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Old Stan Johnson turned out to be a mystery

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Old Stan Johnson turned out to be a mystery

Old 06-10-21, 04:45 PM
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nategar
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Old Stan Johnson turned out to be a mystery

Hey all,

I was recently gifted this old steel bike and was told it was an early Stan Johnson. I was so excited to have a piece of local history I sought out Mr. Johnson and he called me back! Only to find out it is in fact NOT one of his frames so now I'm on the hunt to figure out what it could be. Any advice would be awesome! It has Campy dropouts front and rear. Trying to figure out how to post photos but I'm new here. Thanks for the patience!
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Old 06-10-21, 04:51 PM
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Originally Posted by nategar
Hey all,

I was recently gifted this old steel bike and was told it was an early Stan Johnson. I was so excited to have a piece of local history I sought out Mr. Johnson and he called me back! Only to find out it is in fact NOT one of his frames so now I'm on the hunt to figure out what it could be. Any advice would be awesome! It has Campy dropouts front and rear. Trying to figure out how to post photos but I'm new here. Thanks for the patience!
Welcome aboard, glad you found us, you're in the right place.

You need 5 posts X 2 days for 10 to post pics, its an anti-spam measure that serves us very well.

Your pics may have gone to your album and someone may move them here.

Go around, say Hi, AND comment on any other posts that interest you for the 10 as well.

And I have have almost no info on Mr. Johnson, you might want to expound on him as well anyway.

We love a good mystery.
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Old 06-10-21, 04:53 PM
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Amazing! Thank you so much for the help. I'll mosey around and get aquatinted. Thanks for the guidance!
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Old 06-10-21, 06:25 PM
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Welcome nategar. You're at the right place for information. Get your ten posts in and then put up some photos.

I have a couple of Stan Johnson built frames. It's too bad yours isn't one of his. He is an unknown, but did some very nice work.
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Old 06-10-21, 06:30 PM
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Old 06-10-21, 06:32 PM
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OP's uploaded pictures which OP was not allowed to post by Administrators more interested in eyeball draws than making this Forum User Friendly.
OP's Album.

Last edited by machinist42; 06-10-21 at 06:35 PM. Reason: Editorializing.
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Old 06-10-21, 06:50 PM
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Originally Posted by nategar
Hey all,

I was recently gifted this old steel bike and was told it was an early Stan Johnson. I was so excited to have a piece of local history I sought out Mr. Johnson and he called me back! Only to find out it is in fact NOT one of his frames so now I'm on the hunt to figure out what it could be. Any advice would be awesome! It has Campy dropouts front and rear. Trying to figure out how to post photos but I'm new here. Thanks for the patience!
You can respond to each post here to get the count up as well.

Pic #1 in post #6 is very troublesome to me, looks like from here there is a kink in the BB shell, may be an indication of a crash or collision, need more, better pics.
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Old 06-10-21, 08:14 PM
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Originally Posted by merziac
You can respond to each post here to get the count up as well.

Pic #1 in post #6 is very troublesome to me, looks like from here there is a kink in the BB shell, may be an indication of a crash or collision, need more, better pics.
Certainly deserves some investigation. Could also be from a pump, as there is no peg.

Seems like a betrer than average bike at first blush.
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Old 06-10-21, 08:50 PM
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Originally Posted by thinktubes
Certainly deserves some investigation. Could also be from a pump, as there is no peg.

Seems like a betrer than average bike at first blush.
You could be right, I see the wrinkle I was seeing is probably the DT socket so maybe just paint loss.
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Old 06-10-21, 09:02 PM
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Tuti Campagnolo???
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Old 06-12-21, 04:03 AM
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nategar If you remove the fork, is there a matching number on the steerer tube?



This frame looks an awful lot like an MKM from around 1976-ish, judging by the serial number. Here are some pics:


Stay caps:






Serial numbers:






Brake bridge:







Fork crown:


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Old 06-12-21, 04:59 AM
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MauriceMoss Always astounding, sir.

What I want to know is was MKM before or after the formation of Cream, ELP, Derek and the Dominoes and CSN and Y!!! Supergroup power!
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Old 06-12-21, 06:49 AM
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Originally Posted by machinist42
OP's uploaded pictures which OP was not allowed to post by Administrators more interested in eyeball draws than making this Forum User Friendly.
OP's Album.
Actually, the administrators ARE interested in keeping this forum user friendly by not allowing pix and links of spam, garbage and pr0n to be posted by drive-by bots and pr0n farmers.
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Old 06-12-21, 08:10 AM
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Originally Posted by MauriceMoss
nategar If you remove the fork, is there a matching number on the steerer tube?



This frame looks an awful lot like an MKM
AMAZING!!! THANK YOU SIR! I can't tell you how much I appreciate your time on this. Sorry for any delayed responses, I was past my 5 posts cap for yesterday.
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Old 06-12-21, 08:15 AM
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Also there doesn't appear to be any damage near the bottom bracket, I looked extensively and it seems like just the lug and paint peel action going on. Now the only question is what to do with it! Obviously ride and enjoy it, but I guess I'll just spray.bike it eventually. Doesn't seem like there's much value for these guys despite them being lightweight and nice riding. Has mega tire clearance too, I test fit a 38c wide tire and it fit no problem!
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Old 06-12-21, 08:34 AM
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https://www.mkm-cycles.co.uk/frame-numbering

​​​​​​https://www.mkm-cycles.co.uk/history
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Old 06-12-21, 08:45 AM
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[QUOTE=dedhed;22098869[/QUOTE]

Thank you! I'll have to double check the fork but I'm pretty sure it's going to be there. I still don't think I can post photos but I found a NOS 1977 which appears to be the same year and color as mine. Pretty cool!
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Old 06-12-21, 11:46 AM
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Congratulations! Nice gift! I am not familiar with Stan Johnson, but I have seen a few MKM's, and those were really nice. Stevensb 's Metcalfe comes to mind.
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Old 06-14-21, 03:09 AM
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Originally Posted by nategar
AMAZING!!! THANK YOU SIR! I can't tell you how much I appreciate your time on this. Sorry for any delayed responses, I was past my 5 posts cap for yesterday.
You're welcome.
Stan Johnson would have been nice but MKM is very nice, too; a win either way.
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Old 03-10-24, 03:50 AM
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There is/was a Stan Johnson making custom bicycles in the 80s-2000s in Oxnard & Santa Barbara, CA. Used to run his own bike shop in 80s and then transitioned to just frame making. Today at our LBS we we're wondering if he's still around. He was a grownup when I was a kid so he should be in his 70s now, at least.
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Old 03-10-24, 07:38 AM
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Originally Posted by cody
There is/was a Stan Johnson making custom bicycles in the 80s-2000s in Oxnard & Santa Barbara, CA. Used to run his own bike shop in 80s and then transitioned to just frame making. Today at our LBS we we're wondering if he's still around. He was a grownup when I was a kid so he should be in his 70s now, at least.
Stan was / is a friend of mine . He is still around and , last time I talked to him , into mountain biking. He still has his jig but no longer builds frames(hasn’t for many years). He works part time at a bike shop in Bozeman Montana. It has been a couple of years since I talked to him but he is doing well and sounded great. I used to go by his shop , bought a few bikes from him , and helped him by sharpening his cutting tools. I bought my first light weight bike from him in the seventies ….still have it. I am 69 and he is a few years older than me , so , yes he is in his seventies. Your time line is off as he closed his bike shop way earlier than 2000 and started it in the late seventies, maybe 1976 or so. Joe
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Old 03-10-24, 08:16 AM
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This looks like a candidate for a quality repaint
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