Another Bike to identify
 

What is it??
http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/1187009/
http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/1187007/
http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/1187005/
And I didn't get a pic of the curved seat stay bridge, only just visible in the last pic

Frame number is 5543

Any ideas?

Very nice--can you give us a list of the components?

Welcome to Bike Forums, by the way!

East Hill

Well, I don't think the components are original, so it may not help. It may well be local to Newcastle and i think it is from the mid fifties.

Might be a small builder like a RonKit or MKM contractor. Looks like a nice older Brit frame that's been resprayed and had newer components hung on. I'd guess later than mid '50s (tho it's possible), and could even be as late as '70s, you reckon the shifter bosses were added on when painted?. Whatever it is, looks to be a high quality frame (Nervex pro lugs) and probably all 531...show us some more!

If you click on the album link of the current pics you'll see more pictures of it, amongst other things.

Cheers

Dutch built Raleigh with added on (poorly I might add) cable guides.

any evidence of holes for headbadge?

marty

no, no headbadge holes.

Dutch Raleigh? Are we looking at the same bike?

yes. Raleigh contracted to Gazelle for a while to build bikes.

Newcastle UK? The wrapover stays are certainly saying English to me. Looks a little like a Carlton I had - see below. I can't look back at this bike though to check, because I gave the frame away to a BF user in Latvia.


http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...2/Image081.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...2/P1230005.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...2/P1230001.jpg

Doesn't work for me, I just see the same pic no matter what I click on...but what I do see looks much better than any Gazelle-built Raleigh I ever saw, I mean that forkcrown is far more detailed than typical Raleigh fare...Could be a Carlton I suppose, but the serial number should tell if that were the case (and I'm no serial number wonk). By curved brake bridge, do you mean it has the caliper mounted on it (as I imagine but cannot see clearly) or is it a support for a cable stop (as I reckon that is throwing the other guessers awry)?

[QUOTE=Sammyboy]Newcastle UK? The wrapover stays are certainly saying English to me. Looks a little like a Carlton I had - see below. I can't look back at this bike though to check, because I gave the frame away to a BF user in Latvia.

Yes, Newcastle UK. The wrapover looks a little rounder than mine but, yes they are similar

Are these similar enough to the bars you want

Aha! I used to live in Morpeth, just to the north of there (I assume that's your area), but sadly I don't know anything about local framebuilders. Those bars are close to what I want (and they're what I have on my EG Bates track bike), but don't quite have the vintage profile.

Nishiki flirted with wrapover stays circa 1970, but the headlugs pictured look European, rather than Japanese.

I'd say - British. I'll put my money on British. I had a Bob Jackson that I recall looked similar. There are so many great British frame builders though - It will be a difficult job locating the builder.

woodrup. or maybe 60's-early 70's raleigh. Nervex lugs, no? gotta serial number?

It is a curved brake bridge, the caliper brake fits onto it, so it is in the same plane as the seat stays, it is not a cable stop.

The frame number is only 5543, and it think the 55 is for 1955, 1955 ties in with the little history I know, the 68 year old guy who gave it to me, says it was the first bike he started racing with. Also the Nervex Pro lugs are the old style, which stopped about 57?

It looks a lot like a dutch raleigh I'm thinking about getting.
http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q...raleigh008.jpg
http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q...raleigh007.jpg

I still think it's got to be something other than a Raleigh/Carlton. There were many British builders who used the curved brake bridge, and for many years, so that's not a good clue. And the serial number means zip to me, except it's short which points toward a smaller shop (smaller than Raleigh). I thought of Ron Kitchings since his business was active in Harrogate, Yorks (not Newcastle but SORT of nearby) for decades, from the 50s thru the 90s...but most of the frames built for his trade would have Zeus or Suntour dropouts, and I don't know about Nervex being a lug he imported, typically his trade was in Milremo (his rebadged BCMs) or Prugnat. Harrogate also was home of builders Metcalf and Mason, who teamed up with Kitchings to be MKM...more possibilities from Northern England Builders include such worthies as: Priory, Tower, Whitehead, Mal Rees, Heatons, Lakeland, JRJ ( Bob Jackson), Woodrup, Merlin, Harry Quinn, Harrison, Harry Hall, Denton, Harris, Jack Taylor, AE Butterworth, Henry Holmes, Ellis Briggs, Mercian...take your pick! One thing I've read about early Carltons is that all their serial numbers have a letter code such as J4364, or S2568, since you don't have a letter...it's not Carlton.

:D i just checked a carlton frame i have and i cant tell the diff,so, am assuming it,s a Carlton !