Classic & Vintage - Ellis-Briggs Build

So this will be my first complete bike build ever. To this point the most I've done is fix up a couple of bikes I've bought/saved from the garbage. Here are some pictures of the frame I picked up today. The paint isn't as nice as the guy implied in the add, but it's about perfect for what I want. A nice riding bike that doesn't look bad, but one I can actually ride and put in a bike rack without being worried about the paint. I'm gonna clean it up and do some touch-ups, but I'm happy with the condition.

http://i597.photobucket.com/albums/tt54/firstRWD/Bikes/P1110258.jpg
http://i597.photobucket.com/albums/tt54/firstRWD/Bikes/P1110252.jpg
http://i597.photobucket.com/albums/tt54/firstRWD/Bikes/P1110253.jpg
http://i597.photobucket.com/albums/tt54/firstRWD/Bikes/P1110255.jpg

These are the other parts I have for the bike so far. I also have a pair of ergo bars. I don't think I can use that FD, though. That's a braze on only style, correct? And I have a stem coming from bigbossman.

http://i597.photobucket.com/albums/tt54/firstRWD/Bikes/P1110262.jpg

I'm still in need of brake calipers, a saddle, pedals, cable stops, and wheels. I have a pair of basic Dia-Compe brake calipers that I might use temporarily, but I think they're the most basic kind and in any case don't have the stopping power I want. I also saw a pair that had the cables attach on the opposite side as normal, and I'd like to try to find those so that I can route my front brake to the right side lever. I think I Might try to find some Campagnolo cable stops and derailleur cable guides for no other reason than to match the Campagnolo dropouts. I have to look into those more, though. For the wheels, I'm thinking of tackling my first wheel build. I want to try something a bit different that I saw online on a wheel building site, so if anyone knows of an aluminum 40spoke 700c rim and/or hub please let me know.

You can use that fd with one of these:

http://www.ebikestop.com/problem_solvers_286_braze_on_front_derailleur_adaptor_silver-DP6221.php

....And I have a stem coming from Big BossMan.....

You will, as soon as you PM me your address.......... :)

Do you care about what exact FD you use? If not, I have some shiny ones laying around that I can choose from and send your way. Mostly Suntour's, but I might have a Shimano 600 laying around - probably a tri-color, though......

You will, as soon as you PM me your address.......... :)

Do you care about what exact FD you use? If not, I have some shiny ones laying around that I can choose from and send your way. Mostly Suntour's, but I might have a Shimano 600 laying around - probably a tri-color, though......
Sorry. Didn't know if you still had it from before.

If you've got a Shimano 600 clamp on FD laying around, I'd happily take it. Did you mean it probably is or isn't a tri-color? The RD and crank-set is tri-color, so if you meant it is, that would match. If not, that's fine anyway. I'm not terribly particular about that part. I just want to keep it Shimano 600 if I can.

Is tri-color different than regular Shimano 600? Better, worse, or just fun because it has a color band?

To this point the most I've done is fix up a couple of bikes I've bought/saved from the garbage. Here are some pictures of the frame I picked up today. The paint isn't as nice as the guy implied in the add, but it's about perfect for what I want. A nice riding bike that doesn't look bad, but one I can actually ride and put in a bike rack without being worried about the paint. I'm gonna clean it up and do some touch-ups, but I'm happy with the condition.

Agreed, paint any better than that is just trouble. A few preexisting chips and dings take the pressure off. I wouldn't even bother with the touchups--in my opinion they don't look any better than the scratches.

Nice looking bike, I hope it works out for you :)

That is a great first project bike. Your 600 crankset is sweet - had one on a Trek 560; my first "real" road bike. I love the way they were shaped and I find them one of the most appealing sq taper cranksets ever. Welcome to the club, start making room now for builds # 2 through 8.

that's a bloody lovely classic british (yorkshire) frame. :0)

Thanks for all the positive comments. I'll be sure to take care to get some nice brakes on it and take some good pictures once I get it all cleaned up and put together. I might even have a lead on some Shimano 600 brake calipers. :)

She's a stunner and, for its age, in amazing condition. Enjoy her and baby her (I'd lock her up outside as little as humanly possible).

Nice, I am glad you got the frame. Strange that it has fender braze-ons on the rear but not on the fork

Black Campagnolo Centaur brakes are very nice and very reasonably priced, about $50 a set fro Probikekit.com

Its a beautiful frame. I hope in the future that you might consider a tasteful european build. The Shimano 600 components are good but that frame deserves some quality vintage european components. I could see a full Campy Nouvo Record group on there, or a TA crank. And tubular tires would really make it ride nice.

