I smell a rat: Alan Richards 653

grogee":2fstaxgc said:
Apologies if this has been outed before, and I'm willing to be corrected, but this looks dodgy as anything:

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vi ... 03&alt=web

653 decal doesn't look like it is from the right period. 'Bubbling' on (aluminium) crank?

Tell me I'm wrong...

"Bubbling" crank not entirely impossible - I had one of the cheaper 90s Campag cranksets (Avanti/Stratos IIRC) and the arms & spider were painted metallic grey rather than polished/anodised.

Lugged construction with 631 not impossible (Sirius certainly turned out a good few) but it doesn't seem to sit with the look or style of the frame, details such as only one set of bottle mounts suggest an earlier era.

David
 
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Re:

The saddle and seatpost look like something from 1990's sub £100 bike. re saddle clamp.

Campag crank defo genuine, but the alloy has oxidized and is bubbling underneath the painted finish.

I think the stays, wheel clearances, and lack of cable stops on the toptube, don't look like at all, more like a low spec Raleigh banana!

I'd regret giving £100 for it personally.
 
It's very over-priced, of course, and the 631 sticker is very wrong, but there are some interesting details. Look at the nicely tapered head lugs, the relatively elegant crown, the chromed, forged dropouts drilled for adjusters. And that's not a cheap paint job.

From Hilarity Stone's website:

"Alan Richards was the name used on the frames from Tower Cycles bikeshop in Birmingham."

I think the frame might well be worth having. With a pair of good MA2 rims it might be worth a third of what he's asking.
 
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