Ten years later...

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New millenium, new bb shell, new paint.. although the new millenium must have been at least five years old when these pictures were taken. Somewhere in the interim had been my last chance to visit JD Whisker and buy some obsolete stuff: Dura-Ace bb, Tressostar, Modolo 919 hoods etc. Before the internet it was always "last chance"..

 

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Fwiw this was all brush paint btw. The green, the orange, the cream. The last time this frame was sprayed(not by me)- the blue on the steerer upthread- was some time in the early nineties iirc.

 

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Well.. this is interesting.. just been to the Stan Pike website and seen the ex John Woodburn K77069R over there, complete with a photo of the serial number on the bracket shell, a ringer for what mine used to look like, before the shell was replaced. A few years back I was futilely exploring the possibility that K*****R meant "frame built for Ken Ryall," So here is some confirmation. (Confirmation which has been there at that site for five years, which shows just how diligent I've been recently in pursuing the provenance of my frame..)

So.. word has it that Ken sourced frames from a few builders- Stan Pike, Jack Hearne, Holdsworth, probably more on the list..
I'd be prepared to believe my frame was built by Stan Pike, except that, elsewhere on the Stan Pike website, he is stated as having been opposed to building with top-eyes, (a weight thing) and I'm pretty sure my frame is built with top-eyes.