1991 Chas Roberts (Unidentified)

[Tsundere]

Took a bit of an ebay gamble, it was listed as a Roberts and it's a nice fillet brazed frame, although the only decals are the little signature style ones you can buy from ebay for a couple of quid.

Paid £311 for it, so if it's not a Roberts or if it has any hidden issues then that may end up being too much, but if it is a Roberts and is sound in all the ways that matter then I reckon it's a decent buy, either way it'll make a nice project for the summer.

Will update with the frame number and better pics when it arrives next week, in the meantime I would appreciate any thoughts from Roberts experts or anyone else who may be able to shed some light on the matter. The presence of rack eyelets and the colour suggest to me that it might be a Black Leopard, which would make it ideal as workhorse/tourer type build.

 

[MatBH5]

Well, the fork crown, some of the seat cluster details and the rear drop outs look reminiscent of Roberts.
Wouldn’t be able to say what frame / model without better pictures - I’ve a few catalogues from about this time (if it is a Roberts).
The angle of the photos and odd wheels/tyres look to be throwing the geometry out a bit.
Think you might have got a decent deal there, if it clears up well.
Frame number should be on bottom bracket and in format 880714 where that would indicate 1988, July, 14th frame that month.

 

[Tsundere]

It finally arrived, I'm going to give it a bloody good wash and take some better pics, the serial number is very hard to read with any degree of certainty, it looks like '91101?', so the format matches Roberts ^^ and if that's right it looks like it's a late 91 model.

 

[Tsundere]

Well it's definitely a Roberts, the previous owner seemingly preferred the low key stealth aesthetic, during the strip down I found he's covered some of the decals with black electrical tape. They look pretty minty...
The bike is filthy but there are no signs of any damage to the frame that I can find, cleaning process might reveal something, but I reckon this is a case of a bike breaking at some point during its life and the owner not finding the time or motivation to get it running again. It came with one of those Shimano Roller hub brakes hanging off the fork, which is probably what failed and led to years of undisturbed storage in the garage.

 

[MatBH5]

Great! I have this re. Black Leopard from (at a guess as there is no date) the 1992 catalogue.

 

[Tsundere]

Great! I have this re. Black Leopard from (at a guess as there is no date) the 1992 catalogue.

Thank you for posting that, it matches the description in every way except 3 bottles which could have been a 92 addition, some close ups of tourer-esque fittings that strongly suggest it is a black Leopard.

 

[Tsundere]

Anyone recognise this stem? Not seen one like this where the cable runs through from the bottom.

 

[widowmaker]

Great! I have this re. Black Leopard from (at a guess as there is no date) the 1992 catalogue.

Out of curiosity, are there any details in the catalogue of the White Spider ?

 

[retrobikeguy]

It was always suggested mine was a snow leopard....... but we have to remember, white spiders were made usually custom, so anything goes

Mine has a High bottom bracket and good clearance tapered fork and stays, rack and bottle mounts and dated 87

It also has a cast bottom bracket, the snow leopard was fully brazed, maybe this is a Black leopard?



This is from April 88 suggesting mine is either a black leopard or a white spider

 

[retrobikeguy]

The stem looks like a Raleigh one to me