Classic and Vintage Bicycles: What's it Worth? Appraisals and Inquiries - Griffon Frame

Found this frame at a yard sale not to long ago. No one ive ever talked to has ever heard of this company "Griffon" til one guy I was talking to said that there was this bike shop in Santa Monica Ca, where some guy made top end touring bikes and called them "Griffon".. The bike itself is supposedly a mid to late 70's road frame, made for a 27" tire, 130mm rear spacing, Colombus tenax steel tubing, and has campy dropouts back and front. Ever since I got my Miyata, i dont need this frame anymore. What do you guys think its worth?

The rearend must of been spread because if it's 130 then it's setup for modern spaced road hubs. Do you have any full shots of the frame?

Jim Holly (holley?) made it. He had an industrial space shop on Broadway, closed up, went to work for an aerospace company, built a house, set up a second shop, built here and there, emigrated to NZ.
Nice guy. Solid bicycles.
Bikes have nothing to do with the Griffen bikes decades later. Jim should have come down like bricks on them but that was not his style.

Odd image choice to assess the frame.

I was curious about the Tenax tubing, I had thought it was a later '80s tubset. I agree better pics of the frame? not so close up shots of the luggs? does this have cantilever studs?

If it's a touring frame does it have attachment points for racks front and rear?

Jim made frames well into the 90's but certainly not production. Do not let the long Campagnolo dropouts fool you.

We really need a "how to take decent pictures of your bike" sticky.

I'll post better pics. Didn't know anyone would be so judgmental. Lol. No cantilever studs, and no mounts for racks.

framesets do not do very well around here, buyers want complete bikes. Unusual brand = less interest. I would need to see a picture of the complete frame before venturing a guess? Where is the fork? Missing fork = hefty discount.

Might do pretty decent on fleecebay, as you might find a bidder or two looking for a Griffon.

No i want to build it up, Im just wondering what its worth in its current condition. I just dont know what kind of Campy it would use (i want to fit the bike to the right generation.)

Columbus Tenax was mid to high end tubing. Great stuff but not top of the line. I had an ~'86 Schwinn Voyager and a 1988 Schwinn Tempo made from Tenax. This would make a great bike. I'd build it up if I had it and not worry about selling it.

I agree with wrk101's assessment that this won't get much interest on C/L, bare frames don't do well and this is an unheard of name in a rather large size. Maybe $100 on C/L. Ebay, who knows. Could end with 0 bids or go for hundreds of dollars.

As a personal build, this is a nice frame and a good choice. Sometimes niche builders get little respect from a sale standpoint, but that does not detract from the frame's value on a personal build, and gives you something unique (adds to the "cool factor").

This is true. But the only problem now is the fact that I have a Vintage frame, made for a 27" wheel size and its already been spaced out to 130mm wheels for the back. I know that you can still run a 700C, long reach brakes, but to find decent long reach brakes is difficult. It did come with the Ultegra rear der (10 spd) and the barrel stops, so I can always run it as a 10 speed, i'd just have to find all the parts for it. It would be fun to make it into a all original Campy bike, but I wouldnt even know what Campy this bike would have run.

Those pics are much better, thanks! Didn't mean to be judgmental, it's not about you, it's just that it's so often hard to see what we're looking at.

This is true. But the only problem now is the fact that I have a Vintage frame, made for a 27" wheel size and its already been spaced out to 130mm wheels for the back. I know that you can still run a 700C, long reach brakes, but to find decent long reach brakes is difficult. It did come with the Ultegra rear der (10 spd) and the barrel stops, so I can always run it as a 10 speed, i'd just have to find all the parts for it. It would be fun to make it into a all original Campy bike, but I wouldnt even know what Campy this bike would have run.

From the information posted above this was a custom frame. So IMO it has no "original" components and you're free to build it up with whatever you want. Personally I'm a fan of Shimano based on cost and parts availability but go with whatever you want.

Throw a 700c wheelset in there and actually measure the reach you need. If this frame is from the later 80s it may not need as long of reach brakes as you'd expect.

What is that crazy thing on the seat tube? Is that a pump peg? Cool frame, I like bikes from niche builders. But sorry, no comment on the value.

Agree with the other posters, it's probably not worth a lot on the open market. I had an amazing mid 90's John Hollands custom build that I got on CL for my sister, but when it ended up not fitting her I had to sell it at a significant loss on ebay (and Hollands is more well known than Griffon).

