Kirk mountain bikes??

Does anyone have any knowledge about what happened to the company that manufactured the Kirk road and mountain bikes? I've had one of the mountain bikes for years now, but the rear derailleur hanger has broken. Unfortunately the design means that there is no other part that can be used to replace this, so I've got a perfectly good bike that is only good for gathering dust now... Any ideas or suggestions about finding a replacement hanger?

cheers

 

On 20 May 2003 23:00:40 +0950, falcons <[email protected]> wrote:

>Does anyone have any knowledge about what happened to the company that manufactured the Kirk road
>and mountain bikes?

Gone. No trace remains.

This place in Brighton http://www.g-whizzcycles.co.uk/stockspec.html claims to have one in stock !
Only £100 too...

>so I've got a perfectly good bike that is only good for gathering dust now.

A Kirk ? Isn't it making its own dust by now ?

You can weld it. Yes, weld it. Mg is weldable, just not easy to do (It's beyond me, but I've seen
plenty of '60s sports and racing cars repaired in this way)

Failing that, I think you're needing a milling machine and some terrible kludge of a sandwich plate
repair. You might be able to fit a replaceable derailleur hanger from some other frame by machining
an appropriate recess in the Kirk.

 

Well, the good news is that the hanger is designed to brake if the derailleur is hit to protect the frame. There is no damage to the frame and the hanger is made of aluminium...

 

Andy Dingley <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> On 20 May 2003 23:00:40 +0950, falcons <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >Does anyone have any knowledge about what happened to the company that manufactured the Kirk road
> >and mountain bikes?
>
> Gone. No trace remains.

Distributed through Dawes, though, I seem to recall, so don't know if they'd be able to assist.

> This place in Brighton http://www.g-whizzcycles.co.uk/stockspec.html claims to have one in stock !
> Only £100 too...

Though the "only frame made of magnesium alloy" tag no longer applies; the Halfords Carrera range
has both Mg MTB and road bikes. Thankfully, the latter has gained a rather more tasteful paint job
for 2003 (and no longer looks as though it's been sneezed on!). On the other hand, Saracen's Mg road
bike seems to have been dropped for this year in favour of Al with carbon rear stays.

David E. Belcher

Dept. of Chemistry, University of York

 

"falcons" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Does anyone have any knowledge about what happened to the company that manufactured the Kirk road
> and mountain bikes? I've had one of the mountain bikes for years now, but the rear derailleur
> hanger has broken. Unfortunately the design means that there is no other part that can be used to
> replace this, so I've got a perfectly good bike that is only good for gathering dust now... Any
> ideas or suggestions about finding a replacement hanger?
>
> cheers

You could use a piece of bamboo to fix the damaged part of the frame/hanger, might stiffen it
up a bit ;-0

Dave.

 

[email protected] (David E. Belcher) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
>
> On the other hand, Saracen's Mg road bike seems to have been dropped for this year in favour of Al
> with carbon rear stays.

Oops - I was wrong! Just been to the Saracen site, and they're still using Mg alloy for the Galibier
this year after all.

David E. Belcher

Dept. of Chemistry, University of York

 

falcons wrote:
> Does anyone have any knowledge about what happened to the company that manufactured the Kirk road
> and mountain bikes? I've had one of the mountain bikes for years now, but the rear derailleur
> hanger has broken. Unfortunately the design means that there is no other part that can be used to
> replace this, so I've got a perfectly good bike that is only good for gathering dust now... Any
> ideas or suggestions about finding a replacement hanger?

Advertise? There ought to be a lot of spare hangers about, because the Kirk was supplied with a
spare hanger when new. If you're luck someone might have one and still remember what it is. I
suppose I ought to still have my spare one somewhere... it could take weeks to find it though, even
if it hasn't been thrown away. If you've still got the remains of the old one, it should be possible
to get one made. I can't remember what the originals were made from: was it alloy, or resin? They
are designed to be weaker than the frame so you break the hanger rather than the frame if it gets
crunched. It you make one, don't use steel: never put any steel bits in contact with a Kirk frame or
it will corrode.

--
Andrew Pattle

 

Dear Kirk owners,

By accident I own a kirk frame and I woulld to make a new bike out of it. I prefer to stay close to the original, so I need some advise reagarding the parts which were used on the frame (brand type) some general specs and preferably some tips about what to do and what certainly not to do.

What kind of bolts, grease, material of connecting parts like Bottom Bracket, seat pipe, steering head.

So basically everything there's to know about a Kirk MTB.

You can mail me directly of you like [email protected]

regards, KLAAS

 

Bakkersma wrote:
> Dear Kirk owners,
>
>
> So basically everything there's to know about a Kirk MTB.

The only thing you need to know for when you've finished is not to ride it. The frames were
notorious for breaking

Tony

--
"If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything." Mark Twain

 

Bakkersma wrote:
> Dear Kirk owners,
>
> By accident I own a kirk frame and I woulld to make a new bike out of
> it. I prefer to stay close to the original, so I need some advise reagarding the parts which were
> used on the frame (brand type) some general specs and preferably some tips about what to do
> and what certainly not to do.
>
> What kind of bolts, grease, material of connecting parts like Bottom Bracket, seat pipe,
> steering head.
>
> So basically everything there's to know about a Kirk MTB.
>

Well, like any make of bike, there were Kirks and there were Kirks... the quality of the group set
depended on how much you paid. It it an MTB - they did road bikes too. On the road frame the "chain
stays" run from botom bracket to rear wheel, on the MTB frame they run from about halfway up the
"seat tube" to the rear wheel.

The most important thing to remember is not to let anything steel touch the frame. If you look at
it, you see that the frame is fitted with aluminium bushes where any bolts or other steel parts are
fitted. If steel comes in to direct contact with the frame it will corrode.

There should be a special gear hanger too. If the rear mech gets a serious knock, the hanger will
break rather than cause any damage to the frame.

My Kirk is a long way from standard now (in fact, I've converted to a trike) and I can't really
remember what the original parts were... except that it had a Biopace chain set.

They're a good bike (don't believe all the silly stories people will try and tell you about them) -
a very rigid frame that's pleasant to ride. Mine gave many thousands of miles service. I took it off
the road when the replacement chain, chainwheels, cassette, bottom bracket and tyres were all needed
at more or less the same time, and it worked out cheaper to buy a new bike. Then, because it was
looking sad and neglected, I brought it back to life as a trike.

--
Andrew Pattle

 

The MTB frames were terrible. Mine cracked. The problem is that the BB was on a stalk which
transmitted great twisting moment to the bike when you stood up. It was inevitable that it would
crack. The worst bike by far I've ever ridden, though the best-looking.