Bob, Nice looking bike. Firstly, I am not that experienced at id-ing frames! The man you need is Norris Lockley, but I guess he is holed up in France. I have read Ron Kitchings biography and I don't believe that he was ever a frame builder. He was, of course, the K of MKM, but that was not until the 1970s and he was primarily involved as the financial backer of Metcalf and Mason. Kitching was mainly an importer and builder of marques, such as Milremo components. His main frame supplier was the French builder Andre Bertin and his frames were sold under the Ron Kitching brand. I have nothing on Kitching/Bertin frames, perhaps someone out there does. The tie up with Bertin started in the late 1940s. Nigel Land North Lincs UK
Date: Sun, 21 May 2006 17:51:50 +0000 (GMT) From: joebz@optonline.net To: oroboyz@aol.com Cc: Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: [CR]Message-ID: <e2fbd97583e.4470a8b6@optonline.net> In-Reply-To: <8C84B140A40B486-12B8-D9@FWM-D45.sysops.aol.com> References: <e36dd2126b49.44709d0b@optonline.net> <8C84B140A40B486-12B8-D9@FWM-D45.sysops.aol.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 MIME-Version: 1.0 Precedence: list Message: 13
As I remember it (hah) the first Lamberts were sort of prototypes and ha
d some sort of Ron Kitchings connection. I suppose the threaded BB is
the telling difference. Some of the earliest ones are also branded Reg
Harris. Apparently there were similar Ron Kitchings frames, probabl
y built with 531. I guess the TA? arms on Lamberts are part of the c
onnection because Ron Kit was the UK TA distributor.I noticed I made t
he Cirque banquet cutoff by the skin of my teeth (#119). Looking
forward to seeing all again.Joe Bender-ZanoniGreat Notch, NJ----- Or
iginal Message -----From: oroboyz@aol.comDate: Sunday, May 21,
2006 1:35 pmSubject: Was: mystery bike, now early Lambert..
.To: joebz@optonline.net, bhufford3@mchsi.comCc: Classic
rendezvous@bikelist.org> << It may a Ron Kitchings or early Ro
n Kit built Lambert. I > think the > dro> pouts, top eyes, l
ugs and braze-ons are right. The early bikes wit> h a threaded BB ar
e uncommon. The fork replacement is a hint pointing> toward Lambert.
Looks like it was built up with whatever parts > were ar> ound incl
uding some gems from our persepective today.Joe Bender-Zanoni> Great
Notch, NJ>>> > Very good, Joe! That all makes sense to me.
> > That is the first time I heard of Ron Kitching building the >
first > Lamberts. I always understood it was a London area maker,
a > Viking > plant? Hadn't heard they came from up north...
Maybe one of our > UK guys > has more info?> > Dale Brown>
Greensboro, NC USA> > > -----Original Message-----> From: jo
ebz@optonline.net> To: bhufford3@mchsi.com> Cc: Classicr
endezvous@bikelist.org> Sent: Sun, 21 May 2006 17:02:03 +0
000 (GMT)> Subject: Re: [CR]Mystery Bike Pedals (well, to me
anyway)> > It may a Ron Kitchings or early Ron Kit built Lambert.
I think > the dro> pouts, top eyes, lugs and braze-ons are righ
t. The early bikes wit> h a threaded BB are uncommon. The fork rep
lacement is a hint pointing> toward Lambert. Looks like it was built
up with whatever parts > were ar> ound including some gems from our
persepective today.Joe Bender-Zanoni> Great Notch, NJ----- Origin
al Message -----From: bhufford3@mchsi.> comDate: Sunday, May
21, 2006 12:31 pmSubject: Re: [CR]M> ystery Bike Pedals (
well, to me anyway)To: Classicrendezvous@bikel> ist.org> >
I picked up a mystery bike at a local swap this weekend> and > I'
m trying to> > identify parts. (I'll try to get pi> cs of the
re-paint frame, > etc. > > tomorrow with better ligh> t)>
> Here are pics of the rest of the bike. Not much to look at,>
but > maybe you can > help in figuring out what the frame might be.
> > > http://home.mchsi.com/
> tube is 29.1 mm > (?> ?). The seat tube is 28.6 at th
e base but 29.1 at the top > (> flared by an > over agressive se
atpost insertion at some point?).> I thought if > the frame was
> French that it would have a 26.0 t> op tube and 28.0 mm seat a
nd > down tubes > typically. I didn'> t get a photo of if,
but there is a pentagon > shaped shifter > cl> amp stop on the bot
tom of the down tube.> > No markings that I can> find. The fr
ame appears to have been > powder coated, > but I'> m really n
ot sure how to tell.> > Thanks for any other help you ca> n offe
r.> > Bob Hufford> Springfield, MO> ______> _
_______________________>
_________________> Classicrendezvou
s> mailing list> Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org> http://www.
bi> kelist.org/mailman/listinfo/classicrendezvous>> > > ---
StripMime Report -- processed MIME parts ---> multipart/alternative>
text/plain (text body -- kept)> text/html> ---> _____
________________________
__________________> Classicrendezv
ous mailing list> Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org> http://www.
bikelist.org/mailman/listinfo/classicrendezvous> > >
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 21 May 2006 13:59:36 -0400 From: oroboyz@aol.com To: Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: [CR]Re: Now Lambert and Ron Kitchings Message-ID: <8C84B17752580A8-12B8-1A1@FWM-D45.sysops.aol.com> In-Reply-To: <e2fbd97583e.4470a8b6@optonline.net> References: <e36dd2126b49.44709d0b@optonline.net> <8C84B140A40B486-12B8-D9@FWM-D45.sysops.aol.com> <e2fbd97583e.4470a8b6@optonline.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Precedence: list Message: 14
<< I guess the TA? arms on Lamberts are part of the connection because Ron Kit was the UK TA distributor. >>
THAT makes sense too. With Ron being the TA importer and agent for that arrangement with Lambert & Co..
