1994 Holmes - back to its Mid Glory

[SaMAlex]

Now that MK10 is over I got my Holmes back to how it should be. Now with S&M tires, (thanks Gary72), and clear grips like it had when I first built it (Thanks General Lee)



Frame: 1994 Holmes
Forks: 1994 Ditchforks
bars: 1994 Slams, uncut
Stem: Green shafted redneck with W-Jackson
Cranks: S&M PA's
Chainring: Profile
Seat & clamp: GT
Wheels: Sun on DK
Brake: DC 994
Lever: MX99
Pedals: S&M
Tires: S&M
Grips: ATI Pistol Pete, Clear
Pads: 1994 S&M

[kev-s]

looking good

[scott250]

Liking the Holmes + the bent seat gives it that mid school flava  , My seats were always hanging on by good luck.

[Gary72]

Nice, You should have had a look in my box of bits I had a GT double seat clamp and I think I've got a tech 77 lever that would go well on that

[condor96]

if this was facebook, id be hitting the like button     when did s+m do tires?

[SaMAlex]

 when did s+m do tires?

Im not sure of the year but they are a few years later than the frame, as are the cranks and pedals.
Its not an era correct build, just a nice selection of S&M parts on a classic S&M frame 

[gobshite]

thing of beauty and a joy to all......

can i have it for free please?

[generallee]

Really nice Alex, really nice. Looks a lot like the kind of bikes I used to build and ride back then - though I would have had a front brake on too. Those ATI grips look so cool - glad I could help out!
steve

[thecaptain]

loving the green, awesome ditchforks too!

[nosepickben]

Well done alex, you've done well to get a fat tyre to run at the front of the rear dropout with an ad. Had real probs doing the same with a 990, 994's must have more pad adjustment, I had to put a link in the chain and run it longer to align the brake pads so I ditched the 990 for an oddy evo. The 990 went on my lads bike and i pinched the evo off that! Now i've got the rear end slammed and she feels luvly again 
I'm doing an sta too, was hoping to put a 990 on that but i'll leave the brake until last + see what i can get away with in terms of adjustment.

[SaMAlex]

Well done alex, you've done well to get a fat tyre to run at the front of the rear dropout with an ad.

Once again you amaze me with your knowlage 

I put a pitbull on the bike to race "oldschool". Wheel slammed right forward to give me a chance of getting the front wheel off the ground (its still 15" back end). When I changed it back to a U brake NOTHING fitted. The blocks are in the spokes and the tyre rubs the arms of the 994. Its pretty much unrideable! Its easily solved with an extra link in the chain, but that would make the back end even longer (the back end lenght was the reason I never rode a Holmes frame in the 90s).

Im not worried about it really. I had a great time riding the bike at MK but I wont convert it into a fake oldschool bike again. In addition to the back wheel problems, the original Pistol Pete grips are rock hard, the uncut slams are way to wide for me, and the front wheel spindle stripped when I put the wheel back on. All fixable problems but Im not going to properly ride the bike again ..... and it looks SO much better now!

[magna13]

looks mint Alex you rode it very well on the weekend

[bmxr]

Thanks for the S&M history lesson  Alex; I never knew what version my Holmes XL was; nice to have 2 next to each other on the gate in the Final. Pity I didn't make out of the 1st turn tho - as discussed!

Another question - is the Holmes xl backend longer than the Std, or is it just the TT that's longer?

[SaMAlex]

was nice to have 2 next to each other on the gate in the Final.

Yeah, that was wicked lining up next to you. I was shitting it. You aint exactly small!

Another question - is the Holmes xl backend longer than the Std, or is it just the TT that's longer?

There were 3 types of 1" Holmes frames. The mk1 looked very close to the mk3, the mk2 had the funny loop stays. They were all pretty much the same size, 15-16.5" rear end/21" tt (or maybe just under). The mk3 had bigger rear stay diameter than the mk1. Later Holmes frames had one thick dropouts, the early ones had 2 stuck together. All Holmes frames have the XL frame number. The Holmes was S&Ms XL frame, whereas the dirtbike was shorter frame. When the challenger came out it was in 2 lengths, normal and XL. The normal was like light dirtbike, the XL was a light Holmes.

[bmxr]

Yeah, always thought the 2 drop-out plates welded was a bit cheap - but it hasn't cracked yet!  What I want then is a Challenger XL, but then I probably wouldn't get to race OS at MK11.

Good result by the way....and thanks for not T-boning me when I was down

[SaMAlex]

What I want then is a Challenger XL, but then I probably wouldn't get to race OS at MK11.

Yeah, ive thought I might like one to race next year. The early ones were "brakemount-less", then they changed to Canti/V brake mounts. They did a few with Chainstay 990 mounts which I heard were on Neal Woods request.

Good result by the way....and thanks for not T-boning me when I was down

Thanks. It was funny. Two people buzzed back wheels over the first jump, right infront of me. Then there was your big crash. I rode round everyone and inside my helmet I was actually saying "oh, thats lucky". haha.