Campagnolo ends were definitely available in the UK in 1953 - in the Thanet records a Silverlight is recorded as having been built with them that year - and I have a copy of the 1952 unnumbered Campy catalogue which has the Holdsworthy stamp on it. But the critical bit is the number 1929 - Ephgrave numbers were simple sequential ones and this number is without doubt from 1952/3 - there are enough recorded dates with numbers of Ephgraves to be very certain. However it would be interesting to know more about the Campy ends fitted to this Ephgrave - as I understand it, the early Campy ends used a smaller adjuster screw and I am not sure when this was dropped. But (and I think this is a big but) I think it unlikely (though possible) that somebody would have had Campy ends originally fitted to a frame with a Simplex double roller which was really rather specific in its use. I think it more likely that the Campy ends were a replacement when subsequently somebody wanted to use a Campy rear mech. Tom - does the frame have a lever braze-on? If so Simplex or Campy? Having said that I do have a 1952 Rotrax frame which a left Campy lever braze-on and a right Simplex lever braze-on - this is without doubt original - the original Campy chrome bronze lever came on the left braze-on. So the original rider must have specced a Campy front mech combined with a Simplex rear.
Hilary Stone, Bristol, England
> From: Norman Kilgariff <nkilgariff@yahoo.com>
> Date: Fri, 27 Aug 2004 08:50:09 -0700 (PDT)
> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Subject: [CR]Re: Toms Ephgrave
>
> Tom Ward's Ephgrave
>
> 1 53
> 1929
> LE
>
>> "1 53" would suggest a date to me...I see that the Campagnolo dropouts
>> (visiting Chuck Schmidts timeline) do go back to 1951....but I wonder if
>> they might not have been replaced--or might this be a '60s frame?
>
> Holdsworthy (London) were importing Campy ends with adjuster screws in 1954.
> They first appear in their own range as an (expensive) extra on the 1955
> Cyclone. However the 1955 Catalogue will have gone to print early Nov 1954
> (For the Earls Court Show). So we are in the right time frame.
>
> http://homepage.ntlworld.com/
>
> Holdsworthy may have only recently made this arrangement with Campy, because
> their top of the range Whirlwind still only gets Agrati's in 1955. While
> Holdsworth were the sole UK importers of Campy kit in the late 50s, 60s etc,
> if that arrangement only started in 1954 maybe Ephgrave got some in 1953.
>
> Strange things happened all the time, 1953 certainly is early for a UK frame
> to have these but it may not of itself disprove your 1 53 date theory.
>
> Norman Kilgariff (Glasgow)
>
>
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------
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