Bob,
If I was in a position to collect bicycles from the 5 best American builders, a Rich Gangl frame would be one of my choices (although there are more that would qualify). He has one of the best if not the best equipped frame shop in the States. He is also a painter as well as builder of steel and titanium (which he does more of now) frames. He has continued to race since the 70's and has won a master's world championship in the Kilo I believe. He says he is still racing the same guys now he was when he began. He has made a lot of special tooling for framebuilding, some of which is just amazing. His racing background is why racing style frames are his specialty. He was one of the first Americans to pass the tough Reynolds 753 test when you had to build a complete frame and not just weld a simple joint like they later required.
We took the first class together Gary Helfrich taught in how to build titanium frames at UBI in 1992. I picked him up in Denver and we drove out and back to Oregon together. He isn't better known because he puts his effort into building the best possible frames instead of promoting or marketing himself. He doesn't answer his work phone so as not to be interrupted but he will call back.
Like Mark, I suspect this frame was made later than 1979. He does those heart cutouts himself. You can tell by the detailing around the dropout and seat stay cap he takes pride in his work. His frames are an example of how brand recognition effects collectability rather than just quality alone.
Doug Fattic Niles, Michigan
From: Stronglight49@aol.com
I'm not familiar with this builder but a friend at the local bike shop believes he began building in the late 1970s and has always put out nice work. He vaguely recalled actually racing against him too, some years back.
Item number: 330119413241
The bike on eBay looks like late 1970s with full Campy, so that would make this perhaps one of his earlier builds. Looks nice!
Anyone familiar with his bikes?
Bob Hanson, Albuquerque, NM, USA