Well, it's probably literally the second to last reasonable riding day of the year in WI, so I went ahead and pulled the stem, bars, brakes, saddle, and wheels from my daily beater and threw it on the Ellis-Briggs just so I could get a ride in and some basis for my dreams while I'm building her up.

Then I crashed it! Thank god all I hurt was a Dia-Compe NGC400 brake caliper. The frame is totally fine. I guess I'll need to make sure I don't skimp on tires when I build it, because it feels so good in the turns that I went too fast and out-leaned the tires I have on the daily beater wheels. I hit some dirty pavement, the front tire started to slide out, I leaned upright into it and managed to at least wipe out on the grass on the outside of the turn rather than the pavement. This really is a nice riding frame. And it's Just my size. Fits like a glove! I'm ultra psyched to get some nice wheels and tires on it now!


Its a beautiful frame. I hope in the future that you might consider a tasteful european build. The Shimano 600 components are good but that frame deserves some quality vintage european components. I could see a full Campy Nouvo Record group on there, or a TA crank. And tubular tires would really make it ride nice.

I actually wouldn't be opposed to some nice euro stuff at all. I'd even be a fan as long as it performed as nicely as the Shimano stuff I've got and was indexed. I have a feeling I'm not going to find any nice indexed euro shifters, derailleurs and crank-set in great condition all for $50, though. That's the only reason I ended up with the Shimano stuff. I'm not enough of a bike snob to worry about putting the Shimano on the frame.

Thanks for the tip on the brakes, jet sanchEz. Someone on the local CL has a set of tektro dual pivots with cane creek levers for $40. I figure I can probably resell the levers and get $20 of that back. If not, though, I might have to get those Centaurs.

Agreed, paint any better than that is just trouble. A few preexisting chips and dings take the pressure off. I wouldn't even bother with the touchups--in my opinion they don't look any better than the scratches.

In southwest Michigan (Niles, MI) you can find Doug Fattic, who builds custom bikes, making custom frames, teaches frame building, and is an excellent painter. In addition he trained at the Ellis Briggs shop in the UK. I'd be surprised if he was not willing to paint this frame.

The Shimano 600 is good stuff. Take a ruler and measure the spacing between the inner faces of the rear dropouts. It should either be about 120mm or about 126 mm. In the former case it will mean the frame was intended for 5-speed, and in the latter case it was meant for 6 or 7 speed, either freewheel or cassette. Whichever it is, keep it in mind when you select wheels and shifters. If you want to use 130 mm wheels, the frame will need to go to an expert to have the rear triangle cold set. Not a major issue in your town, Yellow Jersey among other shops should have very qualified techs.

Doug Fattic might be able to advise you on how EB frames were built up back in the day, since he worked there.

I actually already took it to Budget Bicycle to consult them about fitting the 8 speed rear wheel on the bike. They're going to do the frame for me. This is actually the kind of thing I'd normally just go ahead and tackle myself, but since it's not terribly expensive and this is actually a nice frame, I'd just as well let someone with experience do it. Out of curiosity, have you been to Yellow Jersey before?

I might have to contact Doug someday. That's cool that he's pretty close to here. I would be curious to know more about these bikes and how it probably originally came. Right now I'm having trouble even finding out when it was made. I had no luck trying to use the serial number.

Cool! Nice bike. :P Yeah, I really love the ride of this bike. It just felt really natural and fitting, but lively and exciting(that part may just be because it was my first time out). I'll have to email Ellis-Briggs about it, I guess. My serial number is 4992, so maybe it's not too far off from yours.

I got an email back from the guy with the brakes, and I guess I'll probably be getting a new pair of these Cannondale C3 brakes for $20. I'm thinking maybe I should go ahead and pick them up while something decent is available for pretty cheap and then if I find something better later then I can always try to resell these or use them on my daily since I guess I'm gonna need something to replace the Dia-Compe I bent if I can't bend it back properly.

I actually already took it to Budget Bicycle to consult them about fitting the 8 speed rear wheel on the bike. They're going to do the frame for me. This is actually the kind of thing I'd normally just go ahead and tackle myself, but since it's not terribly expensive and this is actually a nice frame, I'd just as well let someone with experience do it. Out of curiosity, have you been to Yellow Jersey before?

I might have to contact Doug someday. That's cool that he's pretty close to here. I would be curious to know more about these bikes and how it probably originally came. Right now I'm having trouble even finding out when it was made. I had no luck trying to use the serial number.

Yes, I went to YJ several years ago when I came up to Madison to go to the Cronometro Swap.

What was your experience at Yellow Jersey? I went twice in hopes of help with bike questions and to pick up some things I needed, and both times led me to not want to ever bother going there again. The owner seemed pretty pushy trying to get me to buy whatever he could. The second time, since I was starting to feel like he was a used car salesman, I eventually told him I wasn't ready to buy yet and that I was shopping around a little before making any purchases. At that point his attitude completely changed and apparently he then had better things to do.

