Cranks for the TBC Cobra Quad

I picked up the Tioga chainring and Tioga spider as part of the TBC Cobra Quad purchase. The frame colour was matched to the spider and it suited nicely.

The Takagi CR-MO cranks came on another BMX bike that I purchased. They were a bit rusted and still had bits of the original candy blue. I stripped what was left of the candy blue, citric acid bathed the cranks and gave them a hand polish to get them up to a nice survivor look.

Anlun Stem Saved for the TBC Cobra Quad

Picked up this Anlun Freestyle stem on a $40 BMX find that popped up chained outside the local train station with a for sale sign on it. The whole BMX bike was covered in white house paint. A quick strip and polish and it's come up a nice survivor look.

When I pulled the stem apart, there was problems with the quill staying inside the stem head. I bought a sharp centre punch and gave the knurling a few taps to expand the quill size and help it to fit snugly into the stem head. I added a little Loctite to make sure it stayed in place when I did ride it.

Brakes for the TBC Cobra Quad

Brakes were an easy choice for the TBC Cobra Quad. I've managed to score a set of Dia Compe FS 880 and a set of Dia Compe MX 901 BMX brake callipers. Both callipers are all dated 1986.

The 901's were sourced from a seller in Greece. They came as both fronts and they were cheap. I've picked up 2 rear bolts and will swap them out. Besides, the self-aligning bolts on the 901's are an overkill and work much better with standard bolts.

The FS 880 brake callipers and the Dia Compe Tech 4 levers were sourced locally. The Tech 4 levers are dated 1985. They were used but in great condition. They're going straight onto the build in the condition they are.

Finally, I'll be running a ACS Rotor on this build. The rotor is dated 1987 and is in excellent condition. I've never fitted a rotor so I'm looking forward to the challenge of adjusting rotor-bound brakes.

All of these parts fit within the era of the TBC Cobra Quad.

TBC Cobra Quad Build Frameset

A little under 2 years ago, I stumbled across my two race bikes that my mum still had stored away in the garage. That sparked my interest back into BMX. Fumbling around the internet I started coming across many bikes that I didn't know about and spotted the TBC Cobra Quad.

The Cobra Quad was imported and sold by the Toowoomba Bicycle Company in the mid eighties. It was a flipped-upside-down copy of the SE Racing Quadangle. I managed to uncover a little history about the frameset from a member on OZBMX who originally worked at the TBC factory in the eighties.

"The top bar was added here in the Australian factory after the boss realised these were faulty Chinese frames and frame would bend at the head tube when any weight was on bike"

The TBC Quad came with either Skyway Forks or a freestyle version of the SE Racing Landing Gear forks with peg bosses in the top and bottom of each leg. My Cobra Quad has Skyway Forks.

The frame is in good shape but I feel that I will be stripping it back to metal and having it sealed and painted in the near future. There's a little bit of rust starting to show up in various spots.