Hello
I recently purchased a vintage roadbike off of CL here in Southern Oregon and am hoping someone here might be able to help me identify who built the frame.
I showed the bike to a fellow I know who is quite well informed on the subject and he said it did not look like a production frame and was most likely made by an English frame builder.
Judging by the components (which seemed to be mostly original) my guess was that it was made sometime between 1974 and 1978.
It has a first gen Campy Rally rear derailleur Record front, Record lowflange hubs in Mavic 27" rims, block lettered brakes with the early flat release levers. The seat post, cranks, headset and pedals are all Campy of that vintage as well.
It has Cinelli neck and bars with the "Knight" logo on them.
I am not sure( I haven't it had out yet) but I think the BB might be a Phil Wood.
The frame has no markings or labels on it other than the Campagnolo stamp on the dropouts.
I am not sure if it has been repainted or not. If it was it looks like they used some fairly high quality paint.
I have attached some pics.
If anyone has any ideas or suggestions on who could be the builder I would greatly appreciate hearing from you.
Thanks!
gpdave

Yep, Looks very British but from the era that they were trying to show how Italian they could be...looks like a custom build but perhaps a Haden or Davis fork crown...in the fashion of Cinelli. Yes, appears to be a Phil Wood BB unit...some more detail pix of the frame might help. Never seen that "collar" on any brake bridge before.

I will try to get some better shots. Are there any particular areas I should concentrate on?

Your information on date and origin sound spot on to me.

Possible an image of the underside of shell might assist readers.

Also the treatment where stays meet dropouts.

Appears a respray to my eye. If you were to remove fork it would yield a opportunity to examine -

a) steerer for any markings

b) interior of head tube to see if any fastener holes have been filled in

Withdrawal of the Phil bottom bracket would give a chance to check shell interior to see how careful was mitreing and if all four tubes are "full throat" in their respective sockets. This gives some idea as to how "production" vs "artisan" the frame may be.

The combination of the "mitred in" seat stays and the rapier pattern chainstays may be helpful clues as your investigation moves forward.

Tubeset very likely 53!C.

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Here some more pics after I removed the forks, headset and bottom bracket (which is a Phil)
I could not see any holes where a head badge would have been, nor did i see any markings on the steerer.
There wasn't any obvious evidence of a prior color.
Please take a look, hopefully they will provide further info. (sorry about the quality , all I have is my tablet to take photos with)
Again thanks for any help you can give to solve this mystery.
gpdave

I reassmembled the bike and had it out for a ride this morning.
Very happy! I need to adjust the saddle and swap out the toeclips for some with straps but over all a great ride.
Now I am going to have a hard time deciding which bike to ride this one or the Bianchi.
gpdave

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Looking fine!

luv those pre-'76 brake levers.

wrt ID investigation - while the frame has no single feature which represents a griffe it does have a distinct combination of bits. if you were to explore some brit frames from the early '70's you might run across one showing this combination of lugset, crown, seat stay treatment and rapier chainstay.

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Good-looking bike! Show it to the guys over at Retrobike. They might be able to shed some light on the matter.

Thanks, I'll keep looking

Thanks non-fixie, Ill give them a try
gpdave

A nice bike to be sure, although the BB cluster inside doesn't resembled something bespoke to me.
A lovely looking bike, glad to hear the ride suits you too.

Thanks to you as well Bicycle Addict.
Perhaps if enough folks see it eventually it will ring a bell with someone.
I will keep looking and in the meantime I'll keep riding.
gpdave

Good to read you were able to gain some information from these images. Had been looking forward to any assistance they might provide. For me, the lighting and the presence of the remaining Phil ring prevented me getting any help from the pictures.

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