1975 Witcomb USA, part of my Chance lineage
- Thread starter yo-Nate-y
- Start date
Jingle Jangle
Old School Hero
Witcomb USA!
More please.
More please.
Alas, the Ferrari isn't mine. Nice little ride though 
Here are some pics of the 1975 Witcomb as I picked it up. I think I'll angle the bars down just a tad. Other than that it is pretty primo. Nice patina all around but everything functional and accounted for. The bike spent its first couple decades in Fort Collins, Colorado--quite the trek from East Haddam, CT, the American home of the Witcomb nameplate. On the top tube just before the first cable clip is a cursive script reading "W.P. Carney" that is mostly gone at this point.
The ride is great. Lively and light. The wheels are 27" Matrix rims added at some point to the vintage Phil Wood hubs. I am sort of tempted to do a 650B and get some fenders in there...might make it as she stands with some narrow ones. The gruppo is mostly Campy GS. The Cinelli Unicantor and stem are a nice touch of black.
The story on the panto is that the previous (second) owner had a friend getting work done in Italy and included some Campy bits in a larger project for the Witcomb. The CNC work is beautiful and incredibly precise--the W's on the chainrings could kill a man!
I really like the look of it, although it isn't original it is a nice dress-up for an otherwise trad frame and build.
At Witcomb at the time Peter Weigle and Richard Sachs traded off, sometimes even on different portions of the same bike, and according to Weigle (asked by the previous owner) there is no way to tell who exactly made what. Added to the mix is the apprentice Chris Chance, and you've got a lot of framebuilding lore wrapped up in this little package. I was really excited to find one, and even more excited that it fits well enough to ride it.
But I digress, here are some pics!
Here are some pics of the 1975 Witcomb as I picked it up. I think I'll angle the bars down just a tad. Other than that it is pretty primo. Nice patina all around but everything functional and accounted for. The bike spent its first couple decades in Fort Collins, Colorado--quite the trek from East Haddam, CT, the American home of the Witcomb nameplate. On the top tube just before the first cable clip is a cursive script reading "W.P. Carney" that is mostly gone at this point.
The ride is great. Lively and light. The wheels are 27" Matrix rims added at some point to the vintage Phil Wood hubs. I am sort of tempted to do a 650B and get some fenders in there...might make it as she stands with some narrow ones. The gruppo is mostly Campy GS. The Cinelli Unicantor and stem are a nice touch of black.
The story on the panto is that the previous (second) owner had a friend getting work done in Italy and included some Campy bits in a larger project for the Witcomb. The CNC work is beautiful and incredibly precise--the W's on the chainrings could kill a man!
I really like the look of it, although it isn't original it is a nice dress-up for an otherwise trad frame and build.
At Witcomb at the time Peter Weigle and Richard Sachs traded off, sometimes even on different portions of the same bike, and according to Weigle (asked by the previous owner) there is no way to tell who exactly made what. Added to the mix is the apprentice Chris Chance, and you've got a lot of framebuilding lore wrapped up in this little package. I was really excited to find one, and even more excited that it fits well enough to ride it.
But I digress, here are some pics!
Similar threads
