Technical & Reference Section > Tech and Restoration
Project Q - Prototype Build
Mikku:
I first spotted the Quamen over in the Museum in March 2018. Never released or put into production, it had been ridden by team members until 2013 when it was auctioned off on eBay, apparently by someone at or connected with Quamen, who was clearing out a bunch of their stuff. It was bought by a BMX Museum member who built it up in several guises before hanging it up on the wall. I loved the quirky design and raw finish plus being a prototype added to the attraction. I didn’t think it would ever be for sale but in May this year I saw it advertised then quickly sell before I had time to do anything. I commented on the for sale thread and the buyer said that, like me, he’d coveted the frame and was surprised to see it for sale. A couple of weeks later the new owner messaged me to ask if I was interested in buying it as he didn’t think he’d get round to building it up for some time. Even better, he only wanted the same price that he’d paid for it! Having been on the look out for an interesting, chromoly, race frame for some time, naturally I said yes, plus was also able to buy a few more parts from him including some Profile cranks and a Tribute Bikes stem. I wasn’t so familiar with the stem, so contacted the owner of Tribute to check the bolt size and not only did he send me some replacements for free, he also chucked in a t-shirt! Unbeknown to me, there was also a tie-in with Quamen, who apparently supplied Tribute with headtubes for some of their frames. Some things are just meant to be! :daumenhoch:
ED209:
Liking this - reminds me of that Pashley frame I had that looked like a prototype.
I would have liked one of those Hidden Nation Akira frames :angel:
oldtired:
yup, top stuff MIck, like the lesser known stuff me :daumenhoch:
yes Ed, top mention Hidden Nation 8), did the Azreal frame ever get made , park/trails version ?
Mikku:
Thanks gents! :daumenhoch:
I seem to remember a nice-looking Hidden Nation popping up on the bay within the last 12 months or so. Did anyone on here pick it up??
Back to things beginning with Q, there’s a cool Japanese tie-in with this frame. Or at least one like it. Thanks to the power of the internet, I found pics of another prototype race frame that was sent over to Quamen Japan in late 2009/early 2010 and tested over here by one of their team riders. Below are some pics of the complete bike. Unfortunately I don't have the forks! :(
According to an old Quamen Japan blog post, the white frame you see in the pics is RF-3, namely Race Frame #3, which followed on from RF-1 and RF-2. That ties in with another internet find - a picture of Quamen owner Zenta Sugimura (yet another Japanese connection) holding a similar-looking frame at Quamen's LA premises. The pic quality isn't great but you can see that the "Zenta frame" has a few differences to mine (including the dropouts and where the top tube meets the seat tube) and given that mine looks more similar to the white frame, I would hazard a guess at mine being RF-2 and the Zenta frame RF-1. This is all just supposition on my part but I'm trying to contact the Japanese test rider (who's still in the bmx scene over here), so will update this thread as and when anything else comes to light. In the meantime I need to crack on and build the bloody thing! :D
Update: Upon closer inspection and looking at other Quamen frames, I think that Zenta Sugimura is holding a Cyphr frame rather than something like mine. I haven’t yet been able to find out anything else but at the very least, I think I am fairly safe in saying that my frame is one of the first 2 of the 3 prototypes made. Maybe! Probably!! ;)
HUTCHMAN:
lovin this stuff :4_17_5:
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