Who built John Fern frames?

fossala · Oct 25, 2018

I've just bought a John Fern track/TT bike for £250.

The seller says it was built as a TT bike but the owner found the geometry too tight so converted it to a track bike.

Does anyone know who built for John Fern? Lovely fillet brazed frame with fastback seat stays, I don't know the tubing but I'll look into that more when it's in my hands.

Banashapan · Oct 25, 2018

Re:

I know nothing of the brand but saw this one for sale... I could have been tempted if it was my size, looks like a nice ride!

edit - have you searched online for info? There's some mention of JF over on cyclechat forum

fossala · Oct 25, 2018

Re: Re:

Yeah, I've searched high and low. My hunting led me to Biggs bike that he sold in 2010, a gumtree listing, a TT bike made from iswata 015 steel, a lfgss listing without pictures. There is also a handful of mentions of people owning his bikes but no pictures or info.

It seems well made from pictures and not too many people do fastback seat stays and fillet brazing. Either way for £250 it should be a good buy for the money.

Banashapan · Oct 25, 2018

Yes agree, nice buy and tasty frame. Post some pics when you get it!

chickendrumsticks · Oct 26, 2018

Some info here including names of frame builders / suppliers:

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/help- ... les.49328/

And that bike's a smasher! BTW" Fougeres" is French for "Ferns"

fossala · Oct 26, 2018

chickendrumsticks":3piqkfzx said:
Some info here including names of frame builders / suppliers:

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/help- ... les.49328/

And that bike's a smasher! BTW" Fougeres" is French for "Ferns"

I saw that but can't find much info on Barry Bond either. I'll wait for the bicycle to turn up (Tuesday) and then at least I should have a frame number to start with.

fossala · Oct 31, 2018

OK, turned up today. Sold as a 21.5/22" bike, is in fact a 20.5". Feels good sitting on it but I won't know until I take it for a ride. Seat post slightly lower than in the picture due to my midget legs.

Anyway, the frame number is 85042. Guessing the frame was made in '85, does anyone recognise the frame number pattern? I don't know what steel it's made out of but it's incredibly light. Without pedals with cheapish components it comes in at 16lbs. I'll be stripping it tomorrow for a clean and I'll weigh the frame with just the headset.

fossala · Nov 1, 2018

27.2 seatpost, Cinelli BB shell, serial stamped along the NDS BB shell.

MatBH5 · Nov 1, 2018

Re:

That’s not far off a Roberts pattern frame number (would also be on the fork steerer), but I’m not sure whether it’s a digit short eg the 2nd frame of the month would be 02 rather than 2. Rest would be 19’85’ and ‘04’ April. I did wonder on first seeing it with the fastback stays and brazing.
I could be very wrong!
Very nice frame though... (if it doesn’t fit, let me know!)

fossala · Nov 1, 2018

Re: Re:

MatBH5":1j7vcpc6 said:
That’s not far off a Roberts pattern frame number (would also be on the fork steerer), but I’m not sure whether it’s a digit short eg the 2nd frame of the month would be 02 rather than 2. Rest would be 19’85’ and ‘04’ April. I did wonder on first seeing it with the fastback stays and brazing.
I could be very wrong!
Very nice frame though... (if it doesn’t fit, let me know!)

It does match the Roberts frame numbers for export here http://www.classicrendezvous.com/Britis ... gistry.htm

Does anyone know if he used this when he built frames for others?

Who built John Fern frames?

fossala

Retro Guru

Banashapan

Retro Guru

fossala

Retro Guru

Banashapan

Retro Guru

chickendrumsticks

Senior Retro Guru

fossala

Retro Guru

fossala

Retro Guru

fossala

Retro Guru

MatBH5

fossala

Retro Guru

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