Stephen wrote
>"Right now, I ride the only bike I have - a 1981 Talbot. In 1981 I had
Carleton Cycles here in Vancouver BC make up a frameset with Reynolds 531
and a Campy Nuovo Record gruppo, Brooks saddle, clinchers (sew-ups sounded
like a lot of trouble back then) on Rigida rims. A very nice bike that I
rode for a few summers & then for some unremembered reason (lots of those
going around these days...), I just put it away and let it collect dust &
cobwebs until 2 summers ago, when I dragged it out, cleaned it up, & fell in
love with it again....
....if there are any other Talbot owners out there, I'd love to hear from
you."
I have to chime in on this one--Carleton Cycles were the sponsored both my brother and me, along with several other friends in our racing days in the early '70s in Vancouver & I believe the sponsored team stayed together into the early '80s.
The shop was run by three brothers who took over the bicycle business from their grandfather, and the Talbot frames were named after him. Rick--the oldest of the brothers--was a machinist by trade and during the boom days of the seventies (like a number of small progressive shops), he acquired the equipment and materials for frame-making and produced a small number of frames. The brothers were also car nuts, & so they could (and did) build a decent spray booth and were doing good quality finishing with Imron--which is how my Falcon acquired its non-stock Ferarri red paint job when they performed tube surgery on it after a number of bad crashes had taken their toll.
The business was later converted to a mountain search and rescue/safety equipment operation that grew out of Ken Green's side of the business--the outdoor store--that was more profitable (but much less fun) than the bike business.
Somewhere in my mother's house are the set of Prugnat lugs that they gave me to start cleaning up before I was to return with my treasures for lessons in brazing to build my own frame, and at least one of my racing buddies (who had more discipline than I) did finish his own Talbot-badged frame.
Enjoy your Talbot--I wish I had finished mine!
Dean Kernan
Pomona, New York