jeffpabilonia

Hi Stuart,

what if there's no serial number on bottom bracket?

VanRAH

Greetings Guys; I forgot how forum's work + they (Google-internet) up dated & lost my path! Anyway I thought JeffPabilonia & azsuprasm were trying to contract me. But the system must be just letting me know someone is posting the "Colin Laing" thread?
And to SpeedFreek Colin moved here in 1975 (?) as I have one of the first frames he built in North America, completed in 1976. If any of ya would like to communicate with me out side of this forum, my E-mail is "vanrah@att.net". I'm 73 now & my body won't let me rid any longer, Ole' Bob.

scarlson 

I have one! And now that I've spruced it up a bit, I'm finally unashamed to post some photos. I toured on this bike for a week down the cape and islands a few years back - it held the load just fine and braved several long ferry rides. The owner of a bike shop on Martha's Vineyard said some mean things about it when I went in for some supplies, but he is hopefully out of business by now with that attitude.

It's a curved-tube tandem, and looks like his early work. I see nods to Jack Taylor all over the bike. I'm unsure about any dates or anything, but I would welcome a way forward to find out some information on when it was built, etc. Any chance there's a good source like the Jack Taylor guy Meaux Thompson?

I do have the original fork, with biplane crown, but it wouldn't fit the tires I wanted, so it's got a mismatched/hideous Fuji touring fork in it for the time being. I am brazing up a new fork for it to take the front drum and have ample fender clearance.





Cheers

togthedog

Hi,
I've been reading this thread with interest. I have an older touring road bike with the name Ottadini, built from Reynolds 531 ST from around the 80/90s.

I read that Ottadini bikes were also built by Colin Laing in Sunderland in North East England, when he was living there.

Just wondered if anyone can confirm that. I live in Sunderland, so it's nice to have a lovely old bike which was made in the city I live.

Thanks so much for any information that anyone can offer.

jeffpabilonia

azsuprasm

very nice! Is that the OG Colin fork? Looks like you went with a 22.2 internal extension to accommodate the threadless headset & stem.

jeffpabilonia

I'm the original owner from 1987 when I worked at Tempe Bike Shop. Reconnected with Colin Laing in 2008, he was enthusiastic about extracting more performance from Reynolds 753 frame with a few tweaks while keeping classic looks. We certainly didn't want to use a carbon fork so he brazed new 1" threadless steerer on original 753 fork maintaining handling characteristics as well. This also allowed more stem and handlebar (3T Superergo) options for more strength and comfort. Since forever bike, installed Chris King Titanium headset and Phil Wood BB.
The only frame builder I could trust to widen rear dropouts to 130mm spacing for modern wheels and gearing was Colin since you can't "cold set" 753 especially a tight rear triangle with wishbone and wider chain stay brace behind BB (sprinting and climbing). It gets a workout every weekend against modern bikes up and down hills...it's a great climber and descender with confident handling, and comfortable for long rides.

azsuprasm

I just missed you working there! I was Alan Brown’s AM in the early 90’s when TB was still in the warehouse on University. I’m glad to hear that the fork steerer was done correctly.

I recently sold the 650c Colin frame but I still have his personal ride with only the addition of index shifting and an Alpha Rdrlr.

jeffpabilonia

that's cool you still have his personal ride !!! ...yeah, I moved to SF Bay Area early 90's. Are there any Tempe Bike locations left? University was fun place to be, watching and talking to Colin, Ian, build frames, etc. while attending ASU and training with all the guys on the team

easyupbug 

True based on the message from Reynolds engineers cold set warnings, but being a design engineers myself, this is BS. A craftsman can do wonders with any design. I bought an unrideable Laing 753 bike with a tweeked fork and frame. Andy Gilmour in Tucson, a contemporary of Colin, said no worries. After a spell on his Marchetti frame and fork table the bike must have 4 or 5,000 miles on it now and is fantastic. It only makes sense as frames don't come out of brazing perfectly. I say this to save 753 frames from being scrapped due to alignment issues.

jeffpabilonia

I certainly would never discourage anyone from restoring vintage steel bikes or advise them to scrap a frame that has alignment issues, especially a 753 since I have had mine for 33 years. Of course a skilled craftsman shouldn't have any problem correcting frame and fork alignment no matter the type of tubing. Reading about Colin's experience, explaining the process of building a frame start to finish, and talking to him in person is what drew me initially many years ago...i.e. .knowing how extremely careful he was in brazing process, obviously using silver at lower temperature, making sure to allow proper cooling before going forward to maintain alignment. When we reconnected, it was no brainer for him to do updates (widen dropouts and threadless steerer) with careful heat application versus "cold setting". Upon receiving it, he was delighted to see it again and went out of his way and asked if okay to do a few special things. So, just relaying my experiences...

selaing

I can confirm we lived in the UK from Feb 1984 through October 1985. Dad did make the frames Ottadini for a while. Today, after a long search, I found Dad's "Book". The book is Dad's frame numbering system from 1975 when we moved to the UK through July 1992. He had a page for Sandy Gilchrist, Sid Barris and Ottadini frames. If you have a frame with a bottom bracket number in the 55##, Dad made it.
Hope all is well.
cheers
Stuart Laing

selaing

This tandem was very early on in Dad's time in the USA. I can tell you when it was made if you post the BB number.

Dad was taught by Jack Taylor and his brothers how to make bikes. So the nod to Jack Taylor is fitting for this early tandem from the 1970's.

cheers
Stuart Laing

merziac

That is fantastic finding the book, I would encourage you to copy the info so it can live on no matter what.

sworley

I attended college in Tempe back in 2004-2008. Had the pleasure of owning a Colin Laing time trial/track bike and meeting Colin. It was roughly a 50cm (too small for me) frame but really cool swooped seat tube for short wheelbase and horizontal track ends. Made for a really fun fixie back when kids were doing that sort of thing!

Zombie Woof

Hi Stuart
It's great that you found your dads book.
The number on my BB is 5171
Looking forward to finding out a little more about my bike.

selaing

5171
year 1976
size 27 inch
Type of frame - Tourist
Name - J. Basa

That is the only information from the book.

alexihnen 

Thrilled to have stumbled upon this thread. I'm picking up an 198X Colian tomorrow. I'll post when I have more information. It is a Reynolds 753 frame with full Mavic groupset, including hubs, seatpost, stem, etc.

alexihnen 

Looks like the serial number is 5846. That 5 could be a 6, but pretty certain it’s a 5. The bike is 57cm C-C seat tube, 56cm C-C top tube. Made from 753 tubing.

Thanks for any info @selaing!

selaing

This 753 frame was made in Tempe after we returned from the UK. Dad had become certified to build with 753. It would have been 1986.

Here is the information I have:
Number 5846
Size 58cm
Frame type - Colian
Name in book - Cortright
Interesting that Dad made 3 753 frames in a row.
cheers
Stuart

jeffpabilonia

what if there's no serial number?

alexihnen 

Much appreciated Stuart! The bike's in good shape with just a few things to straighten out. Looking forward to posting photos.

jeffpabilonia

selaing

No frame number underneath would mean it was made when Dad moved back again to the USA in 1994. So frames built from 1994 through him retiring would have no number. It would be hard for me to say when it was built during this time as he worked for Tempe Bike again, Supergo and then on his own for a number of years before giving it all up.
cheers
Stuart

DANNY13

i have the coolest colian mountain bike i will try to post pictures i belive it was made in 85 or 86