gaucho777 

I am seeking info on the Echelon Cycle Works brand. Anybody have any info to share? I recently purchased an Echelon frame on ebay (LINK) and am nearly finished putting it together with a partial Mavic group. What I know about Echelon is very limited and comes mostly from the ebay listing: "This early '80's Echelon Cycle Works frameset was built by John Cully in Rhode Island. Cully hung up the torch a while ago but there are some photos of his frames and other information online if you search for it." Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find much online. Nearly all my results get cluttered up with results for the modern Echelon indoor trainer. I noticed that John Scully is a member at Velocipede Salon. I reached out to him there, but have not heard back yet.

Beyond background info on the brand/builder, it would also be helpful to see examples of orginal graphics/decals if available. The frame I purchased came with a single drive-side decal on the downtube with yellow typeface (original?), plus a second set of downtube decals with white typeface which are nice but probably a later vintage. I plan to use the new set of decals (shown in the ebay listing linked above) but it would be helpful to see other examples before I place the new decals on the frame.

The frame is reputed to be Reynolds 531 based on the frame decal. It has a nice Henry James BB shell, Milremo dropouts and fork tips, and an uncommon seat cluster arrangement. I'm unsure about the rest of the lugs used. I like the slender fork crown. Seems to be made with care. I'll post more photos of the build once it's finished--just waiting on some Benotto tape to arrive in the mail from Mexcio. The paint doesn't show well in the photos, but it's really striking in the sun. LOTS of sparkles under deep blue Imron paint.

Does anyone else have a vintage Echelon or have info to share? Thanks in advance!

nlerner

Randy, if he was a New England builder, might try reaching out to Peter Weigle and/or Peter Mooney to see if they’re familiar with him and the marque from back in the day.

noobinsf 

Nothing major, but one tidbit I discovered after searching "John Cully bicycle" was that this blogger appears to have done some paint work for John Cully as recently as 2007. There is a linked website that dead-ends.

Busy, busy, busy ? Big Bike Little Bike

(See the third grouping of pics on this page)

gaucho777 

@nlerner Thanks for the suggestion. The two Peters are good resources for sure.

@noobinsf Thanks for the tip. The link didn’t work on my end but I found another way there by googling the title of the blog you shared. The decals I have match the ones on the down tube of the grey frame with red panels. It’s a good guide for placement. (What’s up with the seat post on that frame?! )

rccardr 

You might want to post this over on The Paceline and Velocipede Salon. Pretty sure that ‘EchelonJohn’ is a member of one or both.

gaucho777 

Thanks, Chuckk I've known about the Wayback Machine, but I never think to use it. Nice to be able to see the old website and builder, even if it is now defunct.

Thanks, Doc. I sent a PM to John Cully at Velocipede Salon. Paceline is a good suggestion, too.

gaucho777 

UPDATE: I've been in touch with John Cully, founder/builder of Echelon Cycle Works. Unfortunately, he claims my frame is not one that he built. Hopefully, this thread will still flush out some actual Echelon Cycle Works frames and information about the marquee. Meanwhile, looks like I got myself another mystery frame. Paging @MauriceMoss...

SwimmerMike 

I didn't expect this turn of events.

noobinsf 

I wonder if there is a connection to the Cherubim/Konno realm, which also used the Echelon name at some point. Just a WAG, nothing more.

gaucho777 

I don't think so. I admire Cherubin/Konno and would be delighted if that were the case, but the decal reads "Echelon Cycles USA" (the USA being in very small type), which I think has to rule out a Cherubin/Konno connection.

FWIW, I did find an Echelon Cycles shop in NYC and contacted them wondering if it was a shop-labeled bike, but that was a dead-end, too I spoke with one of the owners there. Echelon Cycles shop in NYC has only been around 13 years and did not contract out any frames under their shop name.