No No No No No, I don't need any more bikes I really don't, but I always argue that need and want are such easily interchangeable words so that justifies it as far as I'm concerned.
This is one of two bicycle frame manufacturers to hail from my childhood home of Ashford in Kent, the first was a huge concern which was Norman cycles and then a small frame builder Ken James who was hand building frames long after Norman had been absorbed into the Raleigh empire.
I used to visit Kens shop a lot in the mid to late 90's before work took me overseas for a while and he rekindled my love of cycling at that time. I had one of his frames already (which I still have) a nice 531 Pro frame that was my regular use machine for many years but if I'm honest is a little on the small side for me. I've hung onto it because its a very nice thing and because of its ties to my home town and I do keep thinking about restoring it as its more than a little battle scared but haven't yet as I don't think I can get replacement decals for it.
I'd been casually looking for another Ken James frame closer to my size for a while now and this one popped up on ebay the other day so with a maniacal laugh I vowed it would be mine, and a bit of last minute bidding later it was.
The guy I bought it from told me Ken built it for him in 1987 and it went back to him to be resprayed in 2000 but didn't get a lot of use after it was painted and stayed in his shed until he decided it needed to go.
This frame is pretty perfect for me size wise, is a suitable quality being 653 and is in such nice condition I don't even have to consider painting it so as soon as the weather warms up a bit I'll get out in the garage and have a dig through my parts boxes and see what I've got to build it up with, I'm thinking 9 or 10 speed Campag and I'm pretty certain I've got the majority of a suitable group to go on it.
I'm expecting even though I haven't got to do anything to the frame cosmetically this one wont be a quick build but I'll add to this thread as I work out what to bolt onto it.
This is one of two bicycle frame manufacturers to hail from my childhood home of Ashford in Kent, the first was a huge concern which was Norman cycles and then a small frame builder Ken James who was hand building frames long after Norman had been absorbed into the Raleigh empire.
I used to visit Kens shop a lot in the mid to late 90's before work took me overseas for a while and he rekindled my love of cycling at that time. I had one of his frames already (which I still have) a nice 531 Pro frame that was my regular use machine for many years but if I'm honest is a little on the small side for me. I've hung onto it because its a very nice thing and because of its ties to my home town and I do keep thinking about restoring it as its more than a little battle scared but haven't yet as I don't think I can get replacement decals for it.
I'd been casually looking for another Ken James frame closer to my size for a while now and this one popped up on ebay the other day so with a maniacal laugh I vowed it would be mine, and a bit of last minute bidding later it was.
The guy I bought it from told me Ken built it for him in 1987 and it went back to him to be resprayed in 2000 but didn't get a lot of use after it was painted and stayed in his shed until he decided it needed to go.
This frame is pretty perfect for me size wise, is a suitable quality being 653 and is in such nice condition I don't even have to consider painting it so as soon as the weather warms up a bit I'll get out in the garage and have a dig through my parts boxes and see what I've got to build it up with, I'm thinking 9 or 10 speed Campag and I'm pretty certain I've got the majority of a suitable group to go on it.
I'm expecting even though I haven't got to do anything to the frame cosmetically this one wont be a quick build but I'll add to this thread as I work out what to bolt onto it.
