Is it English? Mystery Randonneur Touring Bike.

[fietskrokodil]

Dear Gentlemen and Ladies of course!

Would you be able to help me narrowing down my search on this Randonneur / touring bicycle?

What I’ve got so far is rather slim

• No brand name to aim for
• Heart shaped stopper for downtime shifter clamp
• Cable stops might have been added later
• Rear spacing is 130 / 132,5 all the way back with lots of tire clearance
• Fork is stamped with Spinner 1993 and 955g and it has CL-1 Lowrider eyelets for Blackburn CL-1s
• Frame Number is S93010879 which makes me think it may be a Brand having produced more volume
• Frame weighs in at 2680g in a 60 C-T
• 26,6mm seatpost and 1“ headset
• Frameset was equipped with a Campagnolo Racing T Triple and a Stronglight JDX94 Headset, Technomic stem and powdercoated in greenblue.
• Anecdotal evidence it came from England 1: I bought this from a guy in Wiesbaden, Germany (frame too large for him) who said he bought it from an English chap
• Anecdotal evidence it came from England 2: Has a sticker on the Top Tube Manchester Airport Security Checked

What I think, but I may be off course:

The current set up was made in the nineties e.g. 1994 or something, the frame is slightly older due to heart shape stopper for downtube shifters not bosses.
I have seen the triple brake cable guide on other late 80s English frames like a Woodrup (which it is definitely not ).


Having checked a lot of catalogue scans already, I struggle to come up with something useful, so any input or comment to narrow it down is highly appreciated

I have no intention of selling this frame (I did, but changed my mind).
Ridden by me it about 10,000 km, I put on a 105 Triple just recently as an upgrade, but don't like it :roll: at all. I will now rebuild it with some new age fitting parts and some fresh paint. I don’t think it’s a very valuable frame, but I love the way it rides loaded with panniers on the low riders.
Thanks to all and greetings from Germany
Dominic

 

[hamster]

I would suspect either Thorn (SJS Cycles), Spa Cycles or Orbit. Try also the Cycling UK forum (used to be CTC) as it's exactly the sort of bike its membership rides.

Thorn for one often spaced frames at 132.5 to enable wider hubs for stronger rear wheels.

 

[fietskrokodil]

I would suspect either Thorn (SJS Cycles), Spa Cycles or Orbit. Try also the Cycling UK forum (used to be CTC) as it's exactly the sort of bike its membership rides.

Thorn for one often spaced frames at 132.5 to enable wider hubs for stronger rear wheels.

Cheers! I will check out those brands and have opened a thread in the Cycling UK forum.

 

[hamster]

Other thoughts could be a Claud Butler: Regent or Dalesman.

 

[pigman]

Re:

Orbit was a brand who made bikes like that, might be worth a look

 

[Heavy]

Re:

My Spa Cycles has a pump mount like that - not sure if that's common or not.

 

[fietskrokodil]

Re:

Hi, thanks for the pointers.
Will check them out.

 

[daccordimark]

The heart shaped boss is an interesting feature. The plastic cable guide under the bottom bracket, what look like threaded mudguard mounting points on the chain stay and seat stay bridges and the general look of the frame make it seem unlikely it was ever built with band-on gear levers in mind. I suppose it's a well hidden way to give owners the option to use down tube gear levers without having to use braze-on mounts but could it have been for some other use?
There looks to be a dynamo wiring hole in the down tube near the head tube and the frame seems well thought out for touring use. The 26.6mm seat post and quite high weight of frame and forks suggest heavy duty generic CroMo tubing rather than anything exotic which would probably rule out Thorn or Spa.

Having three cable guides for full outers in that position on the top tube ought to be a clue because I can't recall seeing them like that before. My money is on it being continental rather than English.

Mark.

 

[fietskrokodil]

Having three cable guides for full outers in that position on the top tube ought to be a clue because I can't recall seeing them like that before. My money is on it being continental rather than English.

Mark.

Hi Mark,
thank you. That's more or less what the chaps at the Cycling UK forum have been saying.
More continental i.e. German or French than English.
Internal wiring for Dynamo and lights is a more common thing there as its never been a legal requirement in the UK. Which I never thought of.

I can only confirm that this is a superb (thought out) touring bike and also fast despite the weight of the tubing. I was in the Vosges mountains in France last year touring with fully loaded front panniers and it was excellent on the climbs and even better downhill.

Narrowing down to the other side of the channel

Cheers
Dominic

 

[fietskrokodil]

Riddle Solved - A German after all

Thanks to all who have helped in narrowing down what the Mystery Randonneur Touring Bike

Its a frameset by VSF Fahrradmanufaktur in Oldenburg Northern Germany and it is identical to their early 1990s Trekking linup. Frame is from Tange 5 with silver as a binding metal - not sure what the exact English terminology is here? solder?

Not sure if happy or sad, as I really hoped for an English bike :? The company still produces good quality touring and randonneur bikes, but is now owned by Prophete.
just glad its an early model when they were still a cooperative of independently owned bike shops. No chain or big global brands back then.