Hi All, I spoke to George today and he told me a tragic story about this
bike I have just bought. He built it in 1982 for a junior with small feet.
It was designed with a low bracket and an ultra short wheelbase to be used
with 165 mm cranks (Campy Pista) The junior rode it for a season, parted it
out, selling the frame to a rider with larger feet. This man put 175mm
cranks and long toe clips on it. He was in a 10 mile time trial on the
Weston circuit which has a tight bend. He caught his toeclip on the front
tyre (now a 30mm overlap) and was spat off under the wheels of a truck. He
was killed. The frame was undamaged. In no way was George responsible. In
fact he urges anyone buying one of his frames second hand to contact him so
he can discuss the original design. He is most particular about the fit of
his frames. The toe overlap is less of a problem nowadays as he almost
universally builds touring framesets.
The bike is decalled as a Swinnerton. George explained that it was built
for this junior who was in the Riva Sport club (now defunct). It originally
carried their decals and was in blue. Now in red after modification -front
der braze ons. GL -033-82 is stamped under the bracket. GL was used to
denote a Longstaff frame built for a club or private customer as opposed to
a shop. RS would be used for Roy Swinnertons' shop or BR for Brian Rourkes'.
I have had a couple of responses to timelining Aero era components. If
anyone can date the introduction of Ambrosio Durex Aerodynamic rims I would
be grateful .(stop sniggering, Bloggs)
One list member proposed a website on Aero frames. Any other interested
listees please get in touch.
Mark Stevens in Dingwall, Scotland. Mild but Grey