Homeless Mack …. or is it?

[SaMAlex]

I saw this pic of a Homeless Mack. I showed it to some friends who had Homeless frames in the 90s and they are really unsure if it is a Mack. We don’t remember the top tube being lower than the seat stays, and the seat tube seems to go along way above the seat stays. Everything else looks right and I can’t think what else it could be, it just doesn’t look quite right to be a Mack (the guy has re powder coated it and put new stickers on it).

Any thoughts?

[stoke bloke]

I had  a  Mack (1"  headtube) and it wasn't like that bike . The top tube was pierced by the seat tube  and extended a little out of the back the seat stays were definately underneath the top tube. also the the homeless H  symbol was stamped out of the end of the top tube and then sometimes welded onto the headtube , the headtube on my bike didn't have the collars on the headtube tube . do you have any pic s  of the dropouts , these were really beefy on the mack .
 I guess if it is a Mack it is a very early version .
 
 I wish I had never sold mine , they were good bikes ,bit heavy though.

[SaMAlex]

Ah, this is (if it is) is an early, first Mack. The first Homeless frames were the same as S&M Dirtbikes (exactly the same, if you follow me).

The one you are talking about with the pierced top tube and the "H" was a later one. One like that came up on Ebay a few months ago.

[stoke bloke]

cool, maybe advert in an old american ride mag will confirm / deny? i will dig some out and check

[SaMAlex]

A friend of mine still has his at his Dads house, in the garage. He bought it direct off Stu Dorkins at a contest in Nottingham in 93ish. He will check it out when he's next there.

[woody allen bars]

Looks like a Mack to me (I supplied the guy who owns it with some scans of the Homeless stickers so not sure if those on the toptube are repro or genuine). I bought one of the first Macks direct from James Shepherd when I was visiting the US. Mine didn't have AD990 mounts either. Popped into Backyard on the way home and Stu Dawkins was moaning how he's just bent the forks on his Mack, tho' he rode a lot harder than I did so I wasn't overly concerned. Mine eventually cracked behind the seat tube

Will have to dig out a pic of the bike later...

Craig

[Lazarou]

Doesn't look right to me either, a friend i rode with in the early ninties had a Mack and as you say Alex it was identical to a Dirt Bike or Holmes,. Stoke Bloke is on about the mid-ninties (Texas built?) Mack. Another friend (flatlander) rode a Soul Bro which was similar to a Dirt Bike platform (RARE!) But as for that one the stickers are bang on but the frame looks a bit hoopty.
Weird!

[christhejob]

just looked at my Go from 1991.  the one with the homeless daily news article.   not a mack at all.  that toptube placement looks familiar but i'm not trawling through anything to find out what it is.. but no, not a homeless.  the homelesseses were made by b&e first (same engineering place as s&m)  then gregg hansen (who was the financial backing behind sheps doing homeless) did something and sheps moved to "start" family bikes.  gregg h then started making homeless inhouse, which is when they had the pierced toptube with a stamped H and nasty looking big dropouts.  same place as john yull sewing all the club homeboy shorts next door to trend bike source  (that half derby/half texas accent was awesome).  then it all caught fire. heehee

so, not a mack. (i digress)

[Lazarou]

Homelesseses  The front end (and the brake bridge by the look of it) are total S&M! I would bet money it's a B&E frame, either made for someone else or a ' factory second'.

[SaMAlex]

Chris, you really are the man! So much Knowlage!!! Nice one.

I think it is probably an odd frame that may or may not have been made for, and sold by Homeless. The rest of the bike is so close I dont think it could be anything else (other than S&M and think their frames were usually the same shape, unlike the early years of slam bars!) If we can get a good few shots of "normal" Mack frames, it might be funny to point out to the guy that his frame is an iffy one.