Hi all
I finally got pics of two road bikes that I'm considering getting to convert to SS/fixed (hopefully to make something that looks somewhat like an old english path racer), and was wondering if anyone could tell me anything about the specs, esp frame materials and what type of threading each frame uses.

One is a JC Higgins road bike - looks like campy gran sport stuff (not sure of the year), some high-flange hubs, and GB stem. Seller said it's Austrian/Puch made. I also included a pic of a Western Flyer frame (last pic) that I'm looking at. I know next to nothing about this one except that it used to be a 3 speed.

Are either of these good quality frames? My other options are a Reynolds 531 Carlton Catalina (https://orangecounty.craigslist.org/bik/1848569654.html) and Vitus 971 Crescent (https://houston.craigslist.org/bik/1875763926.html) frame, so I'm trying to get info on the top two to compare to these.

Apologies for unloading two frame info requests all at once.

Western Flyer or JC Higgins, in poor shape, no thanks. The problem with building up a mediocre brand, is that there will be very little value to the bike when you are done. Put your money into a good frame, then go from there.

Personally, I would be looking at complete bikes. All of these are projects, and unless you have a shop full of parts already, building them up will be costly.

+1 to the below, the Carlton looks the closest.

i'd be on that Carlton if it were anywhere near me.

A Carlton Catalina was near the bottom of the line: probably morfed into the Raleigh Super Course. Heck, I'd go for the JC Higgins just for the Gran Sport, stuff works great!

@Zaphod/dbakl - yeah, the carlton has a 531 main triangle, but only straight gauge. I think I might wait a bit more for a good frame to show up.

@wrk101 Would you feel the same about a project bike for a single speed buildup?

Thanks for the thoughts!

I'd go for either the JC Higgins or the Carlton, assuming one or the othe fits ya. The Carlton's probably the best quality of the bunch, but most $$$ too. The Higgins'd be fun just for the name, it's got some decent-ish stuff on it (and some zoot pinstriping too), and you could probly get enuf for the Campy shifty bits to finance a fixie conversion. The Crescent appears to have a bent fork, and from the pic, I'd say it's NOT a Vitus-tubed bike: it's got a one-piece (ala Schwinn Varsity) crank, and the bikes that had those were made from the finest Swedish sewer pipe. Western Flyer? Forget it.

SP
Bend, OR

I couldn't find much on Western flyer, but even after finding out it was connected to Murray, I hoped against hope that it might be something decent. Alas! My hopes were in vain.

So the Carlton needs a paint job, and is kind of pricey for the quality of the tubes IMO. The Higgins, though perhaps Puch made, seems to be fairly low quality tubing and construction, and the Western Flyer...is a Western Flyer. Guess I'll wait - none of y'all would happen to have a 54cm-ish frame you don't need ?

@Bobbycorno - thanks for the tip on the Vitus. I'll probably avoid it; I have enough sewer pipe that doesn't work in my plumbing.

My first rule on any buy is the condition of the frame: paint and overall condition. A quality paint job on a frameset costs more than most frames are worth.

I don't see good paint on any of these frames. So I would still pass. Skip the Carlton too since it has poor/mediocre paint.

I would avoid all the department store crap. If I was building a FG/SS, I would look for a nice Japanese bike. They take common, easy to find parts, they look good, there are plenty of them out there.

As a huge fan of Japanese bikes, I'd normally agree, but this time I'm specifically going for the specific olde-english look. Perhaps I should give up on that and just build a good bike