New member here from the USA with a couple bikes from the UK

[sd5782]

Hello UK. I am a new member here seeking info which brings most newbies to forums. I am from the Midwest of the USA. The very used bikes I recently purchased are from the UK and one is stickered from the shop of JR Nicholson of Dundee Scotland. Allegedly both bikes came from the same owner. I won’t be doing too much work on these until next winters cold dark months.



I will have better photos in the future seeking identification help. Neither bike is anywhere near how they were originally built I am sure. The chrome one has plenty of chrome loss and the green one has some scratches. My first post is also trying to figure out the format here, and as an introduction. Cheers in advance.

 

[sjcprojects]

Welcome to the forum. That chromed one certainly looks interesting, and not in bad condition considering how easily chrome can deteriorate with even a hint of moisture. Unless someone knows where JR Nicholson bought their frames from, it might be hard to ID the maker, I suspect, but you never know. You're in the right place for that sort of thing, anyway!

The green one looks like it could have been resprayed. I would guess it might come down to what the frame numbers are on both of them to get any chance of an ID.

 

[sd5782]

Up close pics of chrome one shows plentiful corrosion. Several interesting details of chrome one;

-brazed-on BB cable guide on ds only indicating perhaps originally a five speed
-Zeus rear dropouts and unmarked front
-26.8 seatpost but not too round
-Milremo Professional stem
-crazy thin seat stays tapering to 8mm at dropout
-sloped fork crown
-27” Weinmann wheels on vintage Campy low flange hubs
-medium reach brake calipers front and rear
-only number on frame I could find was a 4440 stamped across the BB shell

I did email Nicholsons which closed on June 1st. The former 40 year operator of the shop indicated that decades ago trips were made with the original owner to Glasgow to buy frames made by Andy McNeil who did side work away from his day job.
The green one doesn’t look as old, but may have had braze-ones added. On the BB is a few numbers sort of matching the chrome one, but one is now covered by a brazed on cable guide. Numbers are 44?1. It does look like a respray with thick paint, perhaps even powder coating. It doesn’t look like quite the quality workmanship as the other. A few details after a bit of disassembly

-sloped fork crown, needing long reach front brake even with the 27” wheels
-1972 campy hubs relaced with stainless spokes to Weinmann rims
-Milremo Professional stem
-27.2 seatpost fitting tightly
-really cool shot in seatstays that are quite thin
-Reynolds 531 butted 16/13 on steerer tube
-Zeus rear dropouts and Campagnolo front
-125 rear spacing with rear dropouts not being quite level
- longish wheelbase of 41 1/4” to center of rear drops

These do look interesting. I have a few decent bikes in my stable, and was originally after something like a Raleigh International when these came up at a bike swap for a reasonable price. I post a bit on a Classic and Vintage forum here in the states, but my take is that these looked like semi custom builds for a small shop, so USA info might not be too useful. They look like fun projects.

 

[sd5782]

I see in my profile various things like message, and trophy? I will have to brush up on the FAQ section to see how everything operates here. As an aside, I never mentioned the stateside details I know of these bikes which is very little. There is a 6-7 day annual ride in my state of Ohio that goes to various parts of this state. The chrome bike has stickers from 1995 and 1996, and one other. The green one has 1996 only, so it seems they did travel together. It also points to the green one perhaps being updated in the 1995 time frame. I bought these bikes from an Ohio church ministry that does outreach to needy people. They got these in somewhat operational condition to sell believing they weren’t really the right fit for needy users and thought the cash would better help their ministry. One might assume that these came from former owners who had gotten older and could no longer use them. Former UK residents? UK visitors years ago? Children of UK residents inheriting them? Who knows?

 

[Canuk]

Jack 'Big Nic' was a prominent racing man with the Dundee Thistle club. My old man raced alongside when he worked out of the RAF up the east coast. Here's a few photos of Jack and later with his team at the shop.

It would be interesting to find out how the bikes came to the US. I've a cousin in Philly who has a few Flying Scot bikes and a Worrall (from Hamilton). He emigrated the in 78.

 

[Canuk]

The green one looks like a mid 80s build with concealed brake cables and the shot in stays. I'd say the chrome bike is probably early 70s. As the shop is still going in Dundee, they might have a frame register.

 

[sd5782]

Not much work done with it being summer recreation weather. A few crude pics here though. The shop ow er who emailed me was Jack’s son in law. The shop is now closed. I was in agreement with the dates mentioned.