# 1988 American Breezer



## Guest (May 17, 2013)

Picked this up a little while back in Marin from the original owner's family. The original owner ordered this bike from his LBS in Mill Valley back in the day. When he took delivery of the bike he was disappointed with the original American Breezer decals. He much preferred the Breezer lll decals set. Well being friends of Joe Breeze had it's privileges, Joe swapped them out. This is a 1988 serial #B9299 and has a full XT build.


----------



## SMRTIN (Dec 17, 2012)

Man that is clean!!! I'm slowly working on #B9239 but I doubt it will look as good as yours in the end.


----------



## flyingcloud (Jul 7, 2012)

What a beauty!


----------



## girlonbike (Apr 24, 2008)

Hey Shawn,

I know this has been a pretty long project for you. You did great. Thanks for sharing and can't wait to see it in person.


----------



## Guest (May 17, 2013)

*Additional Pics*


----------



## zygote2k (Jun 5, 2011)

simple clean and neat.


----------



## Guest (May 17, 2013)

*Last Pic*








Reads:

The Breezer
Mill Valley California


----------



## hollister (Sep 16, 2005)

Diggin the alternate decal choice!


----------



## DoubleCentury (Nov 12, 2005)

Same here. Real classy.


----------



## Guest (May 17, 2013)

hollister said:


> Diggin the alternate decal choice!


I really struggled if I should go with the original decals, but for this bike they are original. Plus, I went to JB's and he had an American Breezer with Type lll decals; figured if it was good enough for him it's good enough for me.


----------



## chefmiguel (Dec 22, 2007)

Great job Shawn, wouldn't change a thing.


----------



## crconsulting (Apr 11, 2004)

Dont mess with it 
Those decals look cool on there....


----------



## tductape (Mar 31, 2008)

Great job Shawn, looks super!


----------



## nightshade_rider (Apr 18, 2007)

Link to the Nov '87 Bicycling magazine review of the American Breezer:
American Breezer review
thanks again to the Mombat archive.

Beautiful bike Shawn, your patience certainly paid off.


----------



## Guest (May 17, 2013)

SMRTIN said:


> Man that is clean!!! I'm slowly working on #B9239 but I doubt it will look as good as yours in the end.


Thanks! Do you have any pics of your June 1988 American Breezer?


----------



## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

hollister said:


> Diggin the alternate decal choice!


Hey Holli - Check the headset of choice for that 87 review.... 



nightshade_rider said:


> Link to the Nov '87 Bicycling magazine review of the American Breezer:
> American Breezer review


----------



## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

Nice work SW. That ended up being a longer resto process than you anticipated I think. Came out ace though! We need to get you posting bigger pictures though.


----------



## Guest (May 17, 2013)

Rumpfy said:


> Nice work SW. That ended up being a longer resto process than you anticipated I think. Came out ace though! We need to get you posting bigger pictures though.


Those Koski's, well you felt my pain.
When we do our 87 v.s 88 Shootout you can post the pics 

BTW, got a Hite-Rite coming courtesy of the man himself.


----------



## hollister (Sep 16, 2005)

Rumpfy said:


> Hey Holli - Check the headset of choice for that 87 review....


 I stand corrected

Still looks odd to me though


----------



## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

shawnw said:


> Those Koski's, well you felt my pain.
> When we do our 87 v.s 88 Shootout you can post the pics
> 
> BTW, got a Hite-Rite coming courtesy of the man himself.


The 87 will be faster because it has DA and 600 parts on it.


----------



## Guest (May 17, 2013)

Rumpfy said:


> The 87 will be faster because it has DA and 600 parts on it.


You cheater


----------



## Guest (May 18, 2013)

*Ride Report*

Well this was my first ride on the American Breezer. There was no learning curve at all. The bike is amazingly stable, owe that to Joe Breeze's design. It is very nimble, chalk that up to the Koski Dura-Trac.
Since I ride steel exclusively I was a little nervous about an aluminum framed bike, but I really didn't notice a huge difference. Yes, it was a little stiffer and I was off the saddle a little more, but it wasn't like riding a jackhammer like I feared. This bike is garage floor worthy, no hooks for it :thumbsup:

Oh, and the original XT build worked flawlessly.


----------



## tductape (Mar 31, 2008)

Lets ride soon.


----------



## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

Skeggs, good place for a shake down ride. I think the aluminum frame and steel fork combo is a smart one.


----------



## Guest (May 19, 2013)

Aemmer said:


> Lets ride soon.


Wish we could! I'm not going to bring up K word, because I've flaked so far.


----------



## Joe Steel (Dec 30, 2003)

Nice job Shawn. That turned out really nice. Congratulations.


----------



## girlonbike (Apr 24, 2008)

Great ride report! Sounds like you had a great time.


