1994 Breezer Beamer
"Suspend the rider, not the bike." That was the alternative mantra of a few mountain bike pioneers in the 1990s despite the early success of the RockShox and Manitou suspension forks. Most of the early suspension innovators had come from a background in motorcycles, including Turner and Bradbury, but also Mert Lawwill (Lawwill), Horst Leitner (AMP Research), Bob Girvin (Pro-Flex), Dan Hanebrink (Hanebrink Cycles), and Robert Reisinger (Mountain Cycle and Pro Stop), among others. They were familiar with designing around the spades of evenly delivered horsepower and torque available on motorcycles, not the 1/4 average cyclical horsepower of a typical human being. Other pioneers, including Joe Breeze, Tom Ritchey, and Otis Guy, saw the mountain bike as an efficient platform for pedaling, likely inspired by their road cycling origins. People had also routinely used their arms and legs out of the saddle to absorb impacts on fully rigid bikes. That’s effectively what the 1994 Breezer Beamer tried to accomplish: the rider is largely isolated from the impacts experienced by the bicycle at two of the three contact points, the handlebar and saddle. The Softride suspension beam is comprised of a pair of carbon fiber leaf springs joined along their length by a soft rubber material; however, the motion is bouncy with rebound control provided by the rider’s legs. The Softride suspension stem is a folding parallelogram, so the handlebar maintains its orientation throughout its motion. The spring mechanism is a simple steel coil with pre-load adjustment but no rebound control. For these bikes Joe Breeze chose a paint scheme that mimics the classy 1930s Schwinn Excelsior cruisers that were the starting point for the early mountain bike klunkers. A cream colored headtube was paired with a main color that was available in a rich metallic red, green, purple, or black. As is common with a purple painted frame, it is an inviting platform for a build of 1990s 3D-violet, purple anodized parts with questionable performance. The ride is comfortable for long excursions but might also be described as terrorizing with the way the undamped suspension hits back at the rider. The beam remained popular on the back of tandems but faded from mountain bike use as moto-inspired suspension took over.
The Build
Year: 1994
S/N: none Frame: Breezer Beamer Fork: Ritchey Logic Stem: Softride Suspension Headset: Chris King No Thread Bottom Bracket: Hershey Titanium Handlebar: Answer Hyperlite Shifters: Shimano XTR M900 Front Derailleur: Shimano XTR M900 Rear Derailleur: Shimano XTR M900 Brake Levers: Shimano XTR M900 Front Brake: Avid Tri-Align Rear Brake: Avid Tri-Align Crankset: Kooka Kranks Chainrings: Shimano XTR M900 24-36-46 Pedals: Shimano SPD PD-M737 Hubs: Nukeproof Carbon Rims: Mavic 117 Ceramic Tires: Ritchey Megabite Z-Max 1.95 Wheel QR: Salsa Flip-Off Seatpost: Softride Beam Saddle: Selle Italia Flite Titanium Grips: Wilderness Trail Bikes Trailgrips Chain: Sedis Cogs: Boone Titanium Bottle Cage: American Classic Titanium Extra: Softride Beam Bag Extra: Kooka Chainsuck Plate |
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