I have a 1953 Gillott Taper tube (lugged) with an 1 1/8th inch top tube. It's the only Gillott taper Tube model I've measured, but I understand that they normally had 1 inch top tubes. It's a puzzle, since it's unlikely that they had lugs made specially to take an oversize top tube for a one-off frame, but they appear to be of the standard spearpoint pattern. I've already mentioned it to Mark in his capacity as V-CC Gillott Marque Enthusiast, but has any one else any ideas, or come across other lugged frames of the period with 1 1/8th inch top tubes?
Neil Foddering Weymouth, England
>From: "Mark Stevens" <mark@lentran.com>
>To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
>Subject: [CR]Oversize tubing - who did it? Gillott.
>Date: Fri, 26 May 2006 19:47:57 +0100
>
>Hello Jan , I can't tell you the wall thickness of a Gillott's Tapered tube
>without resorting to a Hacksaw. That would ruin my summer! I do recall
>Harry Carrington telling me that they experimented with an ovalised Taper
>tube - running across the bracket - for extra stiffness. A frame was built.
>He wanted to patent this idea but it would have been very costly. Are you
>including oversize toptubes? Gillotts built their lugless L'Atlantique with
>1 1/8th'' TT.
> Mark Stevens Evanton Scotland