Many post-war Maclean's frames have the number on the side of the seat lug too. I think that its only where the seatstay attachment makes this difficult that the number is stamped on the BB. As to the the letter prefixes I don't think the second letter on the post-war frames could have been a code for the builders. Maybe the system was changed post-war - this sort of thing happened frequently with small builders. But all the post-war Macleans frames I have seen have a K prefix with a second letter and then a three figure number. This would seem to indicate that the serial number was quite likely restarted each year. Macleans were probably producing several hundred frames a year in their bes t years in the 1940s and 50s.
Hilary Stone, Bristol, England
> From: "Joe King" <joeking@fastmail.fm>
> Date: Sat, 23 Sep 2006 12:20:00 +0100
> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Subject: [CR] Macleans Featherweights Frame Numbers & Other Matters
>
> Through the 1930's Macleans located their frame numbers on the seat lug
> on the chain side. Post war when they started using the letter "K"
> prefix they
> relocated the number to underside of the bottom bracket shell.
>> From approximately 1958 onwards things got pretty lean for Macleans no
> pun intended. They kept going by selling equipment and clothing but they
> hardly made any frames, although frame repairing and re-enamelling was
> still quite busy right through to the end in late 1962. Their closing
> down sale seemed to go on for ever and in the final month it was just a
> bare empty shop.
> British lightweight frame manufacturing is obviously intertwined to the
> economy and fashion. Post war their was an enormous cycling boom in the
> UK but
> when the economy grew rapidly in the 1950's and car and motorcycle
> ownership became more prevalent it started to wane dramatically. The
> junior and schoolboy cyclists of the early 60's mostly became mods and
> sold their bikes for scooter's, incidentally most of these fashion
> crazed young cyclists rode Vespa GS scooters with hardly any junk on
> them. The other mods from non cycling backgrounds rode the ones with all
> the lights, crash bars fitted (junked-up)
>
> Also the various lightweight makers were always linked to specific
> clubs so if the
> cycling
> club prospered through the lean years the maker tended to survive. All
> the clubs
> that you would automatically associate with Macleans folded quite early
> on and had vanished into obscurity by 1958.
> PS Hebden Cord might well be finished tried the phone and Fax number
> without success.
>
> Croeso Cymru Joe King Nr. Maenaddwyn Ynys Mon Wales
>
> --