All you ever need to know about Fly Presses can be found on this web site:
http://www.blackiron.us/
Aldo Ross
Keeper of the Crossley Tile Press Archives
Middletown, Ohio
> Norris wrote:
>
> <<... He admitted that, in the same way as many of the leading builders
> of the time ie 1950s, his company fly-pressed out the cut-outs and
> windows in the lugwork on the "Superbe" and "International" models.>>
>
> Once again, a very interesting message, Norris, thanks. Now,
> "fly-pressed".. would that be a cleaver type die having been made in
> the desired shape, then some sort of fixture inserted in the lug, then
> press cut in a arbor press? Would be interesting to see exactly how
> they did that.. What were those lugs they used to start out with?
>
> Thanks
> Dale
>
>
>
> Dale Brown
> Greensboro, NC USA
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Norris Lockley <norris@norrislockley.wanadoo.co.uk>
> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Sent: Wed, 29 Mar 2006 21:24:47 +0100
> Subject: [CR]1953 Ellis-Briggs "Superbe" on Ebay
>
> I am not writing this contri as a commission sales director appointed
> by
> Hilary to boost the prices of the frames he is currently selling on
> Ebay, but as a "local" - about 30 miles -to Briggs' bike shop and a
> frequent visitor to St Ives Works, Otley Road , Shipley,where this frame
> was built in 1953. I reckon that on this occasion Hilary has undersold
> the merits of this frame.
> The "Superbe" was the middle model of a range of three frames, starting
> with the "All-Rounder" and topping off with the "International". It was
> the "International" that Ken Russell
> rode to victory in the 1952 Tour of Britain, not the "Superbe", the
> simple reason being that the "Superbe " was designed primarily as a
> fixed=gear time trial bike, with Stallard road ends, 73/71 head and
> seat angles and an 11" bottom bracket height. On the other hand the
> "International" was designed as a massed-start road racing frame with
> 73/71 angles, but a lower bracket at 10.75". The only other difference
> between the frames except for a fancier finish on the top-end frame,
> was
> that the "International" model had some "windows" cut into the lugwork
> to make them appear fancier.
> Some twenty years or so ago I was talking to Jack Briggs, one of the
> two
> founders of the company, about an "International" frame that had come
> into my collection ..and we chattered on about the hand-cutting of
> fancy
> lugs. He admitted that, in the same way as many of the leading builders
> of the time ie 1950s, his company fly-pressed out the cut-outs and
> windows in the lugwork on the "Superbe" and "International" models.
> A very interesting feature of this frame on Ebay is the headbadge - a
> fairly massive bronze casting finished with some enamel. This is a very
> rare find..I have only seen one such badge before and it cost me a lot
> of money to buy it in for my "International", about 6 months ago. At
> the
> time I phoned Peter Briggs one of the sons still running the company to
> get more info on the badge. As Doug Fantic will probably confirm from
> his apprenticeship at Briggs', Peter has been with the company for over
> forty years and he cannot recall when the badges were introduced or
> finished. There is still one in a showcase in the office..the only one
> Peter has ever seen, and it is NOT, he stipulates "FOR SALE" .
> On sunny days Ken Russell can still on occasion be seen riding in the
> nearby Yorkshire Dales, still using his 1952 Tour of Britain bike, and
> still using an old Cyclo front mech, so I am told.
>
> Another rider who rode to fame on a similar Ellis-Briggs was none other
> than Brian Robinson, Britains first T-d-F stage-winner. Brian still has
> his Briggs too, as has Ken Balmforth, another Ellis-Briggs
> "Independent".
>
> Perhaps the longevity of these frames is due in part to the "scientific
> rust-proofing" process to which they were subjected before being
> sprayed. As I recall it was called "Bonderising".
>
> The transfers were a very unusual design, the stock of which expired in
> about 1980, by which time the company had moved onto decals printed
> onto
> aluminium foil. Just recently a member of the V-CC in the UK has
> started
> to reproduce whole sets of the original decals, but just in case he has
> stopped, I can supply scans in the event of this frame crossing over
> "the pond" into a CR List members ownership. I also mhave the 1953
> catalogue and could provide photo-copies
> As Ken Russell was a frame-builder at Briggs' in the early 50s, there
> is
> a possibility that he built Hilary's eBay frame.
>
> Norris Lockley... Settle ( near Ellis-Briggs) UK