MBNZ

Hi all, has anyone got contact details for Jim Brittain?

I understand that Jim was a keen cyclist who setup Pacific Northwest Bicycles in SF in 1971, then went to WheelSport Bicycles in Spokane in the late 1970s, followed by Valley WheelSport. Also made some frames for a while. Rumour is he might be/have been in Wasilla, Alaska?

Turns out that Jim was the first owner of a late 60s Colnago now with me and I’d love to learn a bit more about its early history from him if I can track him down. Apparently Jim bought the frame from Ernesto Colnago whilst travelling the world after his tour of duty in Vietnam.

Thanks,

Mark

tbrittain71

Hi Mark,
I know this a super old thread but if you have never found Jim Brittain, i can help you with that!

merziac

So he hasn't posted since then, 12 years. But if you have a story to tell about the subject, we would love to hear it, we live for this stuff, especially from someone in the family.

tbrittain71

He is living back in Spokane Area working at Fitness Fanatics, he moved from Alaska to the west side of Washington and just recently moved over to the east side.

merziac

Tx!

Welcome aboard, glad you found us.

Sounds like he's doing ok.

Did he build frames, own the Colnago, do you or he have any of his bikes and do you have any pics to share after you get 10 posts, 5 a day X 2 days.

If he actually bought the Colnago from Colnago, that's a heck of a story by itself.

merziac

Here's a great thread on Jim with a lot of info Tx to scozim digging in and finding him. Any insight you could add would be awesome.

Help ID this bike.

repechage

While these bikes are not “early” Colnago they are early Supers.
i have one, club cutouts all main lugs, cluster of circles bottom bracket

the geometry did change by 72, maybe ‘70
i need more time with a like sized bike.

i consider the early Supers to be a true stage race bike- I like the later ones very much but not an all day mount.

tbrittain71

I will have to ask him about that bike (He is my father in law) He did build frames and has his own bike shop in the 70s-90s. I think he stopped building in the 80s but he has talked about doing it again I just got one of his bikes which is how I found this thread, I was looking up Jim Brittain bikes and this popped up!

merziac

Excellent!

Well then, we need pics, good ones and lots of them after you get your 10 posts.

If you hit the quote button, it will notify us when you respond to a post, then we can reply in a timely manner if you want.

cb400bill

This is very cool. Thanks for joining us tbrittain71.

merziac

MBNZ

Hi, thanks very much for the reply.

I've almost finished the restoration of the Colnago so it would be great to make contact with him.

I have sent you a message with contact details through the Forum messages, or search for Mark Battley in New Zealand and you will find me easily.

Best regards,

Mark.

merziac

Wow!

Back from the dead, welcome back. Can we see the Colnago plz? Looks like you will need a couple more posts as well for pics.

MBNZ

Yup, will do some more posts to get my count up!

CliffordK

Ahhh, joined a dozen years ago... and still a "newbie".


@MBNZ's Album:
https://www.bikeforums.net/g/user/110393
https://www.bikeforums.net/g/album/16586645

A dozen years ago:


Now:

clubman 

Nice first post.

And what a bike OP.

MBNZ

Yeah, yeah I'm a slacker... and have too many different interests and hobbies

OK, some of the Colnago's story in stages to up my posts:

… it started for me one Christmas when a cousin came out with the classic line, “you like bikes don’t you, I’ve got an old one in my garage, I think it’s Italian…” . So I went to have a look, took a few pictures and asked some questions on the Classic Rendevous mailing list. It generated a bit of a flurry of interest and it was clear that it was something interesting. The pre-1970s Colnagos are relatively rare and different to later ones with with simpler cutouts in the lugs, relatively plain head-tube lugs, holes in the bottom of the BB rather than a cloverleaf, no panto on the fork crown etc. Details also changed quickly over just a few years at the end of the 1960s. This was back before the marketing machine and exporting got underway and the bikes went bling...

MBNZ

It was far from original though. At some stage it had some brazeons fitted, was powder coated and ended up with a random collection of components. Turned out that it had been bought by my cousin from Bruce O'Halloran at Adventure Cycles, a small local bike shop in Auckland, New Zealand. So I tracked down Bruce who gave me the backstory, and lent me some slides from when he first had it. Apparently Jim Brittain bought the frame from Ernesto Colnago whilst travelling in Italy. There is a really good story that goes with it, but given that I was told it secondhand I'd sooner hear it directly from Jim if possible.

MBNZ

Apparently Jim took it back to the US, built it up and raced it for a few years. In the early 1970s a 16 year old Bruce O'Halloran was working in Jim’s bike shop in San Francisco and ended up being given the bike as payment for his labour. The bike then wandered the world with Bruce before finding its way with him to Auckland. For a while it ended up as a rental bike at Bruce’s company Adventure Cycles, then was sold to my cousin. The other benefit of catching up with Bruce was that he lent me some 35mm slides of the bike as it was originally. It was yellow, similar to the powdercoat finish that Bruce had done subsequently. The slides showed that the original downtube decals were simple “Colnago” text, with a “Mexico 1968” decal on the headtube. These fit with detailed research that Greg Softley did in order to reproduce decals of that era.

MBNZ

I rode and enjoyed the bike for a while, started collecting period parts, then stripped it down to restore. Then life got in the way and it sat for many years in my garage. Finally last year I got around to sending it off for some repairs and a repaint, with decals sourced from Greg. And here we are…. more pics to come shortly.

CliffordK

I know there are a few pre-68 (pre-super) bikes out there, but I've never seen one.

My 68/69 Colnago has a bit different history. And, I need to track down the pre-history on the bike.

Sometime around 1981 I had my Viscount stolen. And, Dad was planning a trip to Italy in the spring of 82. So I decided to buy a used Astra, I think, and wait for the Italian trip to get a replacement good bike. So, we went to Italy, and the Janitor where Dad was working was a bike aficionado. So, we explained to him what we were looking for. I don't know. A couple of bikes just weren't quite right. Then he came up with a Colnago Super. I vaguely think he said something about the paint, but hadn't paid much attention to it. But, that was THE BIKE. I rode it around northern Italy for a few months, then brought it back to the USA when we returned.

Anyway, I've put a lot of years, and a lot of wear on the bike. And, it has evolved some over time. This was from a couple of years ago. It has really bad paint cracking, and I haven't decided if I wish to maintain patina, or restore.







So, it has the ring of circles bottom bracket (late 60's Super), but the paint appears to be from the early 70's.

I'm not quite sure what happened. Perhaps I can get the info from Colnago. It could have been crashed and repainted. Or, there was a period of time when there would be a major update in paint schemes. And, so rather than giving sponsored teams all new bikes, they would repaint and update the old ones, especially for secondary riders.

Anyway, it was only recently that I tried to date the frame (ring of circles bottom bracket putting in the late 60's). I'm pretty sure it is a factory repaint from the early 70's.

MBNZ

Thanks, interesting! Your conclusions on the paint make sense. I was told mine is 1968, but looking at as many others as I have been able to find I suspect that it's 1969. There seem to have been a lot of changes happening then (lugs, seatstay ends etc).

MBNZ

Some original images copied from Bruce's slides (from the late 1970s?). Love the helmet...

MBNZ

When I got it.. powder coated, random mix of parts, had brazeons added for top-tube cable guides, shifters, bottle cage (now removed).

merziac

MBNZ

Skid Lid to the rescue!