Unique Mystery Touring Frame ID Help Please

I'm sorry (I'm not really) but everything whiffs of late 1980s into the 1990s for that frame

Most builders stuck with traditional horizontal dropouts and the same type of fork over and over again.

My own 1980s Raleighs, British Eagle, Dawes and other tourers have all been built seemingly using the same instruction manual.

The one pictured appears to be later going from what I've owned and looked at over the years

Using an obscure one-off TT frame as a reference 'so all frames must be like that' is just a bit misleading.

*My SBDU frames have been SB7336 and SB8387
 
I'm sorry (I'm not really) but everything whiffs of late 1980s into the 1990s for that frame

Most builders stuck with traditional horizontal dropouts and the same type of fork over and over again.

My own 1980s Raleighs, British Eagle, Dawes and other tourers have all been built seemingly using the same instruction manual.

The one pictured appears to be later going from what I've owned and looked at over the years

Using an obscure one-off TT frame as a reference 'so all frames must be like that' is just a bit misleading.

*My SBDU frames have been SB7336 and SB8387
No reference to all frames are like this was made just highlighting the fact that Shimano vertical dropouts and investment cast seat lugs have been around for quite some time as the evidence suggests and as you rightly point out used by high end low volume frame builders. So was this frame built by a US frame builder or possibly a quality Japanese import which were popular in the US during the 80's and beyond 🤔
 
I feel like the frame and fork don’t belong together. Gut feel is the frame pre-dates the fork by quite a lot. Is the rear bridge drilled for a brake? If so, I might even say the rear canti bosses were added later and the fork swapped to match.

Thanks for the response! You're certainly not the first person to suggest this, i've gotten that consensus from a few other places now.

I appreciate hunch regarding the brake bosses, that's the first time that's been brought up. After inspecting the frame I can confirm that the rear bridge wasn't drilled with a brake in mind though.
 
All, thanks so much for the attention and thought, banter and frivolity aside.

I'm happy to hear the sentiment regarding the quality of the work is shared, it piqued my interest as soon as I saw the listing. I just really didn't expect this to be such a mystery.
 
It’s definitely a nice frame. I guess all you can do is sand or scrape back a bit of the purple paint and see if there’s anything underneath. If there’s old paint underneath and it’s a different colour on the frame and fork, chances are they don’t belong together. If you do it somewhere you can’t see, you could touch it back up with metallic purple nail varnish.
 
Back
Top