Hello all,

This is officially no longer for sale! I bumped the advertisement hesitantly only to discover and purchase what I feel is a perfect "mate" for this bike... So, I plan to keep it after all!

I acquired this frameset as a partial trade for the late-'50s Bates Volante frameset I sold to a gentleman and fellow forum member from San Francisco. After pondering it for some time, I've decided that it isn't a bicycle I can justify building up because of the effort it will take to do it justice.

This is a lovely frameset, and I did not clean it up completely before taking these photos - there is some gunk around the lower parts of the fork blades and bottom bracket area in particular, and I believe it might have been put on the frame intentionally to keep it from rusting. It comes off easily enough with a bit of vinegar and water, which is what I used to clean around the head lugs and seat cluster already. I don't see or feel any dents but there are signs of some pitting around the bottom bracket and chainstays which seems superficial enough.

It feels very solid and has Bates patented cantiflex tubing and diadrant fork blades. It measures 25" from center-to-top along the seat tube and 23" center-to-center for the top tube. The frame and fork have matching serial numbers of U13851. The Bayliss-Wiley bottom bracket assembly looks very nice but will obviously need to be rebuilt - the spindle spins freely but there is obviously a buildup of old grease in there causing it to feel clunky.

-Gregory