With a new baby to care for and being unemployed for nearly a year BMX has taken a bit of a back seat recently in our house, but I finally got round to finishing my PL20 last week. I originally bought the Redline new from Dave Harvey at The BMX Centre in Mousehole in August 1984, replacing an MX-II which had become a bit short. Having saved up long 'n hard I bought the Proline frame and fork, and tho' I'm no Redline expert I'm guessing it's an early example with the gusset behind the seatpost as a mate bought another PL20 on the same day and his doesn't have the gusset plate. I also splashed out on a Tuf-Neck stem and Powerdisc and used other parts taken off the MX-II, including chrome VDC Woody Itson bars. Not long afterwards I picked up a Tioga Task Force one piecer with triangular arms, and a sealed Tioga BB - having just left school and also buying a '65 Beetle project back then there was no way I could also afford Flights for it! As I'm fairly tall it obviously rode a little nicer than the old MX-II, but I wasn't taking racing so seriously as before . . . everone seemed to be getting faster by the week 'cept me.
Late in the summer of '84 the CW Team came to Penzance on a promo tour, headed up by US pros Pete Loncarevich and Jarrett Justice. I pretty much forgot about that day - doubtless due to my lacklustre performance - until Daryl Gibbard posted up this photo on Facebook, the start gate line up for the 16+ group including the two aforementioned Pros plus UK sponsored riders Paul Miller and Richard Thorner, and local CW Support team rider Adrian 'Animal' Watson who was probably the fastest guy in the southwest at that time. Also on the gate were a guy from Devon whose name I can't recall plus Marcus Newberry on a Changa and yours truly second from right on the new PL20. Adrian on his home track gave PP a very tight race, while I finished near the back of the pack. I don't think I raced more than half a dozen times after that, and consequently this is the only pic I've got of me on the PL, a few months before I gave up BMX for other interests (cars, girls, drink, etc - the usual story). The PL got sold on, and I thought no more about it.
In 1990 my brother and I decided to have another crack at riding. I found out that Derrick Pascoe (known to many of the Cornish Oldfools) had my old PL20, and with a bit of persuasion he let me have it back and I rode it for a year before finally getting an early Homeless Mack direct from Trend. This time round the Proline had a lot harder life, but apart from knackered chrome and a slight crack in the seatpost opening it stood up to regular use with no problems. Here's a pic of it alongside my bro's newly acquired Airmaster in 1990, with an original KHE Grindisk, Woody bars, a Redline six bolt stem and Araya ADX rims. The second pic is a street toothpick on the same bike (note unusual riding gear, inc. steel toecap DMs).
With the Homeless frame/fork to use the PL20 frame/fork was consigned to the shed, next to the MX-II frame which I inadvertantly kept. In 2000 I decided to rebuild the Proline in the future, so I picked up a few NOS parts including a pair of black MX1000s for £35 off Alans, a pair of black shinyside 7X rims. and some Grippa tyres the same as I used back then. About five years ago I got the frameset rechromed by Vehicle & General in Hitchen who did a nice job of the fork but were less impressive with the frame. I fitted Redline's dodgy PL20 stickers but I've got a nice repro Proline decal set from Subwax which would suit a new chrome job, maybe one day I'll have the frame rechromed by Newquay Plating who did a fantastic job of the bars and cranks. Like the cranks, the stem and powerdisc are original to the bike, and I resisted the urge to go mad with a polishing wheel, leaving them as tidy survivor pieces. The stem's shaft had originally cracked at the top but Derrick freed it from the alloy base plate and milled the tube straight so it's fine again. I'm pleased with the finished bike - all that's left for me to do is find the red/black Haro Tech plate that I stashed somewhere back in Cornwall.
Here's the build list:
Frame/fork: 1984 Redline PL20 serial no. 508544
Headset: Beartrap 2 with Suntour Headlock
Stem: Tuf-Neck
Handlebar: VDC Woody Itson
Grips: A'me Tri
Lever: D-C Tech III
Cable: D-C
Rear brake: D-C MX1000 with centralising
Seat: Elina lightning bolt
Seat post: Fluted chro-moly
Clamp: Suntour
BB set: Tioga sealed
Cranks: Tioga Task Force 175mm
Pedals: Shimano DX
Spider: Tuf-Neck powerdisk
Chainwheel: PPP 45t
Chain: Izumi black/chrome 1/2"
Tyres: Mitsuboshi Grippa 1.75"
Rims: Araya 7X shinyside
Spokes: DT stainless
Front hub: Suntour sealed
Rear hub: Suntour sealed
Freewheel: Shimano 16t chrome
Pads: California Lite
Big thanks to Del Pascoe for taking care of the PL and allowing me to have it back, my brother Chris for his help in getting the parts, Mikey Richardson for his wheelbuilding skills, and Dave Young for selling me his VDC bars via a tip-off from Alex.
The MX-II will be next, hopefully that won't take me 10 years to complete!
~ Craig
