Ladies and gentleman a nice specimen from bygone track days, no clue as to frame builder but sure is nice, this was riden several years ago by a good friend in fixedgear then passed onto me when he had a clear out
Shadow speed
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Very cool. You have got to build a Time Trial bike from it. The stem is so forward thinking old school.
A need for a large chainring and tall seat is in order you reckon, I will consider this indeed
frame will only get a scrub up and a sand only where needed, seat post and stem will get sanded back and either painted or cleared, bar will get sanded and maybe half wrapped, im sure I still have the old vintage wheels that were on it but they are not the originals, crank might be harder to find, there again I could go retro modern on it but nothing colourful..........Nek minut he puts on the white and purple fixed wheels with the purple tyres and the bright green bar wrap, coloured brakes and so on
Wow~! So many unique features to this frame. Welcome to the build off and keep those posts and photos coming!
Time to soak in WD40 before parting
Nice vintage frame with beautiful details that truly deserves a new life.
I don't think I'd paint that frame either. It has too much history in it's patina, but a track bike needs a bit of flash. Some modern rims and wrap might be just the bling it needs. I'm thinking that BB is going to be a pain...
Wasn't too hard to pull apart, stem took a bit of work, interesting that the way the bearing races are, you have the cup in the frame that looks like standard then there is a separate race that goes in it that the bearings go on and then the standardish fork crown and stem races, of note is the thread pitch is super fine so I be super careful not to damage the steerer, I've work on old loose bearing races before but never seen them as separate from the headset cups, the bar has a really tight curve and I'm sure I've lost a few bearings
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That's a gem of a vintage frame. But, it's incomplete enough that I wouldn't have qualms about replacing the BB with a square-taper. If you want to be 'authentic,' I'm sure you could scrounge a cottered crank from any number of throwaway bikes.
That headset is interesting. I usually keep a strong magnet around to capture those loose bearings that want to escape my clutches.
That headset is interesting. I usually keep a strong magnet around to capture those loose bearings that want to escape my clutches.
Yer I think I have enough to do cottered we will see, never thought of using a magnet I even have two strong half round magnets, I'm getting em now and putting on the front of my tool tray
Yer I was thinking newer wheel set but not too new maybe, it has a nice Shimano bb cup on the drive side so no worries about what will fit hopefully, I will keep the bars as they most likely are original to the frame as I've never seen any bar with that tight radius curve, I will probably wrap the lower drop of the bar, I will keep the caliper as is but may play with a lever in drop position or standard lever on the straight part of the bar, I have plenty of old skool levers to suite the historic look, I don't have a nice leather seat at the moment but as this is a keeper I will eventually get one but for now I will hunt down a suitable one, I'm sure my friend put the Cork stops on the bar ends and in the bb oil hole I like that so will be recreating this, I think as original as possible but so it can be reliable to be riden often, not sure if I will go ss for cruising or fixed track
You know what guys I'm starting to get super excited not because I think it's a super rare frame at all but it's just calling to me, really thin seat stays which are actually bolted at both ends, top tube is thinner diameter than the down and seat tube on the bb is simply stamped what looks like 201 or 281 I originally thought it was repainted but I'm now sure it's original, I also thought the rear brake bridge was drilled out at a later stage to make it road legal but I can see its an actual small tube that has been at a guess brazed in, the fork steerer is tapered half way up, the actual tines have uneven bends so possibly been damaged and roughly fixed and I'm leaving them like that
Rare or not, it is very unique and keeping those features intact as part of your build is a good idea. Adding just enough 'modern' parts to make it fully functional and enjoyable as a bicycle will be the fun of working with this cool vintage frame set! RaT oN~!
Yes. Subtle details can do so much more than "over the top" It's a beautiful frame for sure, know any pinstripers?
It is a great frame with really cool details. It's going to make a really cool rider. I like your ideas for maintaining as much of the original feel of it as possible and highlighting the cool bits.
Totally agree.
That's a cool idea and could really set this frame off. Great build, looking forward to seeing it come together!
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Super unique build. Love it…. I’m guessing parts would be hard to find or interchang. But, wow, awesome, cool frame.
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I was thinking the same thing, even if it's nothing more than a gold paint pen drawn around the lugs.
I've dated it to between 1920/1930 looking at bikes of the era, seat post stem/stem assembly are the same and lugs/fork are of similar style, I was cleaning the parts last night and the bearing race is stamped "made in England" so I would assume the whole bike is English built as I would think any self respecting Japanese or Italian/euro builder would not use English parts but who knows, this is turning into a semi resto build, I have decided to go with square taper, I think I have an old crank that looks the part and may patina the crank to match how ever the seat/stem come out after sanding, and yes Jude the parts in NZ would be most likely impossible to get, I've seen lots of vintage bikes here but never a track bike they have been all tourers or full road bikes, I want to do a neo modern build but Im pulled toward original too, decisions decisions
I would consider it if it were a road bike but as its track and original paint I will give it a miss, one thing I will do at some stage is send some pictures to English based bike museums/collectors to try and narrow it down
