I happened upon this frame (no fork) which just arrived and I'm trying to do some bike pathology.
You can see an album of the frame details here:
Witcomb bicycle
If you have difficulty loading the link, remove the 's' from https in the URL.
The frame has the drive side of a fluted 116 BCD cottered crank attached to an English (non-Raleigh) diameter spindle. In two of the images you'll see the non-drive side dropout with a stamped W and four digit number, which looks like 9021 but could possibly be 9621? The lugs on this frame look a lot like those of my 1951 Rudge Aero Clubman. There are no stamps on the bottom bracket shell, which is where I was expecting to find the serial number, not on the NDS dropout. So, my question, is this actually a Witcomb? The paint and rust suggest it's either original paint or pretty dang old. I'm not sure when the "world champion" stripes above the seat tube decal, began being applied to Witcomb frames. Any help on the actual ID and provenance of the frame and if it's genuine Witcomb would be great. The serial # on the dropout gives me some doubt. That said, this is a very lightweight frame but doesn't sound butted. No evidence of a 531 decal but these are all surface-applied, so being chucked into a bike stand clamp could have easily rubbed any tubing decal off.
Any help in my quest is appreciated!
Thanks all.
Phil