This one is a real "mod"...and not just cause it came from early 60's England. My buddy John brought this bike to my shop after picking it up in Connecticut for $40. It was in VERY rough shape. What can be best described as a "bum bike". About 500,000 miles on it, a crashed Tange fork, something screwed into the top tube, up-turned handlebars wrapped in tubes and electrical tape, a number of stickers, zip ties, bungee cords, masking tape, a mangled rear rack and a mix of parts...many of which were early Nuovo Record but, like the frame, all had the previous owner's first and last name scribed into them. The Weyless front and Phil Wood rear hub might have been the only bits without his "autograph". It was greasy and disgusting. And I had to have it. 'Cause I had a vision. I replaced the fork with a canti stud-equipped cross/touring fork someone gave me at T-Town years back. I'm always lookin' for an excuse to practice my brazing, so I added some matching bosses to the rear. While I was at it, I patched the hole in the top tube...sprayed the rear pegs to match (kinda) and clear-coated the top tube. I didn't think it was possible, but it just kept getting uglier...So I ran with it. What can one do to beautify a brown and green frame that looks like it was dragged behind a truck? Find more brown and green, naturally. That's when I remembered the green Vittoria cross tires and used those as a platform for the rest of the build: Some sort of cross bike abomination. One look at the angles on this thing and it's clear that it wasn't meant to be a race bike...but that's no reason I couldn't dress her up as one. I went with the classic cross 1X6 set up...since she'll likely be a mud/snow/foul weather lock-up machine on the fairly flat NYC streets. Fellow listmembers helped with a number of parts for the build, as they tend to do, so a big thanks to the community here. I want to especially thank Dan Artley for the saddle he gave me at NAHBS, or "cherry on top" as I like to think of it. Not only is it aesthetically perfect for the build, but it's a copy of my favorite saddle of all time: the Assos. David Coke and Charlie Young were big inspirations for this one too. David inspired me to think beyond the "period-correct Campy" box and I had LOADS of fun getting creative with this one. Charlie put me on his British cross machine at Cirque last summer and I have been wanting something like it ever since. Charlie has a great approach to building and riding and whether he knows it or not, he had a big hand in this build. Pics are below. Sorry for the lack of rotation on a couple of them. That will be fixed.
http://www.wooljersey.com/
Matthew Bowne Brooklyn, New York
"The journey is the destination"