Cycle Craft in Portland got one of these frames, must have been 1973 or so. It was built so misaligned that the rear wheel would not turn, the tire touched the seat stay. The frame was made with CP alloy, polished with smooth welds. They gave it to me to see if it could be fixed. I checked the frame over, no way could it be fixed without welding. All the alignment was terrible. This frame was made by Speedwell Gearcase Company, I am sure they did not know much about bicycles. It did look nice though.
This was not the first Ti frame. I met the director of the National Bureau of Mines lab in Albany Oregon back when I was building frames. He took me on a tour of this wonderful place, where Titanium and Zirconium production was perfected in the USA. During my visit he mentioned that a guy working there made a frame for his English 3 speed, this was in 1957! I tried to get a look at it but it was gone.
Jim Merz
Bainbridge Is. WA
> PATRICIASHAY@aol.com (=realname?) wrote:
> "Does anyone have any info re: the availability and value of a
Speedwell
titanium frame? I believe very few of the were built in Britain in the
late
1970's and they were known for their workmanship and light weight."
>
> You can find pictures and an interesting description of a 1979
Speedwell
at the public part of Carsten Rehbein's website http://www.cyclo-24.de
> There's no direct pricing or availability info but the statement that
the
bike was bought from Bruegelmann may be of interest. Bruegelmann is one
of
the biggest bicycle mail order companies in Germany and usually their
stuff
is (partly high end like Colnagos etc.) but seldom very exotic or rare.
If
> Bruegelmann sold Speedwells I doubt that only a few have been made.
> They are still in business (www.bruegelmann.de) and may have the infos
how
many they have sold. Hey, maybe they have still one or two in the
basement
:-)
> They have at least lots of classic interesting stuff in their
catalogue,
like TA cyclotouriste cranks, chainwheels and BBs, long reach sidepulls,
old
Campagnolo spare parts, or Cinelli lug sets ($15 whole set).
> Click on "SUCHEN" and enter "T.A." for example as search string in the
field "Artikelbezeichnung"!
>
> Dirk
>
> --
> Dirk Feeken
> Heidelberg
> Germany