Roberts summat or other ????

[xxnick1975]

Yeah, hope it not rusty or anything like that.

I'm optimistic it will be a comfortable ride, what with it being a more general entry level frame rather than a racer.

By comparison my Yates is as stiff as a board, and strung out so not an easy rider.

Try and pick it up this week so will soon find out!

 

[NeilM]

I'm optimistic it will be a comfortable ride, what with it being a more general entry level frame rather than a racer.

By comparison my Yates is as stiff as a board, and strung out so not an easy rider.

Not being a racer can be a good thing as it will make for a less 'sensitive' bike and so a more relaxed ride.

As for your Yates, both of mine are like that, it is one of the characteristics I really like about them and makes for an awesome climbing bike, although coming back down again can be... interesting. :shock:

 

[xxnick1975]

Picked it up tonight. First impressions are good. Firstly it has been looked after, nothing seems rusty or stuck. The owner was a cyclist, having a clear out. Top man too as he gave me 2 spare front wheels and 4 extra new tyres, megabytes and bontys no less.

He bought it from someone who's brother worked at Roberts....it had Roberts decals on it. He mentioned "prototype"....

Bottom bracket lug has Reynolds stamped on it, on both sides, never seen that before

Frame number seems to be 555?

Forks are replacements after an accident, rest of the frame/head tube looks alright. Was all reprinted by mario vas, who has mixed reviews on the Internet

Mixed kit on it, mt60 chainset, dx headset, dx front mech and stis (working!). More modern Stx Canti and lx rear mech

Lx pedals with Specialized clips

Mavic rims and modish Deore hub, close range block

Handlebars have been cut down so narrow it's like a clowns bike!

Saddle is a rolls in nick

M25 was a mare, 3 hour trip in all, but I reckon it will be worth it.

Will get some pictures up tomorrow!

 

[sinnerman]

Picked it up tonight. First impressions are good. Firstly it has been looked after, nothing seems rusty or stuck. The owner was a cyclist, having a clear out. Top man too as he gave me 2 spare front wheels and 4 extra new tyres, megabytes and bontys no less.

He bought it from someone who's brother worked at Roberts....it had Roberts decals on it. He mentioned "prototype"....

Bottom bracket lug has Reynolds stamped on it, on both sides, never seen that before

Frame number seems to be 555?

Forks are replacements after an accident, rest of the frame/head tube looks alright. Was all reprinted by mario vas, who has mixed reviews on the Internet

Mixed kit on it, mt60 chainset, dx headset, dx front mech and stis (working!). More modern Stx Canti and lx rear mech

Lx pedals with Specialized clips

Mavic rims and modish Deore hub, close range block

Handlebars have been cut down so narrow it's like a clowns bike!

Saddle is a rolls in nick

M25 was a mare, 3 hour trip in all, but I reckon it will be worth it.

Will get some pictures up tomorrow!

Bloody Marvellous News.

What a good buy that was....

Roly had a lovely set of fillet brazed Roberts forks for sale for very sensible money just recently.

Whilst nothing wrong with the forks on it, a nice fillet fork may look very fitting on it.

 

[sinnerman]

Just on a side Note, I wonder if the brother that worked there read Viz Magazines Bitd.

Did you catch his name at all....?

 

[NeilM]

Serial number is interesting as the first two digits usually indicate the year.

Still, doesn't really matter, you have the bike; more pictures and a build thread... pleeeeeze.

 

[xxnick1975]

So just rode the bike into work - 10 miles over country lanes and a bit of bridleway.

Really nice ride, very comfortable, not at all racey - perfect for me, very pleased

I'm assuming its 531, which makes me happy - I love the ride of 531 - magic stuff

I should have asked more questions, but 2 hours on the M25 getting there had fryed my brain

Anyway bike was sellers commuter when he lived in London (hence block, comedy 20 inch cut down bars, slicks etc)

He bought it out of Loot (remember that!) from the Roberts employee brother.

I just wonder if this was the guy knocking up a frame on the side/as a practice, as the Reynolds stamp isn't something I would normally expect to see on a frame being sold to the public. Also the brazing around the headtube hasn't been finished as smoothly as you might expect. That plus the odd frame number. Who knows. I will get some pictures up tonight of these bits so you can have a little speculation!

 

[NeilM]

Reynolds bottom brackets are not that uncommon, Rourke use(d) them on road and mtb bikes.

Could be an own build, but I'm not sure about the tubing as Chas tends to use a lot of Columbus, but as it's come from his workshop anything is possible.

M25, I shudder to my very soul at the thought of using that road. :evil:

 

[sinnerman]

So just rode the bike into work - 10 miles over country lanes and a bit of bridleway.

Really nice ride, very comfortable, not at all racey - perfect for me, very pleased

I'm assuming its 531, which makes me happy - I love the ride of 531 - magic stuff

I should have asked more questions, but 2 hours on the M25 getting there had fryed my brain

Anyway bike was sellers commuter when he lived in London (hence block, comedy 20 inch cut down bars, slicks etc)

He bought it out of Loot (remember that!) from the Roberts employee brother.

I just wonder if this was the guy knocking up a frame on the side/as a practice, as the Reynolds stamp isn't something I would normally expect to see on a frame being sold to the public. Also the brazing around the headtube hasn't been finished as smoothly as you might expect. That plus the odd frame number. Who knows. I will get some pictures up tonight of these bits so you can have a little speculation!

Glad you are enjoying it already...

It wouldn't be at all uncommon for the bike to have had frame parts bought in for a frame like this to hit a price point, often BB shells supplied by companies like Reynolds might bear the makers name.

Reynolds is a tube set used extensively by them, and to my mind bears no relation to providing a definitive answer to the company responsible for making it. Models like the White Spider, Stratos etc all used Reynolds at one time or another.

Frame number also doesnt surprise me I have a couple of frames like this, One of my Roberts simply has the Number 10 and my oldest Spider doesn't have anything at all. (both since worked on by them).

Also you might find that given it did have an impact resulting in a replacement fork the slightly less tidy head tube brazing might have been worked on since, perhaps even recoated anyway, this in it self may lead to the an obscured number especially if powder was used for the recoat..

Sadly none of this sleuthing is an "Exact" science, I had thought it might even be a a Rigden frame, I have seen a couple of these over the years, and a very similar fabrication to look at. A Reynolds 753 builder based out of Brighton, but im buggered if I can find any pics to show you, my best guess at this point is still a Roberts, but without the frame in hand I might never know.

Regardless though you have a lovely fillet brazed British frame and usable bike for little more than the cost of a BSO.

 

[xxnick1975]

great pics sinnermann

on first blush that is the btm bracket shell on the bike

I will get some pictures up later and you can have a nosey