# Brian Skinner Descender Completed



## oldbmxdc (Feb 19, 2007)

Old bmx collector here just expanding my collecting habits found this as frameset and wheels at a local swap meet and with the help of this site and others on info I have completed it as best as I can. Brakes are original and are mounted direct to tabs welded on frame. UNrestored as I found it basically with exception of parts I put on to complete so I could ride it. Enjoy:
https://www.oldbmxdc.com/descender1.jpg
https://www.oldbmxdc.com/descender2.jpg
https://www.oldbmxdc.com/descender3.jpg
https://www.oldbmxdc.com/descender4.jpg
https://www.oldbmxdc.com/descender5.jpg
https://www.oldbmxdc.com/descender6.jpg
Descender frameset, Cycle Pro alloy headset, ACS dual clamp stem, chrome bars, shimano m700 shifters and rr der, Suntour Mountech FT der, Bullseye BMX BB, Shimano 600 cranks, Ambrosio Durex rims 24 rr 26 ft, Farmer John Tires, Bullseye custome rr hub threaded for rotor, Shimano SE disc casliper rr, XT cantilevers front, Dia Compe levers, Selle Royal seat, SR post, Suntour XC2 pedals, 5 Speed Suntour extra low gear freewheel. Rides great but is very bouncy. Everything is used to match condition of frameset/wheels with exception of nos front tire which I will get dirty shortly.
Dave


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## Fillet-brazed (Jan 13, 2004)

Really cool bike. Thanks for sharing.


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## Repack Rider (Oct 22, 2005)

Concur with FB, this is a RARE, influential bike from around 1985. Emphasis on the rare and influential.

I would put this in the top five of all the bikes I have seen on this forum, maybe the top two.

There are not enough superlatives for me to tell you how cool a find it was and what a nice job you did on it. Use your imagination.


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## badbushido (Jan 4, 2006)

I would die for having this


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## Repack Rider (Oct 22, 2005)

What the heck, just because I can.

The external spring identifies it as a 1984 model, according to this literature


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## CharacterZero (May 19, 2004)

That is awesome!


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## geckocycles (Sep 3, 2006)

*You got a winner!*

Memory is certainly failing me here. Must be the beer bongs and road loads. LOL.

Those early rear hubs I believe were for BMX bikes and not meant for disks. The threads on both sides were for two single speed gears. Commonly called a flip flop hub for two different ratios. Correct me if I'm wrong. Sounds like you may know.

I believe it is after 85 because of the square tubing. Not too many of his bikes were the same. Every bike had "improvements" over the last. Most were made by Hannabrink as I recall.

Nice find. I would sure like to find Skinner again. He is no longer with RC Action. The last time I talked with him was about 4 years ago. He has canceled his Skype account. I will shoot him an email and see if it still works.

The email I have just got returned undeliverable.


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## oldbmxdc (Feb 19, 2007)

*Rear Bullseye*

It is basically a Bullseye bmx hub with large allen bolts but flip flop hubs have standard size on one side and smaller on the other for 14 and 15t freewheels, also Bullseye never made flip flop hubs that I can remember. Looks like bullseye took 2 rh threaded flanges and bonded them onto the shell. The Shimano disc rotor is the same size threads as a standard freewheel. I'm just glad the wheels were with it when I found it. In my searches 26" Ambrosio rims are tough to find and this has 24 rear and 26 front. Amazingly the wheels look nos too.


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## geckocycles (Sep 3, 2006)

I got most of the poop this AM. Roger did make a flip flop hub and this is one of them. The threaded part of the hub is the same on both sides and is the same thread for no matter what cog is on the freewheel. It was NOT designed for braking loads.

This bike is a one off frame! The Desender came production with rollercam brakes and a few with U Brakes. 

All square tube rear end versions were made by Champion. They also had a gas shock on the production bikes.Skinner said that there are about 100 of these out there, which I doubt seriously, but like I said yours is a one off and may have even been made by Hannabrink. I was very good friends with him at the time and never remember him putting together that many frames. We constantly hung out together and I worked on a chain tensioner design for him at the time.

There was bad blood between Skinner and Hannabrink. Brian gave the design to Hannabrink to build but Hannabrink added his own touches to it. The main thing was the thin wall ST and the side mounted progressive shock placement behind the ST, which Skinner did not approve of. Hannabrink may have finally built your bike as skinner wanted, pre production of the Champion run. I am trying to get the scoop on this particular frame, but time has worn away the memories. None the less this is truly a rare bird and no one like this was built.

Hannabrink built all round CS versions. All broke to his knowledge. At least ones that were ridden. The CS and ST were only .035 wall Cro-mo. The ST for sure. The shock mounted on one stay made the bike torque to the side. They did look cool though.

