BlueDevil63 

So I picked up this pretty weird frame off of ebay. The seller was convinced this was a NOS frame but was quite clueless about it. It appears to be a genuine Melton frame. Can't imagine anyone would try to counterfeit a Melton. I bought it because I was interested in building a C&V touring bike. Most of the bikes Mike Melton built for customers were tandems or bikes intended for fully loaded touring and this appears to be one of those. I am including a fair number of pictures.

This bike appears to be built of Reynolds 531 tandem tubing if the tubing sticker is to be believed, with 531 forks. Braze-ons include top tube cables guides, a pump peg, rear rack supports, 3 sets of water bottle bosses, top of the BB cable guides, a down tube shifter clamp stop and a rear derailleur cable stop. Bottom bracket is Cinelli. Dropouts are definitely Campy in the rear but I don't see any name on the front dropouts. Recessed nut brake mounts. It appears powder coated but I am not sure if it is paint or powder coat. The color is a metallic gold. In addition the frame is covered with black and white spots. They appear to be just airbrushed. The spots are under the decals so whoever did them did them before the decals were applied. All I can think is someone (Mike Melton?) was continuing the "circus" theme of his logo font and graphics.

So question #1 is if this could possibly be the original finish? In the one place where the finish has chipped away there appears to be bare metal.

Question #2 is if anyone has any idea of the age? Based on construction I would say fairly old, maybe '70s, but Mike may have continued to use older construction techniques even on newer bikes. Mike has passed away so no chance of info from him. This is one of the beefiest frames I have seen with very big seat and chain stays. The chain stays in particular are very big with no dimples or indentations for chainring or fender/tire clearance. Question #3 is what exactly is Reynolds 531 tandem tubing? Double butted? Really thick? I've found almost no info on it.

Question #4 is to ask for advice on period correct components to build this up. My main desire is for a bike with some appropriate low gears for loaded touring in mountainous country. Ditto for brakes. I have a couple of Campy Rally derailleurs from mid 70s or so and I could use one of those on this frame. In general I have never built a "touring" bike not to mention a period correct one so any input would be welcome.

wtgrantham

Doubt if that is the original finish. Most Meltons were painted red or blue. According to Jack Franklin of Franklin Frames in Newark Ohio, Mike Melton had a small shop in Ohio of which his investor pulled the plug and locked him out. There were many frames and forks in various states of being finished. Most of these bikes were put together using whatever parts and decals they had in the shop. My frame came with a full touring fork, (2 sets of eyelets), but sport touring frame, (1 set of eyelets, no rack mount). Cant tell from your pics but looks like yours may be the opposite, 1 set eyelets on the fork and rack mounts on the frame, maybe the rack mounts were added later.
Mine is being customized now by Franklin Frames, with new paint and decals, also had him remove the pump peg and extra set of eyelets on the fork.

Here is mine

BlueDevil63 

Yes I had heard most (all?) Melton frames were painted red or blue. Mine does have the rear rack mount but not the rack eyelets on the fork. My guess is also that this is not the original finish. And it is a weird paint job for sure. But at least someone went to the trouble to try and create something unique and did use correct decals. An interesting frame none the less and it will be interesting to build it up. Any idea when yours was built?

plodderslusk

I just love this frame ! Someone had great fun painting it to be a bike for a fat clown. Should make a great rando/light touring rig. Set it up with a triple and old normal reach Record brakes.

wtgrantham

Top tube cable guides came into being in the very late 70s early 80s and mine runs 27 inch wheels (what about yours) which went out of vogue in the early 80s I think. So I call my frame an early 80s probably 81ish I think

wtgrantham

Component-wise I am building mine to emulate the early 80s Japanese touring bike builds, Cyclone, Sugino, Bar end shifters, gyromaster hubs SR, Nitto, Dia Compe

hueyhoolihan

the above the BB cable guides and fork rake look to me like late '70s. of course, being a custom builder he may not have adhered to the lastest fashions as far as frame accessorizing goes. and i have to say that if this was an original paint job, well... i can see why the investors "pulled the plug".

other than that, i like it. should make a fine touring bike.

on second thought, maybe i should cut him some slack, and assume it was some aesthetically challenged client who came up the idea for the paint job.

and yes, it may well have been designed for 630mm rims. but at this point i don't know of any definitive way of determining that.

and have you measured the OLD on the rear dropouts yet? be interesting to know.

jan nikolajsen 

Super cool frame, but man.. those dots.. messing a bit with my sense of aesthetics..

Since we don't know the year it might be difficult to give advice on an exact period built, but a mix of Northern European and Japanese could work. Weinmann concaves with Normandy hubs - or if you feel spendy - Maxi-Car. TA or Stronglight triple crank with appropriate BB (the hard part), Brooks, GB bars. Suntour Cyclone derailleurs, Suntour barcons and cassette. Mafac brakes. Something like that.

BlueDevil63 

Rear OLD is 126mm. Appears to be for 700c (622mm) wheels.

Yes the spots are "interesting". They appear to be under the clearcoat which is disappointing as I thought maybe I could remove them and leave the underlying gold intact. But I don't completely hate them and it will certainly be a unique bike.

Given the undetermined age and unique nature of this frame I am also considering a more or less complete VO build. Pretty spendy but also really pretty!

bikemig 

I'm getting ready to build up a Mike Melton touring bicycle. I bought the frame new in the mid-90s from the bike shop that I used to work in; the frame had been sitting around for the better part of a decade when I bought it. It is a great riding bike. I have a mix of parts on it (suntour derailleurs, campy hubs, stronglight crank, suntour cyclone long reach brakes):