1975 Witcomb USA, part of my Chance lineage

[yo-Nate-y]

MOAR

 

[knowthejo]

OMG! This is literally the most awesomest bike I have ever ever seen! If you ever want to see, I have an attractive wife up for grabs.

 

[yo-Nate-y]

OMG! This is literally the most awesomest bike I have ever ever seen! If you ever want to see, I have an attractive wife up for grabs.

Dude, post up a thread!

 

[grilla]

That chainring! Those cranks!

 

[Old Ned]

Yep, the panto'ing on them is tremendous although, in general, there is a strange mix of componentry. Beautifully modified chainset, Nuovo Record rear mech, decent bars, stem, seatpin etc. and then Valentino front mech, Nuovo Gran Sport gear levers and Gran Sport brakes. They don't distract from the overall 'niceness' of the bike but I would have expected Nouvo Record throughout given it's origins.

EDIT - what am I talking about!? That's a Nuovo GS front mech not a Valentino. Twerp!

 

[yo-Nate-y]

Not to mention a Zeus headset! Indeed, the build is pretty eclectic, but not all that odd for the time (and there are some replacements here and there). Everything works really well, but that said, if I were to swap something it would be shifters and brakes for NR. The panto work is the obvious outlier time-wise, but I really like it.

Here are some links:

Classic Rendezvous' Witcomb USA page
http://www.classicrendezvous.com/USA/Wi ... mb_USA.htm
....with a price list from '76!

And a neat interview with Sachs about how he ended up hooked up with Witcomb in the UK to begin with:
http://www.thewashingmachinepost.net/ri ... rview.html

 

[knowthejo]

Keep coming back and back to this page to drool.

I would kill for that chainset!

 

[yo-Nate-y]

Thanks for that---- I should be getting another round of pics up soon. I tooled around on this baby the other day. Such a nice bike.

 

[guy3023]

Hi,

New to this forum. Found it by searching for Witcomb USA.

What a beauty Witcomb USA! But what caught my attention more even was where it was purchased. I have a Witcomb USA, "Broker Special", one of 10(??) Rich at the Bike Broker in Ft. Collins, Co. had specially built. These were built with steeper (for the day) angles and few braze-ons. I bought mine used from Rich (can't remember his last name) who had sold it to a fellow who found it too harsh (it had an inch of padding on the handlebars!). Mine was built up with original Dura-Ace, before the rear derailleur was available so it had a Shimano Crane rear. Mine is not currently built up since I used it as a fixed gear for awhile.

Not surprised at all about the Zeus headset on yours. Zeus components were quite popular at the shop at that time.

Guy

 

[yo-Nate-y]

Wow---thanks very much for the info. Sorry that it took me this long to check the thread and see it.

If you are still floating around these parts, do post up pics of your when it is built.