Well, in a moment of weakness, I bought an old track / club / path racer
frameset. Time will tell if it's the Gillott I suspect it may be. Have a
look and tell me what
you think, and if I done good. It's my size after all ;) Cr@ppy pics at:
http://www.wooljersey.com/
There are lots of clues that say Gillott and Ron Cooper. The BB lugs look very much like Gillott. Parts of the head tube lugs do too, although the front of head tube lug points are different than the Gillott's I've seen (but still ornate in the Gillot style). I suppose these could be stock lugs I'm not familiar with tho. It has very Cooper-esque semi-fastback stays sculpted into the seat cluster. The stay ends at the dropouts seem right also, as do the drops. It further has the extra curved fork ends of a Gillott. It has an integrated headset - something I have not seen on Gillott. Serial number appears to be 00331788, which does not make sense to me in the scheme of yy/serial I am familiar with for Gillott. I got this from the seller, so who knows if it's accurate. Anybody know any other numbering schemes for Gillott? Time will tell.
It's a 56c-c, 56.5 tt. It's English threaded. The bike has a forward facing BB oil hole/plug. It has standard seat binder ears, the fork is drilled for a brake, and it has an adjustable brake mount on the rear bridge. Unfortunately, no tubing or manufacturer decals, and no head or seat badges. I should think this era would have a metal head badge, not a metallic decal badge. I don't know if the paint is original or not. I doubt it, given it would be from the 50's and it's too clean, and given the modern Cinelli stickers on it. But then Gillot was known for flamboyant paint jobs. It was found in an old shed, where it had been left for well over 20 years (dry climate woo-hoo!). I was told it was 40's or 50's, but I think that is just a swag.
The bike has an original lugged steel stem that matches the BB lug work (big clue), and the original steel track bar to go with it.
It would be nice to have a Gillott in the stable. It would go with my 72 Ron Cooper road racing, which has the same seat and dropout stay end treatments. It would also be my first true track bike, being on a converted Torpado fixed at the moment. My size of course. Yum.
Assuming I'm right, anybody have a Gillott head badge for sale? Anybody want to let me take a moulding and pictures of theirs so I can make reproductions for myself and everyone else? (Non-destructive soft silicone moulding resin of course!)
--Bill Roberts
Jacksonville, OR