Robbied196
Senior Retro Guru
I very rarely buy bikes off Ebay but I came across this bike and noticed there had been no bids with 30mins of the auction to run. I decided to have a bid although not really expecting to win, it was a Sunday evening, prime time for bikes sales!
I realised later the bike had been listed under handlebars which probably didn't help the sale. Unfortunately, there was a communication break down after the sale which was covered in another post:
viewtopic.php?f=37&t=269000&p=2010534#p2010534
However, all's well that ends well and the story continues with the bike finally arriving yesterday. It is exactly as described and does seem to be a very nice frameset. It has been resprayed, box lined and lug lined by Jack Taylor in the early 80s. Although the frame builder is unknown, I took the gamble that Jack Taylor wouldn't repaint anything low end.
The frame itself was originally chrome and I'm hoping to get copies of some photo's of the bike with its original owner in the 1950s along with Taylors paperwork for the paint and also a photo of the owner with the Taylor brothers
As well as being chrome originally, the frame does have plenty of distinguishing features including some very thin forks with a chamfered crown, cut out lugs and nicely shaped brake bridge. Brazed on cable guides and pump pegs so I guess it must have been a fairly expensive frame in its day? Obviously non of the components are original but if the 1950s photo's are good I'd like to build it back to its original spec. There is a very clear frame number 2567514
I have a theory that bikes often circulate in the areas they were built. For instance a good percentage of Rourke's come up for sale in the Stoke area. This bike came from Middlesborough, painted in Stockton on Tees so possibly there's a North East builder connection?
The big question is, do any of you recognise the frame builder?
I realised later the bike had been listed under handlebars which probably didn't help the sale. Unfortunately, there was a communication break down after the sale which was covered in another post:
viewtopic.php?f=37&t=269000&p=2010534#p2010534
However, all's well that ends well and the story continues with the bike finally arriving yesterday. It is exactly as described and does seem to be a very nice frameset. It has been resprayed, box lined and lug lined by Jack Taylor in the early 80s. Although the frame builder is unknown, I took the gamble that Jack Taylor wouldn't repaint anything low end.
The frame itself was originally chrome and I'm hoping to get copies of some photo's of the bike with its original owner in the 1950s along with Taylors paperwork for the paint and also a photo of the owner with the Taylor brothers
As well as being chrome originally, the frame does have plenty of distinguishing features including some very thin forks with a chamfered crown, cut out lugs and nicely shaped brake bridge. Brazed on cable guides and pump pegs so I guess it must have been a fairly expensive frame in its day? Obviously non of the components are original but if the 1950s photo's are good I'd like to build it back to its original spec. There is a very clear frame number 2567514
I have a theory that bikes often circulate in the areas they were built. For instance a good percentage of Rourke's come up for sale in the Stoke area. This bike came from Middlesborough, painted in Stockton on Tees so possibly there's a North East builder connection?
The big question is, do any of you recognise the frame builder?