The difference in reach between 27 inch wheels and 700c is only 4 mm. That's less than 1/4 inch. +1 Toss on a set of 700c.

+1 Custom bike = use whatever you want on it. I have some personal bikes on their fourth or fifth drivetrain.

This is true. Ive tried measuring the bike up against a 700c wheelset, and I doo need a LRB set. But I guess your right, i can build it up to whatever i want, whenever i get the parts and money. Then i can ride the griffon for races and stuff and use the miyata for my daily rider.

Jim Holly (holley?) made it. . . . Nice guy. Solid bicycles.

When I was in college in SoCal in the early 80s, I knew a couple fo guys who had Griffons. They loved them. One guy rode his across the USA as a loaded tourer. Nothing but good things to say about it.


If it's a touring frame does it have attachment points for racks front and rear?

No cantilever studs, and no mounts for racks.

Depending on when the frame was built, it is not at all inconsistent for it to be intended to tour on and not have rack braze-ons. The lack of canti braze-ons is a little more unusal for a custom touring rig, but certainly not unheard of either - Mafac and Weinmann centerpulls were easily available, relatively inexpensive and did an okay job. Note that it does have the eyelets on the dropouts in an era when most l "racing" bikes lacked them.

You have to remember that braze-ons evolved from next-to-none to anything-and-everything over the 70s and into the 80s. The three bottle bosses, fork and stay rack mounts, shifter bosses, and such that were pretty much the norm for touring rigs by 1985 or so would have given most frame builders the vapors in 1970. So it does not seem at all odd to me that this Griffon would require P-clamps and/or U-Clamps to mount racks to the frame/fork. Quite common, once upon a time.

And yes, that is a pump peg on the seat tube.

This frame made it to the 'bay if anyone is interested (ending soon!): http://www.ebay.com/itm/200811778741

Man, 3-4 weeks ago I would have snapped it up in a heartbeat. Now I'm in the midst of another build. Timing sucks. I hope you get a good price for it.

Nice frameset, hopefully you will get some good action at the end. Ebay is the land of variance. An item might sell for X one day, and the same item might bring 0.2X the next day, with comparable ads, etc. Timing and luck enter into it. Holiday weekends in general are lousy for ending auctions on ebay, as many potential bidders are traveling/doing family stuff/etc. I have been burned selling with auctions ending on holiday weekends, and generally either avoid it, or sell stuff I just want to get rid of. Ending day of week (Friday) and ending time (3:45PM PST) are less than ideal as well. But you have quite a bit of interest.


Good luck in the next 2 hours.

Wish I'd seen this. Likely would have put in a bid. High bidder got a bargain IMO.

Wish I'd seen this. Likely would have put in a bid. High bidder got a bargain IMO.

I agree, a real bargain at that price. I would've bid too if it was a 56cm. Then again I have too many projects as it is!

Yep, as I feared for the seller, this one went cheap.

Wish I'd seen this. Likely would have put in a bid. High bidder got a bargain IMO.


Yeah, even though I didn't have use for it and might have gotten in trouble for bringing home another frame, I put in a bid near the end because it was such a good deal. Someone got a good find.

Way cheap.

271541

Way cheap.

Shows how important marketing is to the ebay process. Getting full value out of a bike or frameset on ebay is quite a bit of work. The quality of the listing, along with timing and scheduling (as I mentioned above) all play a part. Weeks that end on a holiday weekend in the US tend to be lousy for selling on ebay, but great as a buyer. Ending it at 3PM on a Friday is even tougher.

Nothing is automatic on ebay. And the variance on pricing is one of the things I hate as a seller on ebay, but love as a buyer.

271541

Kind of closer to my size... is that frame half primer?

That last one looks like a real barn find, dirty, but probably quite nice once it's been cleaned and serviced.

272087272088

Just ran across this thread while surfing around. I have a "Griffon" time trial bike. I wrote to Jim Holly c/o the Cycles Griffon shop in Santa Monica. (He doesn't seem to be associated with it any more.) He happened to be visiting the US and replied and told me a little about my bike. I think all of his were "bespoke." Mine is very light for a big frame (made of Columbus SL) yet seems quite stiff enough for me and is a very comfortable and exciting ride. Good handling. Holly's work is very neat and simple, but the details are well done. He said his shop was near Art Stump's and he got some tips from him. There must be at least dozens of little-known builders who made some very good but unknown bikes. Griffons are really nice underpriced bikes if you can find one.