I bought this one for £15 when the National Cycle Museum were thinning out their collection. I liked the geometry. I've no means of accurate measurement--but would that be a 69° seatpost?
The bike turned out to be an Elswick-Hopper, one of the big 'lost' marques from the UK's interwar years. It is an early 50s Lincoln Imp, of the same type that Sheldon Brown remembers from his adolescence. Classic Rendezvous have a contemporary ad posted.
I feel bad about breaking up a vintage bike with original componentry, but I can't see anyone stripping off that household blue gloss and reenamelling the frame. Elswick were a mass-producer, after all.
The brazing may be utility-grade, but the frame is tough as old boots. It weighs 7 1/2 lb despite a 531 main triangle, so it is presumably bombproof. And look at all that clearance! I plan to fit big tyres in order to ride offroad.
Bits-R-Us. The lovely old Maillard f/f hub came from Alf Webb of Bike Inn. It was an exact match for a front hub I had in the parts box. The 165mm Sugino cranks are part of a job lot that turned up on eBay for $13/set: I have another set on the Moulton. The GB bars and Shimano sealed BB came from a busted-up Holdsworth Mistral. Although I was planning a trip to the powdercoater's, I ended up doing an aerosol respray myself. Look what showed up when I was rubbing down the old paint.
Since I don't have proper tools here, I boxed the whole lot up and took it to Ninon at Bike Workshop.
Here's the complete bike. It weighs in at 23 lb. Isn't it remarkable how much it resembles an early MTB? Those are 35c Marathon expedition tyres on Alesa box section rims.
The drivetrain is 43 x 18, the rear sprocket being a thread-on from an old BSA hubgear. There's still loads of room for mudguards, big tyres and all, though I wouldn't like to use that dual-pivot with anything larger. That's Benotto tape on the bars, of course.
If you're riding a fixie offroad, I'd love to hear from you.
This page originally formed part of a personal website, since deactivated. It is retained for the benefit of Classic Rendezvous readers, who might also be interested in my 'proper' site, 63xc.com.