None came with disk brake mounts as far as production models went. This is the main reason that this may have been a one off frame by Hannabrink. Also the coil over shock which was never a production model as with the round linkage rod from the CS's It is dated preproduction 85.

I will keep you all posted on further findings.


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## oldbmxdc (Feb 19, 2007)

Thanks very much for the info. I like the hunt for information as much as the hunt for the bikes. I have a picture of one other Descender with this disc brake set up a 1983 BMX Action magazine which the bike also had Honda shock, SE Landing gear forks but also has a super oversized headtube and a Honda motorcycle headset was run along with Redline Flight tubular cranks, single sprocket up front. Almost looked like a current downhiller except no front shocks. I think I have seen pictures of about 4-5 different variations.


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## geckocycles (Sep 3, 2006)

What seat post size is the one you have?

Does the 83 BMX Action bike have round stays? 83 is defiantly pre Champion production. There was lots of different versions starting in 81.

I remember having a conversation with Roger about his hubs. I broke several flanges and he told me that these hubs were not made for disks. We used them for that anyway. He later blamed the failures on DT spokes reacting with his aluminum. I wasn't about to use different spokes at the time so I stopped ordering product from him. I also had a set of his crooked cranks. I can't remember his excuse for those but I returned them. Funny, I still have a set of his hubs on my Mantis which are just fine. The Mantis has been sitting in disrepair for more than 15 years though.

I'm still trying to locate Brian to ask him about these bikes. I did talk to Kye Sharpe who has a Desender. He also was very close to Brian. We are going out to CA first week of July to ride with VVA and others on his 50th anniversary get together. We may just go to his house. He has changed his numbers. RC (Manti Man) may know how to find him too.


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## oldbmxdc (Feb 19, 2007)

July 1983 BMX Action. Square stays, same Shimano SE disc brake set up, Redlikne flight cranks, SE Landing gear forks, Honda XR200 Tapered roller bearing headset, Araya 7X rims, Sturmey Archer front drum brake, Suntour AG derailleur, Honda XR200 Pro Link shock with Pro Link remote reservoir., Cook Brothers uniclamp bmx stem and CW Racing bmx cruiser bars. It is one trick puppy.


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## geckocycles (Sep 3, 2006)

I am guessing at this point. Maybe Champion made some prototypes for Skinner with the square stays and disks.

Thanks for the info and I will still try to contact Skinner for the straight scoop from the man himself. It is obvious that memory is failing me and my other sources. I do know that in 83 there were square tubes with disks produced but not sure by who. 

I may have better luck talking with Hannabrink.

Can you post photos of the 83 mag?


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## geckocycles (Sep 3, 2006)

*Descender proto*

Sorry for the crappy photo. Skinny is driving and Ron Harford is passenger (deceased). Note the shock placement and the tube in front of the shock from TT. Also note the remote reservoir for the shock and square stays.
Can't remember the year. '82 or '83 Puerco DH in the truck. Earthquake Race and Reseda to the Sea where Skinny is riding uphill!.
I found several other photos of this bike and posted the larger photos at

http://www.geckocycles.com/some_old_stuff.htm


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## bassteban (Jun 16, 2007)

**Joe Cocker voice on**

"_You are sooo beautiful..._"
*off*
I didn't fully read the whole thread, but I had a Phil Wood 'tandem' rear hub on my '83 Pro Cruiser, which had identical threads on both sides- one for a freewheel, one for a disc brake. So maybe the rear hub(n the Skinner)actually was meant for a disc..?


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## geckocycles (Sep 3, 2006)

I just got off the phone with Skinner. This bike was custom made after the BMX action bike which was a VVA proto made in '81. This bike was a Champion production bike that had the roller cam bosses cut off and disk mounts put on which dates this frame at '83. It was sold to a guy in Seattle. Like I said it is a rare bird. No production frames were produced with disks....

Hannabrink built some frames in '82 only and all had round stays.

The bike I posted here is the VVA bike that is a one off proto that went to BMX Action. It had black forks that bent and dates '82 Earthquake race. Skinner is riding uphill at Puerco.

Skinner joined this site this evening. I hope he will chime in and answer any of your question personally. If not it was good that I finally located him as well as several other old buds from that time period.

THANKS. I sure miss all these guys I contacted in this search of wisdom.
Happy Trails.

One more thing, the shock is not stock and was not shipped with it. It had an nitrogen shock OEM.