----------



## stan lee (Mar 5, 2006)

Great looking bike Shawn and good to hear it rides nice, I like the decals!


----------



## pinguwin (Aug 20, 2004)

Very clean and nice that you have an American stem on it. Don't worry about an AL bike, that thing will last forever.


----------



## sq_root_of_2 (Sep 7, 2008)

Nice one Shawn. 

Looks like it was a fun and interesting resto project...came out very nice. 

I bet you are happy you like the way it rides as well.


----------



## tductape (Mar 31, 2008)

JB needs to step in here and explain the whole relationship with ABM and how Breezers came about.


----------



## Guest (May 21, 2013)

Aemmer said:


> JB needs to step in here and explain the whole relationship with ABM and how Breezers came about.


Great idea Tim, I will shoot Joe an email and ask if he would respond.

He did send me his archive of ads and interviews of the American Breezer's but I can't figure out how to attach, there too long.

I can tell you what I have learned from Joe, but it would be way cooler coming from him.


----------



## breezin (Nov 10, 2007)

Aemmer said:


> JB needs to step in here and explain the whole relationship with ABM and how Breezers came about.


The Bicycling Mag review posted by Nightshade_rider (Post #14) tells the story. Let me know if you have specific questions and I'll try to answer.

Joe


----------



## -Anomie- (Jan 16, 2005)

Aemmer said:


> JB needs to step in here and explain the whole relationship with ABM and how Breezers came about.


Ask and ye shall receive.  Hi Joe!


----------



## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

Ok, finally finished mine. Some before and after pics. Picked this up with a lead from another local forum member. It was ridden hard and put away wet, most of the parts replaced (with thanks to several other forum members for trades/hookups/bro-deals)
I deviated from the stock build with what I figured would be somewhat race oriented 'upgrades'.
It came with a Specialized Direct Drive fork from an M2. With some hiccups, the proper DuraTrac was put back in place.
Specialized headset, Strong bars and Forte post, XT wheelset and rear derailleur all removed. Frame and front brakes polished up, levers resprayed
In place are now Shimano 600 Arabesque headset and 600 rear derailleur, IRD post, Salsa Moto bars and a Dura Ace wheelset (including freewheel and qrs). Topped off with a NOS Hite-Rite.
Weighs in at 26.25lbs.


----------



## girlonbike (Apr 24, 2008)

Thread hijack!!


----------



## tductape (Mar 31, 2008)

Is there an Official American thread?


----------



## eastcoaststeve (Sep 19, 2007)

Beautiful job E. Classy build. That's what a mountain bike should look like.


Makes me a bit sad I went low on the 3 American frame lot on Ebay the other day.

Steve


----------



## Joe Steel (Dec 30, 2003)

Nice one ER!


----------



## oakhills (Mar 30, 2004)

You did an amazing thing there Rumphy! Looks better with the black stem and the Hi-Rite!!!


----------



## Guest (Jul 2, 2013)

Looks killer Eric, nicely done. We should do a photo shoot for sure. How about your impressions of the ride.


----------



## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

shawnw said:


> Looks killer Eric, nicely done. We should do a photo shoot for sure. How about your impressions of the ride.


I need more saddle time to form a better opinion. Shake out some gremlins, pedal on a day that isn't 100* degrees out.


----------



## brijar (Jan 30, 2015)

*Breezer Decals?*

Anyone know where I can track down some decals for my 89 American Breezer?


----------



## colker1 (Jan 6, 2004)

Nice bike, nice build.


----------



## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

brijar said:


> Anyone know where I can track down some decals for my 89 American Breezer?


I believe Joe has some.


----------



## unicrown junkie (Nov 12, 2009)

Nice bike! I just found out that a certain LBS in Central Cal has an '88 also. Am trying to get my hand on it, but I think the shop owner is too smart and won't part with it!


----------



## brijar (Jan 30, 2015)

Does anyone know what size bottom bracket I'd need for my Breezer? I'm pulling off the Bullseye cranks and putting on a set of Cook Bros. since I've never had a traditional BB in it, I'm at a loss in the size.


----------



## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

brijar said:


> Does anyone know what size bottom bracket I'd need for my Breezer? I'm pulling off the Bullseye cranks and putting on a set of Cook Bros. since I've never had a traditional BB in it, I'm at a loss in the size.


Depends on the frame/crank pairing, but I've generally found that a 122mm is the width that works for Cook Bros. So something like a Shimano 68x122.5 will do the trick. Not sure how correct you're going on BB age or spec.


----------



## brijar (Jan 30, 2015)

Rumpfy said:


> Depends on the frame/crank pairing, but I've generally found that a 122mm is the width that works for Cook Bros. So something like a Shimano 68x122.5 will do the trick. Not sure how correct you're going on BB age or spec.


I'm looking for a period correct sealed BB like a Phil Wood or something similar


----------

