One sad day in 1975 a well known local racer hung up his cleats and brought in his Condor to sell. His wife had put her foot down...
The baby blue Condor had a short wheelbase criterium style frame made of Columbus tubing (probably SP). It also had Campagnolo 1060 vertical dropouts for the super short chainstays.
An interesting feature of the frame, the Nervex lugs and Campy dropouts had matte finish nickel plating that appeared to have been sand blasted before plating.
It was even sadder watching him go out the door and a used woman's model Raleigh 3 speed!
I felt like I was dancing on a grave but as soon as he was gone, I took his Condor out for a spin. It was my size with a short top that fit me perfect. Steve had been a 'monster masher" who used to give John Howard fits. The super stiff frame was perfect for Steve... but not for me.
The lucky thing for me, I fell in love with the well broken in Brooks Pro saddle. Out of respect, I called Steve and offered to give it back to him.
He said it was mine now and that he'd put at least 20k miles on it over the previous 5 years. I've put another 5-10k on it since then and that Brooks Pro is still my most comfortable riding saddle.
Chas. Colerich Oakland, CA USA Off List
Dale Brown wrote:
> <<... The vertical rear drop-outs seem to be much too recent for the advertised age of the frame. Later replacements when it was refinished? >>
>
> No, this frame's features are definitely as-made by Condor...
>
> It was purchased from Georgetown Cycle Sports in 1978 by a fairly well known east coast racer named Art Brown (no relation). He sold it to me in 1991 or thereabouts. It was in original paint but had acquired multiple scratches & chips. Before the idea of "leaving things alone" and "patina" crept into my psyche, I had it redone by Franklin Frames of Ohio in the mid 1990s. It has hung in my workshop these past years, swathed in plastic.
>
> I think the vertical Shimano pre-date the frame by a few years but were considered "leading edge" at the time; this is a "Crit" frame and has extremely short chain stays and wheel base...
>
> Dale Brown
> Greensboro, North Carolina USA