Also, I just learned of that swap. I can't wait. I'm wondering if I might be able to find some wheels and a decent fork for good prices. Maybe I should wait to buy anything for my build until after that swap. Is it as good as I was told?

Similar. I needed a headset and ended up getitng one, but it was too $$, despite the need. I have heard they have a good service department, but I didn't get any repairs - I was just passing through town. Ask at the Great Lakes forum - there are some fellow Madison residents there. I KNOW Andy Muzi (owner) has been in the game long enough to understand cold-setting.

What was your experience at Yellow Jersey? I went twice in hopes of help with bike questions and to pick up some things I needed, and both times led me to not want to ever bother going there again. The owner seemed pretty pushy trying to get me to buy whatever he could. The second time, since I was starting to feel like he was a used car salesman, I eventually told him I wasn't ready to buy yet and that I was shopping around a little before making any purchases. At that point his attitude completely changed and apparently he then had better things to do.

Also, I just learned of that swap. I can't wait. I'm wondering if I might be able to find some wheels and a decent fork for good prices. Maybe I should wait to buy anything for my build until after that swap. Is it as good as I was told?

The swap is real good, but like any swap, you find what's there, and you find it if you get there first. I go more to find things I might need, rather than to set up for a particular build. It IS better than anything we have in Michigan. Keep your eye open in the Great Lakes Forum, again. Usually there's a group or two meeting for pizza.

BTW, does the Ellis Briggs need nutted brakes or recessed? and what length does it need?

I'm pretty sure it's nutted. I've never had recessed brakes so I don't really know anything about that. I'm going to measure the length now since I'm going to check out those Cannondale brakes I found on local CL. They're recessed, though, so I'm going to have to take the frame with me and see if they fit or if I might be able to do to modify them by simply using a different nut or something. I'm kind of thinking they won't work out, but they seem good and the price is good so I'm gonna see.

The owner of Yellow Jersey did seem competent and like he knew what he was talking about, but I'm not interested in giving his shop my business considering the used car salesman attitude I received while there. There are plenty of other qualified shops in Madison.

EDIT: Well, brakes are a no go. Oh well. I'll have to pick up some others. Maybe in black...

I'd recommend Revolution Cycles on Atwood. Also, I might have an FD if you're still looking for one, leave me a PM if interested.

I'm pretty sure it's nutted. I've never had recessed brakes so I don't really know anything about that. I'm going to measure the length now since I'm going to check out those Cannondale brakes I found on local CL. They're recessed, though, so I'm going to have to take the frame with me and see if they fit or if I might be able to do to modify them by simply using a different nut or something. I'm kind of thinking they won't work out, but they seem good and the price is good so I'm gonna see.

The owner of Yellow Jersey did seem competent and like he knew what he was talking about, but I'm not interested in giving his shop my business considering the used car salesman attitude I received while there. There are plenty of other qualified shops in Madison.

EDIT: Well, brakes are a no go. Oh well. I'll have to pick up some others. Maybe in black...

Dunno how much experience you have with old brakes, but often older frames need medium reach brakes. This is teh length of the caliper arm below the pivot, not the length of the brake bolt. Nutted brakes have longer brake bolts than do recessed brakes, and the recessed nut is Allen, not a hex nut. So you gotta look at how they mount (nutted or recessed) and on how low the brake shoes need to hang (reach) below teh mounting hole, to be able to meet square up on teh rims.

I knew the recessed ones had shorter bolts. I was just hoping maybe they'd be long enough or that I could figure something out. I'm pretty sure this frame was built for 27" wheels, and I'm going to run 700c, so I have to have long calipers. I did figure out I need calipers with a 50ish mm reach. The Dia-Compe calipers that I put on it for now have a 50mm reach and the pads have to be all the way down.

Well, I emailed Ellis-Briggs, and it would seem that my bike was built in 74' and sold as a frame-set in New Orleans, not a complete bike, and as such, had no original equipment to live up to. No need to feel bad about the Shimano stuff on it.

They also asked if I might have pictures of the bike as a frame-set and once I get it built up, which I thought was pretty cool. Maybe if I make it look pretty enough they'll put a picture of it with the other vintage Ellis-Briggs bikes on their site.

We must have bike brothers:

http://www.classicrendezvous.com/images/British/ellis-briggs/kichline_bike/LETTER.JPG
http://chuck.kichline.com/bikes/ebtb.jpg

Awesome. That's where they said mine was sold too. My serial number is 4992, so it was made right about the same time as yours. They probably came over in the same shipment or something! Cool.