff is almost endless as ive seen loads of different colors.
feb 95 ride bmx ad
spring 95 ad (also kevin in the backround on his prototype)
95-96 product guide (shows mid 95 product)
day
this ad is later in 95,but its still showing earlier product.
/////mid 95. the big daddy started getting some updates. i call these the "transition" models,2 different versions and it was a running changeover that happened fast. this is when they stopped putting serials on the frames and the "marlboro" bb box went away to the rounded wishbone. the earliest of the two didnt have a coaster bracket and it was the last of the earlier decals as the new ones were being phased in.
then right after that the other version of the transition model came out, with the new decals, and the coaster bracket back with the rounded wishbone,but the last of the curved rear dropouts.
////early fall 95. october 95, the last ramp room version of the big daddy comes out, with the straight edge rear dropouts.
this is the earliest pic i have of a team rider on one,matt gipson november 95 bs comp in daytona (notice the straight edge drops)
/////mid 96. ramp room production is shut down and all bikes are now made in taiwann. started getting serials again starting with a hkf. hb stamped ht gusset,14mm rear dropouts, rounded instead of capped stay ends with a slightly different shape of dropout. fork legs got a curve instead of the kink. dropouts were 3/8 axle slots but a slightly different design.
97 product guide (showcasing mid 96 product)
mid 96 ad
///early 97. last version of the bd. the big daddy stays almost the same. serial now starts with a kf, and the forks get a rounded bottom fork leg with the big dropouts with 14mm axle slots. in the mid 97 product guide they are listed as the classic series,a limited re-release of 96 models (even tho they are slightly different from 96s)
there you go, that should about do it. hope it helps anybody id a frame.... or just enjoy a good read
if anybody has anything to add, a pic or anything........... if anybody has any articles or test especially, please please add
