My older brother Rodney passed away in July of 1986 in a motor vehicle accident, he was only 16. He was on his way to a race in Regina, Saskatchewan driving his 1966 Chevy truck when he hit the ditch somehow causing it to roll over multiple times.
This very bike flew out of the back of his truck at some point during the crash. I was surprised his bike fared as well as it did given the speed of the crash and noting the horrific condition his truck was in. It did sustain some damage though, the rear wheel and handlebars especially. His Profile sat banged up and collecting dust in my family house for over 30 years until now.
Now back in pristine working condition I am looking forward to taking the Profile out for a spin at the local BMX track soon. It’s been therapeutic for me restoring this bike. Instead of looking at it and being saddened by the damage it suffered from the crash I now again see the beautiful bike Rodney enjoyed building for himself. It now sits proudly all polished up and basking in its glory
If you have a bicycle that is sentimental to you and is in need of a restoration let me know if I can help you bring it back to life again. I can tell you right now it’s a very emotionally rewarding feeling.
I’m only the custodian of this bike but it’s my most prized possession.
After trying for over 30 years to locate some original Profile handlebars to replace the ones bent in the crash I decided to go another route. Gary Turner of GT Bicycles fame has returned to his roots and is manufacturing small batch parts by hand in his shop in California like he did in the early 70’s/80’s. His Pro handlebars are made to his old specifications with new tubing. This was as close as I could find in size and shape to Rodney’s original handlebars.
The DK stem just needed a little polishing.
Damaged from the crash I needed to source a new bolt for the brake lever. Porkchop BMX to the rescue!
Rodney stripped off all the original Profile decals in favour of a more subdue look. Zeronine made some of the coolest stuff back in the day and they are back making products again.
Classic box Profiles and a Redline Flight sprocket. I left the chain as it was, dirt and all.
Now where to find a rear rim? Original Araya 20 x 1.75 rims are still floating around here and there but the prices are sky high. Way harder to find is the 20 x 1.5 size. After extensive searching I found a NOS (new old stock) rim in Japan. Navigating a Japanese website proved impossible until I acquired the services of a friend of a friend who had just come back to Canada from living in Japan. Persistence and some good luck payed dividends! The rim was the wrong colour so I had it anodized black. The front rim had a few scratches in it so I sanded all of them out and anodizized it at the same time as the rear rim to ensure a correct colour match.
I had the Sonlite Turbo hubs polished up and they look amazing. I had my buddy Bobby Holliday cut down some DT spokes to the match the original ones that came off the bike. BMX legend Jack Hutton laced them up for me on the house which was very generous of him. Jack’s a great wheel builder, he’s done a lot of wheels for me over the years.
I took off the UNI seat Rodney had on and replaced it with a Kashimax Aero. I then put the UNI seat on our family Kuwahara restoration project, Rodney would have approved I know. I assume he installed the lightweight UNI for the race he was headed to but I couldn’t find where he put his original Kashimax? Luckily they are still making them. The Gary Turner seatpost looks right at home too.
Another part I had to source was this Tuf Neck seatpost clamp. Rodney’s original had cracked from the impact of the crash. I found a purple one from a guy down in Washington State and had it chrome plated. Mission accomplished.
Like me Rodney had a real passion for building bikes with the best parts. The Dia Compe MX 901’s look sexy as ever. I got lucky with the final piece of the puzzle completing the wheelset. Tioga reissued a batch of their Yellow Label skinwall Comp III tires. Not exact reproductions but close enough.
These are reproduction Hutch Beartrap pedals but I finally have some originals to put back on. I had been looking for a Hutch pedal body to replace a cracked one I have for many many years. Turns out my old pal Steve Rosman had one lying around so he gave it to me!!! He couldn’t remember what happened to the rest of his set but was happy to contribute what he had to the project as he and Rodney were good friends too. Plus he figured I sold him the set back in the day anyways.