Breezer
1977
JBX1 First Prototype bike, curved fork blades with additional fork braces. This was the very first bike that was built specifically for the purpose and outfitted with all new components. Earlier bikes had been modified balloon tire bikes that were not up to the stresses placed upon them. This bike had been purpose-built and used the best parts for each function whereas the earlier bikes used whatever was "laying around the shop". This specific bike now resides in the Oakland Museum, #2 is in the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame and #9 is in the Shimano Museum.
1978-79
Series I (Ballooner II) Next 9 "production" bikes that followed JBX1. Still have the extra frame laterals. 9 of the first 10 were nickel plated. Built using straight gauge cro-moly airplane tubing using the basic geometry from the Schwinn Excelsior balloon-tire bike. The complete bikes sold for $750 with pump, water bottle, spare inner tube and repair kit. The first bikes had 22" seat tubes to accommodate the 180 mm seat posts of the day. The top tube sloped down to the 5 1/4" head tube which would accept a standard Schwinn fork.
1980-81
Series II, before there were any mountain bike specific parts. Check out the French touring parts (TA cranks, Mafac brakes), Italian parts (Cinelli stem, Campy quick releases, seat post and headset), English Brooks saddle, Japanese drivetrain, and USA hubs. Imagine trying to pull all these parts together from all these different sources.....must have been entertaining! Series II loses the frame laterals.
1982-83
Series III, the Breezer stem attaches to a brazed-in stub in the fork (similar to the current Ahead stem). The forks were Reynolds steerer tubes and tandem blades with a Cunningham designed tubular 4130 arch. 1983 is the first Year for the Shimano Deore XT "deer head" components. Frame sets (frame, fork and stem) retails for $1,100 and they were distributed by MountainBikes (Gary Fisher, Charlie Kelly) for a time.
1987
First year for American Breezer made by American Bicycle Mfg. Corp in St. Cloud, MN.
1991
First year for the new Breezer models not made by American. Moves to a full steel line up as opposed to the American aluminum bikes. Two Lightning models with Shimano Deore XT parts. The Lightning Flash is the higher end fillet brazed frame made by Shitamori in Japan.. The Thunder and Storm have a little less expensive components. A model named Sky was sold in Canada and England. The bike used mainly LX components (one step below the Storm) and never appeared in a Breezer catalog.
1992
Two Lightning models with your choice of Shimano XTR or Suntour XC Pro with Racing Geometry. The Thunder and Storm have stouter tubing, longer chain stays and higher bottom bracket. A model named Sky was sold in Canada and England. The bike used mainly LX components (one step below the Storm) and never appeared in a Breezer catalog.
1993
New Cloud 9 model with Titanium bolt kit and super-light parts kit, bike weighs in at 20.9 pounds. The Lightning continues as the XTR equipped bike. The Softride Suspension stem is optional on all models including the Beamer which features the Softride Beam rear suspension. The Storm is now an LX equipped "budget" bike. There is a new Panoramic tandem bike as well as the Venturi road bike with an Ultegra and Dura-Ace mix.. Clipless pedals (Shimano Deore XT SPD) show up on several models.
1994
The Lightning becomes more affordable with an XT mix of parts. Threadless forks and stems with Dia Compe Aheadsets come on all bikes. The Beamer continues with the Softride Beam rear suspension. Grip Shift makes an appearance on the Beamer and Jet Stream. The Storm goes entry-level with a bunch of STX parts. The Venturi road bike continues.
1996
Breezer Cro-Moly tubing on all models with optional Breeze fork, Rock Shox Judy or Rock Shox Quadra 21. Introduction of the Ignaz X, a "tribute" bike to Ignaz Schwinn the founder of Schwinn bikes. The Ignaz X is loosely based on the early mountain bikes that were made out of converted balloon tire bikes.
1997
Introduction of D-Fusion tubing with a D shape at the head tube to distribute stress. Two models (Thunder and Storm) use aluminum tubing for the first time since the American Breezer models. The Twister is a new full suspension bike with "Sweet Spot" technology. It is a unified rear triangle (URT) design with 5 inches of travel. The Ignaz X continues on and the Venturi road bike is available as a frame only.
1998
Pretty much a carry over year from 1997. The Lightning and the Storm are D Fusion Cro-Moly and the Jet Stream and Thunder are D Fusion Aluminum. The Tornado adds to the Sweet Spot family of full suspension Breezers with a nice high-end parts mix. The Ignaz X gets a new color and the Venturi continues as a road frame
Breezer Serial Numbers
First is order of sale (Charlie Kelly wanted to be first production buyer) and is not stamped on frame. Stamped on outside face of left (track) dropout is a 3-digit number. It is
effectively the serial number. These three numbers represent the sequence of sub-frame assembly. That is, the first digit is for main frame, second for rear stays, third for twin
laterals.
Sequence sold, serial number, original owner; where now
1, JBX1, Joe Breeze; Oakland Museum (now Smithsonian Museum)
2, 7.74, Charlie Kelly; Mountain Bike Hall of Fame
3, 2.81, Otis Guy; Otis Guy
4, 5.68, Fred Wolf; Frank Hawkins (sp?)
5, 8.12, Larry Cragg; Larry Cragg
6 (10?), 6.99, Wende Cragg; Joe Breeze
7 (9?), 4.47, Jerry Heidenreich; Jerry Heidenreich
8 (7?), 9.23, Terry Haggerty; Matthew Seiler
9 (8?), 3.35, Michael Ducks; Shimano Museum
10 (6?), 1.56, Fritz Maytag; Fritz Maytag
Series II: The serial number is stamped on the bottom of Bottom Bracket
shell. Sequence is like: J.B./B.80.12 (written on two lines)
"J.B." is for Joe Breeze. "B" is for Breezer. "80" is for 1980. "12" is for
12 of 25 in this series which lasted through 1981.
Series III: The serial number is stamped on the bottom of Bottom Bracket
shell. Sequence is like: J.B./B.82.34 (written on two lines)
"J.B." is for Joe Breeze. "B" is for Breezer. "82" is for 1982. "34" is for
34 of 75 in this series which lasted through 1986. Only about 60 of these
were completed.
Series III numbering began with #1, not 26