[CR] anyone heard of Roth bikes?

(Example: Production Builders:Peugeot:PY-10)

Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2005 06:46:28 -0400
Subject: [CR] anyone heard of Roth bikes?
From: "Doug Fattic" <fatticbicycles@qtm.net>
To: "classicrendezvous@bikelist.org" <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>


Eric,

That Roth is quite a nice frame to find in the trash. I had a look at your pictures and it is built with Henry James lugs and fork crown. You might try contacting Hank Folson who makes Henry James lugs and they might be able to tell you who "Roth" is. I can send you the contact info if you don't have it. In the Unites States, their are a number of amateur builders who have made a frame for themselves and a few for their buddies. This frame looks like a candidate for that class of builder. There are a couple of clues for this. First, he didn't bend the back of the front derailleur cable guide on the top of the bottom bracket shell to match the angle the cable runs. A pro builder wouldn't make that mistake. Second, the ROTH decals on the down tube were a type that individual letters could be bought at art supply stores in the early 80's. A more prolific builder would have his own decals made. I used to direct students of my framebuilding classes to that source in case they wanted to put their name on the frame they made. And speaking of framebuilding classes, this frame might have been made in one of the several that are or have been offered by various teachers (like myself) over the years.

Doug Fattic Niles, Michigan

Eric Acuna wrote:

"after a bit of inpiration from Mick's dump find i went to the local land-fill this weekend and found what appears to be a nice little gem. but alas, i cannot find anything about this bike. it's named a Roth. there are no serial numbers as far as i can see anywhere on the frame. has anyone heard anything about this brand?

it has 531 tubing throughout, at least i can gather from the mostly peeled away seat and fork decals. it has GP Wilson rear drops and fork tips and some nice, at least to me, lug work. it was decked out in campy NR derailleurs and brakeset, record hubs laced to record du monde rims and shimano DA EX BB & crank with matching pedals. the campy rear d. was patent 80 but the crank was date coded 6 or 9 in a circle. the parts were a bit worse for wear so i've stripped it down.

here is a link to some photos: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/moschika/album?.dir=e886&.src=ph&store=&prodid =&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos

hope the link works. if it doesn't i can send my pics."

Eric Acuna
Santa Rosa, CA