Originally Posted by
MiloFrance
Looking at the articles (there is another MacLean, but I don't think it's relevant to this one) the serial number is not right. Not too worried, for £40 I'm going to have it anyway!
I look forward to more and better photos!
There was a custom frame builder called McLean in the US in the 70's or so, nothing to do with the English marque, and spelled differently.
The English marque was, as I'm sure you know, eventually bought up by Holdsworth. There was a thread here on Bike Forums about a late MacLean, and I seem to remember the bike was well below the quality level you'd expect of a Holdsworth; it's unclear to me whether it was a low end Holdsworth product or perhaps they had sold the brand on to another manufacturer.
The dropouts on your bike look very much like dropouts used by Armstrong in the 50's; I'll be able to judge that better when we have better photos. I see a chainstay cable stop, so your bike was made for a derailleur. The seat stay caps seem unusual.