<< I noticed I made the Cirque banquet cutoff by the skin of my teeth (#119). >>
Yes!!! There may be maybe one or two last minutes bail outs... But CLOSE!!!
18 days to go!
Dale Brown Greensboro, NC USA http://www.classicrendezvous.com
-----Original Message----- From: joebz@optonline.net To: oroboyz@aol.com Cc: Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Sent: Sun, 21 May 2006 17:51:50 +0000 (GMT) Subject: Now Lambert and Ron Kitchings
As I remember it (hah) the first Lamberts were sort of prototypes and had some sort of Ron Kitchings connection. I suppose the threaded BB is the telling difference. Some of the earliest ones are also branded Reg Harris. Apparently there were similar Ron Kitchings frames, probably built with 531. I guess the TA? arms on Lamberts are part of the connection because Ron Kit was the UK TA distributor.
I noticed I made the Cirque banquet cutoff by the skin of my teeth (#119). Looking forward to seeing all again.
Joe Bender-Zanoni
Great Notch, NJ
> << It may a Ron Kitchings or early Ron Kit built Lambert. I
\r?\n> think the
\r?\n> dro
\r?\n> pouts, top eyes, lugs and braze-ons are right. The early bikes wit
\r?\n> h a threaded BB are uncommon. The fork replacement is a hint pointing
\r?\n> toward Lambert. Looks like it was built up with whatever parts
\r?\n> were ar
\r?\n> ound including some gems from our persepective today.Joe Bender-Zanoni
\r?\n> Great Notch, NJ>>
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Very good, Joe! That all makes sense to me.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> That is the first time I heard of Ron Kitching building the
\r?\n> first
\r?\n> Lamberts. I always understood it was a London area maker, a
\r?\n> Viking
\r?\n> plant? Hadn't heard they came from up north... Maybe one of our
\r?\n> UK guys
\r?\n> has more info?
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Dale Brown
\r?\n> Greensboro, NC USA
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n> -----Original Message-----
\r?\n> From: joebz@optonline.net
\r?\n> To: bhufford3@mchsi.com
\r?\n> Cc: Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
\r?\n> Sent: Sun, 21 May 2006 17:02:03 +0000 (GMT)
\r?\n> Subject: Re: [CR]Mystery Bike Pedals (well, to me anyway)
\r?\n>
\r?\n> It may a Ron Kitchings or early Ron Kit built Lambert. I think
\r?\n> the dro
\r?\n> pouts, top eyes, lugs and braze-ons are right. The early bikes wit
\r?\n> h a threaded BB are uncommon. The fork replacement is a hint pointing
\r?\n> toward Lambert. Looks like it was built up with whatever parts
\r?\n> were ar
\r?\n> ound including some gems from our persepective today.Joe Bender-Zanoni
\r?\n> Great Notch, NJ----- Original Message -----From: bhufford3@mchsi.
\r?\n> comDate: Sunday, May 21, 2006 12:31 pmSubject: Re: [CR]M
\r?\n> ystery Bike Pedals (well, to me anyway)To: Classicrendezvous@bikel
\r?\n> ist.org> > I picked up a mystery bike at a local swap this weekend
\r?\n> and > I'm trying to> > identify parts. (I'll try to get pi
\r?\n> cs of the re-paint frame, > etc. > > tomorrow with better ligh
\r?\n> t)> > Here are pics of the rest of the bike. Not much to look at,
\r?\n> but > maybe you can > help in figuring out what the frame might be.
\r?\n> > > http://home.mchsi.com/
\r?\n> ike comes in at about 23.5 pounds on the bathroom beam > scale
\r?\n> (I co
\r?\n> uldn't > locate my hanging scale), minus the saddle. The seattu
\r?\n> be ID > seems to be about > 26.6 mm with the best of my measuring
\r?\n> (the 26.0 post was shimmed > at the top > with a 1" long shim)).
\r?\n> The top tube OD is 26.0 mm. The down > tube is 29.1 mm > (?
\r?\n> ?). The seat tube is 28.6 at the base but 29.1 at the top > (
\r?\n> flared by an > over agressive seatpost insertion at some point?).
\r?\n> I thought if > the frame was > French that it would have a 26.0 t
\r?\n> op tube and 28.0 mm seat and > down tubes > typically. I didn'
\r?\n> t get a photo of if, but there is a pentagon > shaped shifter > cl
\r?\n> amp stop on the bottom of the down tube.> > No markings that I can
\r?\n> find. The frame appears to have been > powder coated, > but I'
\r?\n> m really not sure how to tell.> > Thanks for any other help you ca
\r?\n> n offer.> > Bob Hufford> Springfield, MO> ______