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## bighorse (Jun 17, 2007)

Hi all!
Well thanks to KB I now know of this thread....sweet! So glad to see that my bikes are rememberd and still around ( I got one in the Garage now!) I guess I should post a photo of it, eh!
Anyway, I'll be glad to talk about the bikes and answer all questions. The guy with the yellow bike has a rare find for sure! It's eitherr my personal bike I made for the trade show or a bike I did for a guy in Wa. He wanted a disc like mine. The phill hub was made for me by Roger for a few of the bikes that had discs, and was not a production hub. The shock on there is not production--it came with a Nitrogin shock, but I like the shock and the look. Would like to buy the bike if possible!!!
Please feel free to ask as many questions as you want, would love to chat with y'all.
BTW: there were 100 bikes made 
Currently I'm an editor for Xtreme R/C magazine and race R/C cars for fun and a living, but still ride in the hills with my Maverick and do some trail riding on my Husaberg
Skinny


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## oldbmxdc (Feb 19, 2007)

First off thank you very much for all the replies and info. This has been my most interesting project even over my bmx collection. I do not have a scanner but here's a couple picture links to the article in my bmx action mag. I based my parts more on the bike shown in my 1st issue of mountain bike action where the descender and the hannebrink bike are side to side as best I could see--small picture. I need an IRC front tire though.Mr Skinner, thanks for the added information. I'd like to find out what the original shock set up was so I have a new "search" project. Dave
https://www.oldbmxdc.com/article1.jpg
https://www.oldbmxdc.com/article2.jpg


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## Repack Rider (Oct 22, 2005)

Here are a couple of Descender shots to keep the thread moving.

The rider posed with the bike in the second shot is Kevin Coffey, who drew the "MudPup" strip for the Fat Tire Flyer, and also provided animation for Bill Savage's film, "Klunkerz."


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## bighorse (Jun 17, 2007)

Awh yes, Mud Pup! Loved the Fat Tire Flyer, I wish it would come back, I even have a FTF banner on the wall in my office. I wounder if this is CK posting these photos, I know his work when I see it.


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## Repack Rider (Oct 22, 2005)

bighorse said:


> Awh yes, Mud Pup! Loved the Fat Tire Flyer, I wish it would come back, I even have a FTF banner on the wall in my office. I wonder if this is CK posting these photos, I know his work when I see it.


Why don't you take a look at the profile?


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## bighorse (Jun 17, 2007)

profile what's that...lol! Hey ya old salty dog, I was flushing you out, Jeeezzz,, my first contact with you in 15 years and you give me lip! So you ready to fire up the FTF again? Since I'm an editor maybe we could get things going, I would love to see Mud Pup live again.


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## oldbmxdc (Feb 19, 2007)

*Update on Descender build*

Well, finally after slowing down at work I had some time to work on the project more. I now have a more correct IRC ft tire as well as (Thanks to Greg Johnson AKA Chauncey) the disc caliper the frame was built for-Shimano SE Disc-works better now too. I am having a hard time finding a nitrogen charged shock that is not coil over and way too huge but yesterday I found an old air shock which has the same appearance, feels better and best of all was the correct length to the shock does not sit on the bottom of top tube. Pretty much complete for now but will continue shock search.
https://www.oldbmxdc.com/d1.jpg
https://www.oldbmxdc.com/d2.jpg
https://www.oldbmxdc.com/d3.jpg
https://www.oldbmxdc.com/d4.jpg
https://www.oldbmxdc.com/d5.jpg


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## Veloculture (Dec 18, 2005)

cool, i have one of these Descenders as well. i'll get some photos soon and post them here.


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## patineto (Oct 28, 2005)

oldbmxdc said:


> Old bmx collector here just expanding my collecting habits found this as frameset and wheels at a local swap meet and with the help of this site and others on info I have completed it as best as I can. Brakes are original and are mounted direct to tabs welded on frame. UNrestored as I found it basically with exception of parts I put on to complete so I could ride it. Enjoy:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I hope this make it a little easier to see.

ps: I have dream about that Bike, well the White one on the BMX Magazine since I was 19 years old

Thanks for the photos.


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## patineto (Oct 28, 2005)

oldbmxdc said:


> First off thank you very much for all the replies and info. This has been my most interesting project even over my bmx collection. I do not have a scanner but here's a couple picture links to the article in my bmx action mag. I based my parts more on the bike shown in my 1st issue of mountain bike action where the descender and the hannebrink bike are side to side as best I could see--small picture. I need an IRC front tire though.Mr Skinner, thanks for the added information. I'd like to find out what the original shock set up was so I have a new "search" project. Dave


Use







to post pictures, square yellow ikon with a "Mountain" on it.


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## patineto (Oct 28, 2005)

oldbmxdc said:


> Well, finally after slowing down at work I had some time to work on the project more. I now have a more correct IRC ft tire as well as (Thanks to Greg Johnson AKA Chauncey) the disc caliper the frame was built for-Shimano SE Disc-works better now too. I am having a hard time finding a nitrogen charged shock that is not coil over and way too huge but yesterday I found an old air shock which has the same appearance, feels better and best of all was the correct length to the shock does not sit on the bottom of top tube. Pretty much complete for now but will continue shock search.


Man what a Cool bike, specially yours with the Moto brakes.


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