This is a long post. In short: I am trying to identify the maker/era of a track bike, I am selling the wheels and spare tire that were on it / came with it for a friend, and I am requesting a different fork for this track bike to clear 700cx25 or bigger tires.
Morgan Fletcher <morgan@hahaha.org> writes:
> My friend Nick recently bought an older track bike in Berkeley, CA
> with an unknown provenance. The seller said it was built in Northern
> California, but can't remember who built it. It has Fiamme red-label
> rims, old Clements and my gut feeling is it's from the '70s. The lugs
> are long and tapered and thin out nicely at the tips, and they
> definitely show "the hand of the artist". (file marks, some
> jaggedness)
>
> The top of the bottom bracket shell has a marking that is a horizontal
> oval containing the letters "RGF". Is that a marking of the maker of
> the lug, or the builder? Do you know anything about it?
>
> The odd thing about the bike is that it appears to have been built as
> a track bike for the road. No toe-clip overlap, generous fork rake,
> low (for a track bike) bottom bracket and a relatively long top
> tube. It's got campy track dropouts in the rear, campy drop-outs up
> front and very little room for more than a 20c tire at the fork crown.
>
> The components are a mish-mash of various brands / eras.
>
> He's going to build up some basic around-town flip-flop wheels for
> it. He won't use the the wheels that are on it, which appear pretty to
> be perhaps of the same era as the frame. I'll get specifics for them
> and post them to this list as a "FS" item.
Sorry for the long quote, but now I have pics and more info on the bike.
Specs:
73° seat and head angles 60cm c-c seat tube 57.5cm c-c top tube 23cm bb to floor with 0psi in the tires (700c fiamme red label rims and flat sewups) 5.5cm rake 103cm wheelbase with rear axle in middle of drop-out, would be 101cm if rear axle pushed all the way forward 182mm head tube ~215mm steerer
Pics:
http://www.birfield.com/
Know what it is, or might be?
Wheels for sale:
I am building him some wheels: Campy Record track hubs & MA3 rims. He would like to sell these wheels to cover the cost of the new wheels. Jay Sexton expressed interest in the Fiamme red-label sew-up rims the first time around, so I guess he has dibs. Rear hub is a three-piece marked only "MADE IN ITALY". Front is a one-piece marked RFG. Wheels are 36h and true. Clement Strada 66 tires are fairly rotten, front holds air but rear doesn't. Comes with good spare Clement Criterium, never glued. Rear cog is an 18t I believe, track width. I have no idea what the wheels and spare tire might be worth, nor does Nick. $75 or best offer?
Need a fork:
The front Clement just clears the fork crown, when inflated:
http://www.birfield.com/
We did a test fit of some wheels I built with 700c MA3 rims and 700x25c Contintenal wire-bead tires and they do not clear the fork crown at all. The wheel will not turn.
Do you have a fork that would look right and work right with a bit more tire clearance, that you'd sell to Nick? Looking for something with ~5.5cm rake, += 21.5cm steerer, preferably similar or same crown but anything will do.
Morgan Fletcher
Oakland, CA