Hey Listers; I recently acquired an interesting Australian Super Elliott road bike frame,dated by seller approximately late 40's-early 50's.Still has original Reynolds transfers,track fork,long horizontal dropouts,excellent shape overall.Unfortunately the seller packed this frame poorly(no box,simply wrapped in plastic and paper),and the fragile decals on the seat and head tube were largely destroyed.Downtube decals still mostly intact. My questions are: Can anyone offer some information about this manufacturer?The C.R. Aussie page has a listing for Elliott Bros.,but no info as of yet.I would like to get an idea of what the intended use of this type of frame would have been,with the track fork etc.Also any history of Elliott Bros. bikes in the larger context of racing,and whether these bikes ever made it out of Australia to the rest of the cycling world. Do any listers have examples of decal motifs that might be shared in trying to bring this bike back to it's original appearance? Any advice on preserving the downtube decals?I recall a post in the archives,which of course I can't find right now,that offered a method of overlaying some sort of transparent decal material to seal the old decals underneath.Where could this product be found,and is this advisable? What would have been the likely components for this bike considering the era, and the location where it was ridden? There doesn't seem to be much info available google-wise,so I appeal to the deep well of the C.R. membership to shed some light on this subject. Anyone?
Todd "Why am I up this early on Sunday?" Kielman Chicago- Where the cold north wind is killing my cycling buzz.......