It’s a total beater but she’s all I’ve got at the moment.
The frame is some old thing from the 50’s or 60’s, the crest is long gone and there’s no indication of the make anywhere.
It’s a little bent on the right seat stay and has some hectic clearance on the wheels (I’ve pulled the rear wheel in as close as possible which improved performance significantly) but other than that it benefits from the standard track geometry of a high bottom bracket and is surprisingly light for a frame of it’s vintage (about 2 kilos).
The stickers are Joyride and the spoke card is Robocog.
Here’s the specs;
Unknown vintage steel frame: Seat tube 56cm c-t, Top tube 56cm c-c. Stand over is 80cm
Stem: Italmanubri
Handlebars: Nitto NJS drops
Wheels: Velocity Deep V Specials (Used on the Joyride)
Seat: Turbo Gel
Cranks: Shimano 600 Road (167)
Don’t know what the chain ring is, but I’m riding 46/16. I’m probably going to move it up to 50 soon.
I’m trying to find a frame that’s a little bigger with a tighter geometry, and I really need to sort out my cranks too.
That’s a pretty sweet frame man. If you want tighter clearances, put 27" wheels back on it. That will solve that issue, since the frame was built for 27’s.
It’s interesting that you say having the rear wheel pulled in improved performance - in what way? My (basic) understanding of frame geometry is that the longer the wheel base & chain stay, the better (within limits of frame material) the handling.
You’re right about the handling, that big rake makes for good turns. I’m talking more about responsiveness, such as initial jump and track standing. I know that has to do with the tension of the chain as well, but it honestly made a difference. Also, when the clearance was wider and I took hard turns, it felt like the back wheel was lifting slightly off the ground or about to slip out. I don’t know if that’s due to them being the wrong sized or what, but I noticed it.
You can get 27" track wheels on eBay for about 100. Pretty sure they are weinmans. Fronts you can find on the side of the road lol they are in abundance
They’d just go to waste though. I already have a Cecil Walker that just needs a fork, and I might even sell that and get something else. Basically my time on this frame is limited. Thanks for the tip though
It seriously looks like you’d scrape a pedal on any sort of lean angle, even shallow. Or is it just the pics making it look that way? 50’s roadster geometry, perhaps?
I’ve had those cranks on a Repco Superlight roadie (fixed) in the past, and I suffered two nasty pedal strikes. But on this bike I can really lean in a turn and not contact the ground - so the BB is definitely higher. As for the rest of the geometry I can’t really be sure (on account of it’s age). The only other frame I’ve ever been able to compare it to was a 50’s Speedwell track, to which it was identical with the exception of the lug work.
It could be an old path racer perhaps?