early 80's Velosport project

[onegoodbike]

Re:

......so courtesy of a local alloy wheel refurbisher I have had the frame and forks dipped for the princely sum of £20.

As I suspected, the previous owner had sanded the chrome-work to provide a key for their rattle can respray which is unfortunate.

Anyway next stop is a yet to identified local spray shop for a single colour respray, it's an early 80's frameset so I'm thinking white-ish?. Thankfully the chrome on the panto'd seat stay caps is still in good order so there will be a nod to its original look.


Matt

 

[Mark henderson]

Re:

This thread just caught my eye i know its old but can give you most information you require about velosport frames .my father ted Henderson was the founder of the shop .the frame buider and wheel builder .the columbus sl frame was originally built for me .the frames were all the same colour benotto champagne. The forks and rear triangle were gold plate colour .this was a process of knickle .chromed then gold on top .he only made a few of these frames cinelli legs and crowns were ertched .also cinelli seatposts and bar stems were block cut with logo ..we did a cheaper starter frame which was vitus steel tubing . Who the bloke was who worked at the shop for many years is beyond me as it was mysel and my father and his buisness partner who new naff all about cycles .my father left the buisness as the shop was heading for more the standard shoppers type bikes so my father moved around the corner into smaller premises he called cycle inn that was purely for the racing cyclist..i raced from. 1976 to 1988

 

[onegoodbike]

Re:

Hi Mark, welcome to the forum and thanks for your comments.

I am no longer the owner of the frameset but it's always nice to have more info posted on-line in case anyone is researching VeloSport bikes in the future.


Matt



By way of a postscript there is an old thread here on retrobike that may be of interest to you?, it mentions the shop, your dad and a family member looking to establish contact with you, it's five years old now so may be out of date?. Anyway here's the link:

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=270107

 

[Mark henderson]

Late reply as only just joined the forum but can definitely confirm 100% that all the velosport frames were built by my father Ted Henderson owner of velosport in Norwich. All frames were built old school on an open hearth forge using bronze. All frames were original Benotto champagne in colour with copper gold colour plated forks and rear upper and lower stays. Wonder who the bloke was who worked in the shop in anglia square from colchester as only myself and father worked in their and ran it

 

[Mark henderson]

Re:

....bit of a thread bump here, but over the summer I had the good fortune to meet a chap that had worked in Velosport for many years, in a bike shop in Colchester.

He was able to give me chapter and verse on these framesets, so I thought I would record it here for posterity (and whilst I remember it! ).

These criterium specific framesets were a special order through the shop in the late 70's to early 80's. They were generally built by Columbia of Worksop (although he thought a few were built at Bob Jackson), using Columbus SL tubes except the down tube which was from a 'pista' specific tubeset for increased strength, if that makes sense. The drop-outs were Campagnolo and the lugs were Cinelli, including the B/B shell (making my SABA example a bit unusual?). Generally the framesets had a chromed rear triangle and chromed forks.

My frameset does appear to have a chrome rear end but it looks as if the person who gave it the rattle can respray roughed it up for a good key (i'm guessing the forks are the same)

Matt

None were built outside velosport my father built all the columbus handbuilt frames. Some were crit frames other road and one track frame. Only about 10 frames ever built. Workshop he used to build frames was witcomb cycles in london