Duncan,
Regarding the Condor headbadge on Ebay by Ray Etherton, this might be a bit too early for your bike, as the address listed on a Condor badge tells the story. Ray's badge has "90 Grays Inn" listed as the address, which was Condor's first address and where the shop stayed up until the about 1970-71. Condor then moved to 144 Grays Inn and it was from this address that most of the Italia models were produced and I would think that you need a badge that lists "144 Greys Inn" as the address. The badge on Ebay should really be fitted to a pre-1970s machine, if I am not mistaken.
Condor still makes an updated badges available, but these badges do not feature an address any longer, as the shop has moved three times, now being located at 51 Greys Inn. It is my understanding that they may very well contemplate another move in the next few years, hopefully continuing the tradition of being located on Greys Inn Road.
To my knowledge, Bill Hurlow left in the early 1960s, leaving Condor's founder, Monty Young, as the main framebuilder. Monty was assisted primarily by his son, Grant, and 1-2 other individuals, but Monty did the majority of the brazing from what I've been told. Grant Young is now the proprietor of the Condor shop. You can check in the book "The Custom Bicycle" by Mike Kolin to read an account of the Condor operations circa 1979.
Good luck.
Dave Patrick Chelsea, Michigan
dgranger@comcast.net wrote: Hi all,
I purchased a Condor Italia track frame with a very nice Condor repaint on Ebay this past week.
http://ebay.com/
Seller lists it as a 1970, but seems unsure of the age.
Does anyone know for sure when Bill Hurlow left Condor? I've read everything in the archives that had "Bill Hurlow" in it. Some CR listers say he was there until the "early 60s" and others say to the "early 70s". So which is it?
I am guessing that even while he was still there he probably left the brazing of the Italia model (which used lugs they bought instead of ones produced in-house) to apprentices or junior framebuilders? I know the Italia was their least expensive model, at least according to the 1978 catalogue on Mark Bulgiers site...
One thing I noticed is that the headbadge appears to be a newer style than the original. The rivets are not in the original badge holes. The wider holes in the head tube I believe are for the earlier badge - this badge is newer and has the (unused) holes closer together... compare to this headbadge for sale separately on Ebay: http://ebay.com/
Does anyone know how to de-code Condor serial numbers?
Are there any features of this frame that can help any of you take a guess at the age?
While the paint is nice, the more I learn about it the more I'm feeling I may have overpaid... :-(
Oh well, I'll build it up and bring it to Cirque - at least it fits the theme!
Thanks in advance for any info you can share,
Duncan Granger Hoping his Condor's not a turkey in disguise in Mountville, PA