I've posted a couple of times in the last month about an eBay find which was listed as a no-name 1980's Italian bike, but which turned out to be an English lightweight from the early 1970's. At first, I was suspecting MKM or Kitching, but based in part on input here, I realized that wasn't the case. The mystery seems to have been solved: it's apparently a Bob Jackson (the current iteration of Bob Jackson Cycles in Leeds agrees that it's probably a BJ, and I've asked them to check the job cards ... ah, the joys of having a vintage bike made by a company that still exists ...) dating to mid to late 1972. I'll let everybody know the outcome of my request for specific production data, and my inquiry to them about availability of transfers.

Just in case anybody needed to know a basic range of BJ serial numbers from this era, I offer what I have so far as a public service:

370 - 1954 (bearing "JRJ Cycles" headbadge; JRJ are Bob Jackson's initials, and were used as an earlier version of the Bob Jackson marque)
7300 - July 1970 (road, bought as bare frame)
???? - 1971 (time trial; contact pending)
7742 - Bought in 1972 (track, bought as frameset)
8200 - November 1971 (road, bought as bare frame)
8648 - Mine, probably 1972, probably time trial
8751 - 1973 (road)
9812 - 1974 (road)
15052 - 1979 Grand Prix (road)

The numbers are sequential, as you've probably figured out. I've gathered that the acceleration from about 1973 to 1979 was a product of a big jump in exports to the US as part of the "bike boom". It's been commented upon both here and elsewhere that the quality of Bob Jackson frrames was spotty during this period because of the jump in production. The shop went from one or two framebuilders to as many as five at a time. Later, the company was sold to complete outsiders, and quality really went in the trash; Jackson and others bought the company back in 1993, and while Jackson himself passed away in 1998, the brand has made its way back, and Bob Jackson Cycles is a respected builder of new steel frames.

As a final aside, one of the bikes listed above turns out to be owned by another guy right here in Eugene, Oregon; it hangs in the foyer of his office about a half mile from my office. I've seen the bike, it's gorgeous, and it's an inspiration to me to do a good job on this restoration. It amazes me that it took the Web for me to find it, but there ya go.

Which is probably far more than anyone needed to know .....

Many BJ bikes have the initials embossed on the seat stay caps.

When I was looking to get a decent touring bike in 1995, BJ happened to call my local bike shop asking if he wanted to sell the frames. I bought one from the period of improved quality and it is a really nice example that still turns heads.

I have a Bob Jackson with the serial #1844 and I have been told by the people at Bob Jackson that their master sheet lists that bike as built in 1956 "for production". It also has two other numbers, #143 on the back of the steerer column and underneath the #1844 on the BB and #60 which is actually on the end of the #1844 on the BB but not on the steerer column. These extra numbers are probably "renovation numbers" according to Bob Jackson (and my own research). It was normal practice for a "re-spray" shop to stamp their own numbers on a frame before it was stripped for repairs/repaint. My own frame was built with Simplex dropouts and the rear derailleur hanger has been modified for a Campagnolo Derailleur but has the same paint as the rest of the bike over it. Probably modified in the early sixties and had a fresh coat of paint and transfers applied.

vjp