Re: [CR] Modern KOF "English Path Racers"? Classicrendezvous Digest, Vol 82, Issue 131

(Example: Framebuilding:Tubing:Columbus:SLX)

From: "tobit linke" <tobitlinke@hotmail.com>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>, <jonswriter@att.net>
Date: Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:13:32 +0000
In-Reply-To: <mailman.1147.1256476014.72377.classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
References:
Subject: Re: [CR] Modern KOF "English Path Racers"? Classicrendezvous Digest, Vol 82, Issue 131


There's the On-One "Lincolnshire Poacher" http://www.on-one-shop.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/frame.jpg Long and relaxed, but lacking front fender eyelets.

The Bob Jackson Vigorelli http://www.bobjacksoncycles.co.uk/popup_image.php?pID=307 you can probably get with your choice of braze-ons, but it probably has a trackish geometry.

For a daily commuter (which in my book means it has fenders), I wouldn't go out of my way to have track ends as these make wheel removal in case of a flat difficult.

Tobit Linke, Dortmund, Germany
> Message: 2
> Date: Sat, 24 Oct 2009 19:49:28 -0700
> From: Jon Spangler <jonswriter@att.net>
> Subject: [CR] Modern KOF "English Path Racers"?
> To: Dale Brown <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
> Message-ID: <205681F0-163E-4C0E-A85D-A130808BF05A@att.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"; delsp=yes; format=flowed
>
> Friends,
>
> Every once in a while I feel an urge to try an English "Path Racer"
> like this Flying Scot:
>
> http://ebay.com/<blah>
>
> (Ebay item #190341964114).
>
> I like the idea of having a long, relaxed ride with all the "bits"
> that the folks in Great Britain brazed to their road-design frames,
> along with
> the track ends and provision for brakes, but I want to ride a bike
> like this every day and not have to worry about it as I would the
> gorgeous Flying Scot that is in such nice shape (and beyond my
> budget). My sense of stewardship would keep me from using or riding a
> bike like that regularly
> around town with so many thieves, bike-crunching cars, and other
> threats about, and I would not want to "dishonor" an historic frame
> like that with modern components.
>
> On the other hand, I have seen some of the modern brake-compatible
> 'fixie fad" frames, some of which have braze-ons for water bottles,
> cables, and such, but no one seems to use the longish designs of the
> original path racers. I am as much interested in the KOF-based
> *concept* of the path racers as I am interested in the details of on-
> or off-topic components and such, and would be particularly
> interested in what other, more experienced listers consider the "key
> ingredients" of the path racers and their designs. (It strikes me,
> for instance, that there is a certain spiritual and pragmatic
> similarity between the French "randonneur" makers like Singer/Herse
> and the GB-based makers of the path racers, which I believe has been
> addressed here before. (The idea being that one bike could serve many
> uses, be adapted from utility use to racing and/or touring, and that
> incorporate performance into everyday riding.)
>
> 1) Where might I find a more modern/current/KOF "path racer" or "path
> racer concept" bike with a long, "traditional" English (1940s-1960s?)
> road design and track ends for use as a daily commuter?
>
> 2) Are there any older and less-valuable path racers that were made
> in greater numbers that I could ride everywhere with a clear conscience?
>
> 3) Does anyone regularly produce such bikes or frames now in 531 or
> similar tubing?
>
> 4) Has anyone set up a path racer or similar-concept (KOF) frame with
> more modern components that are the spiritual heirs or equivalents of
> Chater Lea, Williams,
> Sturmey Archer, etc.? (Phil Wood comes to mind for hubs and BB, for
> instance. The hubs could be a flip-flop fixed/free, or the rear hub
> width could be set to 126 MM
> or 130 MM for use with cogs/cluster and a derailleur or even a more
> modern and perhaps OT internally-geared hub...)
>
> Thanks for your indulgence and for your expertise in advance,
>
>
> Jon Spangler
> who lives far from Glasgow in Alameda, CA USA, but who feels some odd
> kinship with older English and Scottish bikes
>
>
> Jon Spangler
> Writer/editor
> Linda Hudson Writing
>
> PLEASE NOTE NEW CONTACT INFO
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