First of all a profound apology for not repying to Robin's email off-List about his Woodrup frame. I think it had just arrived when the server I use had problems with sending and receiving emails for about six days..It's in there somewhere Robin..sorry about that oversight.
As to Woodrup's...First of all I must explain that what follows is based on the opinions I have heard voiced by perhaps several hundred cyclists in and around the west Yorkshire area, in which Woodrup's are based..on Kirkstall Road, Leeds.. There will be some slight element of my own opinion also, as I have known the Woodrup shop..and the late Maurice Woodrup for about five decades..similarly I have known all the other Yorkshire builders for the same period of time.
Possibly because Bob Jackson's business seemed so much bigger than Maurice Woodrup's, because Bob had glossier catalogues and did everything in-house..even spraying, Bob's company's frames was perceived as being less..let us say ..bespoke..or custom-built. This last statement is of course far from true..but many club cyclists..the stock-in-trade of the UK lightweight trade, just perceived it as being so.
Bob always had more builders working on frames..I think five was the highest that I can recall..whereas I dont remember Maurice having more than two..and possibly a bit of part-time help when business was busy. Whatever the reason..Woodrup's was always perceived to produce the better quality frame, probably because their production was much smaller, and customers assumed that far more time was spent on each frame.
I have sold quite a lot of S/H Woodrups..and probably more Jacksons..and Pennine's, Briggs etc etc. My own impression was that Woodrups had the edge over Jacksons..perhaps just a little more attention to detail..more individualised treatment etc etc..but I have handled some excellent Jacksons too.
I have been inside both workshops when they were in full swing, and have been surprised by some of the "processes" that I have seen..things that I did not expect..slight heavy-handedness, but maybe that it a common feature of the majority of frame-shops.
Bob had a faster turn over of builders and, of course, had more novice builders...but there again his foreman builder spent his lifetime with Jackson. A commonly heard opinion anywhere where cyclists congregate in Yorkshire is that some Jacksons disappoint ,but that the best ones are the equal of the best hand-built frames regardless of country and company..an opinion giving the impression that there were different standards of build quality at Jacko's. On the other hand in the same congregations of cyclists..there is seldom an adverse criticism of Woodrup's quality. In fact in those five decades I have only met one cyclist who was disappointed with his Woodrup, but My My..was he disappointed..no half measures..and it was all down to dreadful threads in the bottom bracket and a badly aligned rear triangle.
It is interesting to read the two contris so far about Woodrup frames, both stating that the paintwork could have been better. As far as I recall...for a long long time all Woodrups were sprayed by Ellis-Briggs, but there was a period in the early 80s to mid-80s when some of them were sprayed elsewhere in Leeds, by a part-time sprayer, at a time when Briggs' turn-around times were far too long...so in fact Woodrups' were never totally in charge of that aspect of the quality of the finished frame.
Just for what it's worth...I never heard an adverse criticism of an Ellis-Briggs frame either..so the scenario in the Leeds-Bradford was that if you wanted the best,,clearly a very subjective word. you went to either one or the other of Woodrup or Briggs. Additionally for what it's worth...I think that the opinions also depended very largely on of which club you were a member. As as is the case even today..certain clubs were linked with certain builders...often due to geographical circumstances.
Hope that has helped you, Rob. If you continue to have problems with Woodrup's about transfers, I will see what I can do to get some for you... as the shop is only an hour or so down the road.
Norris Lockley...Settle UK