CMAW 

Picked up a nice but slightly mutilated track frame lately and am of course craving for insight, background and wisdom of all kinds. Burco was a Dutch, Amsterdambased manufacturer of the proverbial heavy Dutch citybike, and they certainly left no trace on the internet of anything racelike. I wonder if they maybe just rebadged the frame: fork, lugs etc look familiar to me but I can't put a name (or a date) on them. All Reynolds 531 and seatpost 27,2, no serial codes whatsoever. The bike will take some work, but I have prospects: an outdoor track waiting for me at a stone's throw from were I spend my weekends!

Elev12k

Possibly it is built by small builder with expertise for Burco or their rider. Such builder could be Zieleman for example. I have to say that resemblance with some track Zielemans I've seen can't be denied.

ColonelJLloyd 

Awesome fork crown. More pics?

Bianchigirll 

that is interesting, turning a Fixie into a multispeed. I agree nice looking bike. along with what Elev12K says my Cornelo was built in italy for the Dutch cycling shop that sold them.

lotek 

It does have a certain Zieleman like quality.
Here's an early Zieleman Baanfiets, with emphasis on the fork crown.

A Zieleman Baanfiets (track bike) is high on my list of wants.

Mel, possible build by Whit Ko? similarities there too.

Marty

CMAW 

A few more pics




Turning a fixie into a multispeed may be interesting, but adding a garden fence is not!
The way the points of the seatstays meet on the top tube is pretty specific, I guess. Any ideas about the date?

Elev12k

@Lotek
Witte Ko? I don't know. I noticed the resemblance with Zieleman, for example in crown, but there is more that looks familiar.

Nasty modification is that with the brake plate.

unworthy1

the lugs, twin plate fork crown and semi-wrap stay ends are nice but not unique, those track ends might be the most unusual feature on this frame.
Hope you can get a straight bridge brazed in to replace that monstrosity without further damage to the paint!

CMAW 

OK, so that's how they're properly called.

Sigh... the thing is getting bigger every day, it seems. No clue to what the possibilities are, 'll have to check with a framebuilder. A respray will probably be inevitable, I'll have to stretch the budget on this one. Oh, the fork ends are Campagnolo, what's unusual about them?

realestvin7

Sad to see, but a great find nonetheless.

unworthy1

Here's what the stock Campy trackend looks like, yours have been modified (I didn't even recognize that they were Campy) and it could be that that sculpting and method of attaching the stays is somebody's "signature"...not one I recognize, however.

Elev12k

I've seen it with Zielemans before

CMAW 

I've got some input from a Dutch forum: someone claims that any frame made by Z. should have a serial number, labeled Zieleman or not. Sent an email to a guy who's building a database around Dutch bicycles, hope he can shed some light on this (Burco team?). I'll call it a "Dutch school" trackbike for now!

Elev12k

It does not necessarily need to have a serialnumber. I have Zieleman without serialnumber and there is no doubt it is a Zieleman. Labels/decals: many riders for brand X actually raced to victory on a Zieleman in disguise.

CMAW 

Are you Dutch, elev2K? It was on the Wereldfietsersforum, reply by a framebuilder. Tried the Fiets forum also. Btw: just discovered your black Zieleman in the Dutch invasion thread and wow is that a breathtaking bike!

Elev12k

I found the topic already. Yes, it is Marten m-gineering answering. Nice chap. Met him twice in his Kiel Windeweer shop.

The blacky is mine indeed. One of 5-6 I have. The black one is the one without serial btw.

lotek 

My Zieleman also has no serial number. Definitely a Zieleman from the KZ in the seatstay caps.
Elev12k, you have 5 or 6 Zieleman bikes? I didn't realize you had so many.
Here's a track end treatment from a Zieleman Baanfiets that was on Marktplaats a few
years back.

Elev12k

late 60s black Zieleman
early 70s golden Zieleman
mid 70s silver Zieleman
late 70s red Zieleman
late 80s blue Zieleman (Avatar)
Zieleman mountain

that makes 6 of which only 2 are full bikes right now (black and blue)

Elev12k

Last pictured Zieleman: early 70s Type Special in gold >>



As bike it came equipped with a lot golden hardware. A bling bike.

CMAW 

OK guys, you have a lot of soul .

The Burco's track ends:




Exactly the same as in your marktplaats pic, lotek*. Unworthy referred to them as "signature items", is this conclusive then?

*are you Dutch too?

lotek 

Nope, I'm American but have a serious love for Dutch bikes.
I don't know if the track ends are conclusive, I also have pictures
of plain (unmodified) campy track ends on a Zieleman.
but if push came to shove I'd say it's a Zieleman.
Nice find.

Marty

Morgenholz

New member, responding to a zombie thread, indeed... However, I am now the owner of this frame, purchased in the UK, with thanks to what I presume to be CMAW's tidy chainstay repair. I intend to build it up with Ko Zieleman's preferred Super Record componentry, then possibly return its paint/decal scheme to that of a Zieleman Type Special, not as a fake, but as a keeper/rider for my own use... It is certainly a mid- to late-1970's Zieleman build. I may retain its Burco guise, but I have never found any reference to another Burco baanfiets. If there is anyone still alive interested in this content, your comments are welcome. The Midwestern USA Burco Baanfiets Owners' Club is rather small.

CMAW 

Have fun with it — as a Burco it may be one of a kind.
The bridge repair was actually pretty straightforward since that horrific piece of metal was tacked onto the original bridge, not replacing it, so all it basically took was some cutting and filing. I had the frame fitted out with French track components, but can't seem to find pictures of the complete bike.

non-fixie 

Thank you for following up on this story, @Morgenholz. It's always nice to know what happens to exceptional finds like these.

Morgenholz

[QUOTE=non-fixie;21212378]Thank you for following up on this story, @Morgenholz. It's always nice to know what happens to exceptional finds like these.
[/QUOTE}

Hi non-fix-- It was my pleasure to learn the history of my own frame, which may be a one-of-a-kind, in a forum that a prior owner still reads! Now, I am really stoked-- I had assumed that the chainstay bridge was a new fabrication; its originality encourages me to keep the build as original as possible. As the crown was drilled for a brake, I have only to decide whether to install the one seventies-vintage Campy brake that I own or to have some fill welding and paint re-touching performed to the fork. I will follow-up with photos of the rebuild, which could be any time this winter, which may be ambitious knowing my pace of work...