gugie 

Last year I had a coals to Newcastle moment. I receieved an email from a Welshman who wanted to do a 650b conversion on his Ephgrave. I guess no one in the British Isles does such a thing, it's the second customer from Great Britain I've supplied Gugificazione to. Now he wants the same done for his wife - he found an incredible Gillott mixte, very lightweight with full bilaminate construction with impossible thin faux lugs. I looked up Gillott on the interwebs, it appears one Ron Cooper cut his teeth there before setting off on his own.

I haven't started yet, but wanted to share some pictures of the frame after media blast - done by the customer before it was sent to me. It's the lightest mixte frame I've ever seen, and the craftsmanship is exquisite.









It'll get the rear end spread to 130mm, brazed on centerpull posts for MAFAC RAIDs, a front rack to mate with a custom Waxwing handlebar bag, and most likely a pair of cleaned up Lefol fenders from my stash, courtesy of my french connection.

More pix here

noobinsf 

Wow, that’s lovely...

juvela

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WOW!

thanks so much for sharing this

Percival ends

shall look forward to following along at the gugieficazione proceeds...


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nlerner

Cool stuff! What’s the plan to deal with rear brake cable routing?

79pmooney

Gugie, do you know the year? I ask because of that dropout. "L" shaped. Like my custom fix gear. I designed that dropout not knowing they had ever existed and had it cut it from plate. Makes removing fix gear wheels easy, even when so far forward the tire is almost hitting the seattube. No deflation needed. You can also clamp (QR) or nut the axle anywhere on that long slot.

Got the bike, took it to show to Dean at the (now ex-) Bike Central. He took one look and said it had been done. He thought perhaps in the '30s. Now you have one a mile from my house. Perhaps we can arrange a COVID-safe viewing. (Recently I saw a late '90s Bay area custom bike with shorter, forged "L" dropouts at Alpenrose, the local velodrome. These go to show everything in bikes has been done. We just take pride in thinking our re-discovery is new.)

polymorphself 

Wow. Can’t wait to see this one. I’ve got a soft spot for good mixtes. Will you update here or a new thread?

daka

It looks like the seat stays are plugged rather than capped. Is that common? I think those fork-ends are absolutely elegant.

machinist42

Is that a vent hole or a punch mark in the chainstay bridge?

bilaminate construction by Mark Guglielmana, on Flickr

bulgie 

So cool. A Gillott in my size has been a holy grail for me for decades, especially the taper tube model. I don't usually go for OS tubes but I think it's cool that Gillott was flaring the downtube & seattube to OS, down by the bottom bracket only (normal at the top), and they did it in the early-'50s. Or earlier? I know of a '53, but I don't know when they started. Just in case anyone thought Serotta invented that!

One came along maybe 15 years ago with perfect original paint and a matching custom stem, but I was too impecuniated at the time (I was broke). I figgered another would come along at a better time, but it hasn't happened yet.

Man those mixte tubes are small diameter eh? I wonder if it makes for a springy ride.

Could the rear brake go on the mid-stays? Makes a real clean cable run, but it looks like the stays may be spaced too narrow for RAID posts there. There's no pic showing that area from above where we can see the width, but I fear it might even be too narrow for a decent fat tire (like 42 mm). Am I right that the mixte tubes are brazed directly to the seat tube, no spacer tubes in between?

Thanks for the excellent close-up pics, you can really see how exquisite the workmanship is. There's no faking that — it shows true mastery.

Keep us posted!!

Mark B in Seattle

gugie 

See @bulgie, below.

Sure, you should come on by! The Atelier abides by local protocols (masks, I open the garage doors for flow through ventilation, social distancing) I know someone here in Portland with a Gillott, I sent him a pic of from under the BB which has some numbers punched on it. Perhaps he can guess the age? Note that they're paratially covered with cable guides. I'm pretty sure this frame has already been modded, some of the braze on bits, such as the shifter boss and pump pegs look of recent vintage. The BB cable guides appear to be silver brazed in place, which was uncommon when this frame was made.

I'll just append this one to keep everything in one place. I've got a soft spot for good mixtes as well, I think they're the most romantic bike!

Looks like a thin piece of flat stock was cut and filed to match. I have no idea how common that is, but the typical and easier method is to braze an oversize piece, then cut and file it to shape. It's typical to take a piece of frame tubing cut off, file the top of the chainstay with a half round file to match the curvature, braze that in place, then cut and file to shape.

Oil port, example shown here. Reasonably common in the early 50's, you also see these on the bottom lug for headset oiling. I've filled them in the past, but some people might like to screw in an oil port, even thought it's not used. It's a nod to the history of the bike.

