s&m holmes on ebay.com

[kev-s]

just found this holmes on ebay.com again,  its been on there for atleast a year now at a buy it now price of $2000


http://cgi.ebay.com/Bike-S-M-Holmes-Vintage-Old-School-USA-Complete-Chrome_W0QQitemZ230044315292QQihZ013QQcategoryZ42310QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItemQQ


has pre pitchforks forks and is a mk1 holmes, wish i could afford it as my first holmes was a mk1

on closer inspection its got the rounded seat stays which they only made for 6 months then went back to the normal stays due to strength

[dialledbikes]

I've seen that Holmes on there constantly for $2000.  Every time the auction ends it pops back up again.  By the time someone buys it the seller will probably have paid nearly $2000 in ebay fees.  They should price it more realistically.

[kev-s]

ive emailed the seller asking for more close up pics of the frame and forks, ive no intention of buying it....... unless i win the lottery

[SaMAlex]

Yep, thats a rounded seat stays mk2. (Ive just been down in the shed, changing the tires on my mk2).

Like Mike said, its always on Ebay for that much. They have got a few bikes that they put up for silly money. I think they were also trying to sell a HAF for a while.

[kev-s]

ahh so its a mk2 alex can u tell me how many different versions of the holmes there was, im thinkin 5

[SaMAlex]

ahh so its a mk2 alex can u tell me how many different versions of the holmes there was, im thinkin 5

Good question. I keep meaning to get round to doing a thread on this with photos of them.

There were 3 types of 1" Holmes. The mk1 and the mk3 looked very similar but the mk3 had larger diameter stays. The mk2 had the curved stays and they only did it for a while. The mk1 and mk2 had "double dropouts" but they were just 2 normal dropouts stuck together. On the mk3s were when they were actually one double thick dropout (Im not sure when the changeover was and if some mk2s had "real" thick dropouts, or if some mk3s had "two stuck together"). All 3 versions came without 990s but they were an option from mk2 onwards. but most of the mk2s didnt have 990s and most of the mk3s did (Rory has a mk3 without 990 mounts). They did the mk3 for the longest so a mk3 with 990s is the most common of the 1" Holmes.

After that they went to "Oversized" A-head 1 1/8th. The frame was almost the same as the 1" mk3 but with larger diameter tubing. Then in 97ish they did the Holmes Nex Gen, that was heavier and stronger.

I dont think there was a "Classic Holmes" like there was with the Dirtbike, so you would be right: 5 types of Holmes frame 

[kev-s]

 i think there was actaully 6 different versions if the the following is correct

mk1 1in headset, no ad mounts, plates between seat and chainstays  (had one of these)

mk2 same as above but with rounded seatstays like the one on the ebay link

mk3 1in headset, ad mounts, tubed between the seat and chainstays (bought one brand new)

mk4? same as above but with 1/18th headset (have one now)

mk5  oversized, tubing was thicker but outside diamater was the same (had a sticker saying oversized on the top tube by the headtube)

mk6  next generation (had one of these)

did they make a holmes with the gusset between the top and downtube? i know they made a dirtbike like this but not sure if they did a holmes

i would like to know what years they were built as my holmes which is a mk4 was bought brand new in 98/99 according the the guy i bought it off but that seems too late to me unless it was sat in a shop for a few years

[SaMAlex]

I could well be wrong but, as you have written it there, I dont think there was any difference between the mk4 and the mk5. The ones with the "Oversize" stickers were the first ones with 1 1/8th headsets, and cos the headtube was bigger, all the tubes were slightly bigger dia.

The main difference between the 1" mk1 and the 1" mk3 was the seat and chain stay diameters as they were bigger on the mk3s.
The mk3 usually came with a plate at the as the top brace (seat stay) and a tube at the bottom (chainstay) but like on the dirtbikes, this changed from time to time, sometimes both were plates, sometimes both were tubes, most of the time one of each.

The dirtbikes with the "standard" style top/downtube gussetts were the "Classic" dirtbike, and I dont think they did a holmes like that.

The mk4 (as you put it, but I think its just the 1 1/8" oversized frame) were made from around 96 and they made them for a good few years.

[perry]

my non existant holmes classic with the "standard" gusset ( 2000/2001 kinda time )



pitchforks
seventies hubs
primo rims
reluctant sprocket
primo cranks
tenderiser pedals
fsa headset
primo gorrila cup
xposure fat chain
terrible one pegs
snafu seat
primo rod post
demolition stem
primo tensioners
hoffman jumping bars
ad990

[SaMAlex]

Thats great, they did do a Holmes "Classic".

So there ARE 6 types of Holmes frame

mk1 - 1" headtube, thin rear stays (see picture)
mk2 - 1" Headtube, looped seat stays (see picture)
mk3 - 1" headtube, thicker rear stays (see picture)

mk4 "Oversized" - first of the 1 1/8" headtubed S&Ms (see pages from 1996 Catalogue below)
mk5 "Next Gen" - 1 1/8" Headtube, larger dropouts to cover the chainring, wishbone at BB, thicker tubing and heavy (see picture below stolen from Ebay USA)
Mk6 "Classic" - Facelift of the mk4, with "standard" style top/downtube gusset (like in the post above)

[kev-s]

nice  catalogue  cool so there was 6 versions, didnt realise mine is classed as a oversized, next question is will they make a 20th anviversary one