What's really cool is that this guy sent it to me media blasted, so you can really see all of workmanship. I'd have missed a lot if it came to me painted, I don't typically media blast before mods, since it'll get done later at the painter anyway, and just sand off the paint in the area I'm working in.

Should be a very comfy ride! Mixte frames are typically (stereotypically?) made for women, typically smaller riders, so maybe the lower forces on the frame make it less of an issue.

Here's the pic you're looking for on the twin lateral/seat post intersection. The maker bent the tubes and brazed directly to the seat tube, no spacer tube. You're correct, RAID posts are much too wide to braze on there. I've cheated a millimeter or two on width before, but no way they'd work on the twin laterals, so they'll go on the seat stays (typical). @nlerner, this will get the pulley treatment like our friend Brian Chapman and many others have done.

This thing's a beauty. It's always an honor when people trust me to mod a high quality frame, especially rare vintage ones. I always go through several emotional states - excitement about the project, anxiety that it's quite possible to screw it up and ruin a perfectly good frame, relief, then joy when it all comes together and I get a report back from the customer that they're happy with the results.

obrentharris 

Thanks for posting this! Beautiful work.
What do you make of the two thin vertical lines of brass at the top of the head tube?
Brent

machinist42

Thank you for replying, but I was not asking about the oil port in the BB shell.

Is that a vent hole or a punch divot in the underside of the chainstay bridge?

More directly, is there a punch mark on the underside of the chainstay bridge?

gugie 

Oh, sorry!

There is a vent hole in the chainstay bridge, but it faces the BB shell. There are no holes or marks on the underside.

machinist42

Sort of rules out any involvement of Ron Cooper or his mentor at Gillot, Bill Philbrook, as they are known for "signing" their work with a punch mark on the underside of the chainstay. It's something I look for on every frame, and is omitted from almost every photo array.

Sometimes the punch mark presents on a frame by a builder who had some connection to Cooper, which is interesting. Perhaps it's some secret among framebuilders?

Thanks for indulging me!

gugie 

Good knowledge! Thanks for sharing that. I did check, no mark.

BFisher

So hot! Those fillets almost look painted on.

gugie 

Friend of mine in Portland has a Gillott and suggested I look at the steerer for date and serial number:


First two digits are the year (1952), 2924th frame

More info on Gillott here.

VRJAKE 

Have seen this frame, it's special, master craftsmanship.

gugie 

Who dat? Might be someone from the east side of the river that I know, and is posting here for the first time?

daka

An atelier groupie? Is there such a thing?

gugie 

Oh, you have no idea...

mechanicmatt

Gorgeous! I'm a sucker for lightweight older mixers. The brazing is awesome.

repechage

Happy you shared the workmanship- very sharp and a distinct approach to bilaminate construction.
interesting also as one of the few mixtie frames I have seen with the seat tube what appears to be higher than the upper headlug.

some planning is in store to fit fenders ( assuming ) the tire and brake and my guess the rear derailleur claw... assuming not an internal geared hub.

gugie 

Yeah, a derailleur claw would look awful on this, IMO. I'm discussing with the customer to add a hanger, he's thinking of building it up as a 1X with upright bars. I've done this a few times as repairs to drewed bikes, but the dropouts are a bit thinner than modern derailleur hangers. I'm thinking of hacking off a hanger from a donor dropout, brass brazing it on flush with the inside, then building out the outside of the dropout face with silver brazed stainless faces to make it flush.

Fender issue will be around the twin laterals, which neck down to attach to the seat tube. That's the limiting factor on this build. 650b x 42 test fit was fine, but the fenders may have to indent around those skinny tubes.

As for brakes, I've checked with a set of RAIDs, they'll fit fine on the seat stays, but will require a pulley.

scarlson 

First of all, that is beautiful. Ron Cooper spoke of forge-brazing at Gillott's. Gotta wonder how hard that must have been!

Why put the brake on the seat stays? Are the laterals too close together or too close to the seat tube to put the brake posts on the laterals with an extra long straddle wire (hanger in front of the seat post)? I've seen this done (and test rode it) and it worked fine, even with middling Weinmann centerpulls. Since the rear doesn't do as much, it doesn't need the mechanical advantage a short wire would give it. I also liked the lightness and simplicity of the design, with a naked wire running between the laterals up to a housing stop (and easily accessible adjuster if desired) wherever you want to put a bridge. Just food for thought. U-shaped cable runs (up to pulley, down to laterals, up the laterals even a short distance) are not my favorite at all due to the tendency of water to pool inside the housing at the low point. Although with modern stainless cables and PTFE-lined housing, it's less of a concern.