Millstone

Please keep us posted and a sort of "thank you" for saving it because it is a very nice frame. It deserves some attention.

MarkinOz

oh definitely!! This is my first foree into Vintage Steel and I’m super excited to bring her back to her former glory and enjoy riding out for a coffee.

h0dl

Who throws away bikes likes this!?

repechage

That is pretty distinct. most likely internal spigots and drill holes to act like windows and brazing penetration witness.
I think that is the key feature to pursue the author.

urodacus

Two local frame brands i remember from early 1980s Sydney were Abeni and Kitchen.

That's all I got, sorry.

Paul J

When I first saw this bike what came to mind for me was "Neutral Support" bikes. When attending many top tier races they were supported by a neutral support such as the yellow Mavic support. https://www.ridemedia.com.au/tour-de...pedal-options/

MarkinOz

Thanks​​​​​, repechage It does seem that a few people now have earmarked those dimples as areas for identification.

MarkinOz

I had the first initial thought Paul J but i did wonder why Reynolds 531 would have been decaled with Campagnolo. Surely Campag would have used Columbus tubing??

MarkinOz

urodacus That's a great lead with Abeni. I've read that some frames were built without pantographed lugs by the Abeni's here in Sydney. I've got a local Sydney bike "guru" by the name of Spirito to have a look over the bike next week and he is familiar with the Abeni frame. Will be an interesting meeting, that of which i'm looking forward too....

unworthy1

Holdsworth, official Campagnolo importer for decades. Co-sponsors of the racing team, AFAIK every frame built with Reynolds tubing, maybe.

MarkinOz

Interesting find yesterday which has helped identify the BB Shell as Haden cast. The bike pictured is owned by the father of my brother-in-law who I saw yesterday. It’s a 1988 Jon Houston (Australian builder) built frame from Reynolds 531 Professional tubing. When I turned the bike over I saw exactly the same shell looking back with the same casting mark. Nothing else on the bike resembled my build but it was great to now have a 531 Pro frame for reference against mine and to definitively place the BB shell. Jon built 59 frames (this is No. 26) between 1986 - 1993 and is about to embark on No.60 according to his website www.vintagemotorgarage.com

MarkinOz

Frame Identification Update:

10 days ago i took the bike to a guy here in Sydney who is well known within the Steel/Vintage bike community. Ben (aka Spirito) was able to confirm that the 50th Anniversary Groupset was in good mechanical condition and should have no problem cleaning up. He identified the fork crown as probably the most interesting piece of the frame and dated it to circa 1984-1989. He also identified the way the dropouts had been filled as similar to a technique used by an Iconic Australian frame builder Geoff Scott.

H e advised me that a local Sydney bike club, Randwick/Botany Cycle Club were hosting a "Retro Day" the following weekend and that it was highly possible that Geoff would be in attendance. This was too good an opportunity to refuse so i made a date in the diary and attended the meet.

I found Geoff sat with a few of his famous builds from the 80's and introduced myself. I had brought the bike with me and asked if he would give my frame a "once over" as there was a possibility it could be one of his. Geoff said no problem and immediately went to the rear dropouts and the BB shell. Within 1 minute he'd confirmed that this was indeed his build and proceeded to explain why he was convinced it was his work.


To say i was pretty excited at this point was an understatement, that said i asked Geoff why there were no serial numbers or pantographing as was done for many of his builds e.g GEFSCO (his own brand) CLAMONT (Geoff Scott built bikes for Clarence St Cyclery in Sydney) and many others. He said that many of the custom builds were intentionally left without serial numbers for Tax Implications!!

I knew that Geoff still works on the occasional bike (builds and respray's) so i asked him outright if he would respray the frame for me. He agreed and said he'd be happy to add "Geoff Scott" decals for me. I've been in touch with him since and hopefully this should happen in the next couple of weeks.

I'll definitely take some pictures of his workshop as its apparently part museum too, to many of the bikes he's built over the years.

To be continued.....

MarkinOz

Me with Geoff having a chat about the bike

mountaindave 

Wow! What a fantastic series of events! Thanks for the update - mystery solved!

Now we can’t wait to see the respray process!

merziac

H**Y CRAP MAN!

That's freakin awesome, love it when this happens.

Millstone

What a story! Great ending..?

Well, we do need to see the resprayed bike of course

MarkinOz

Of course Millstone , will keep the forum updated as refurbishment starts. Just stripping the group set down off the frame.

Gary Fountain

What a fantastic outcome. You couldn't ask for a better result to your search. I wonder if Geoff could help determine the tubeset? A respray and a real decal set would be the icying on the cake.

I'm so very happy for you. Congratulations - a "Gefsco" - Aussie royalty.

Gary.

MarkinOz

Totally Gary Fountain , still pinching myself that from one guys hunch earlier in the week to chatting to Geoff about respraying and adding “Gefsco” decals at the end of the week!!

Ive been

MarkinOz

.....I’ve been told that Geoff is an Accredited Reynolds frame builder so I’m sure he’ll be my best bet for the tubing identification.

Looking forward to taking the frame to his workshop because, as you say, he’s Aussie Steel Royalty and he has a mini museum of classic bikes he’s built.

Gary Fountain

Am I jealous? Yep!!! Haha.

Best wishes.

unworthy1

Great story, and love a happy ending! Congrats on a positive ID and the to-be-continued sequel!

MarkinOz

In December 2020 I managed to get my confirmed GEFSCO Reynolds 531Pro frame down to its original builder, Geoff Scott. In his mid 70’s now, Geoff still respray’s his old frames himself and put new decals on for me too.

I cannot tell you how amazing Geoff’s bike collection is, every person who is invited to his house gets a guided tour. I could have stayed for hours, easily. You name it, it’s there!! 84 Olympic track bikes, Australian National winning Road and Track bikes, Gios, Colnago, Look, Eddy Merckx etc etc

Picked up the frame a few weeks later having had it resprayed a Sarroni Red with a very slight gold fleck running through the paint. It looks amazing, was very happy picking it up and getting to have another look around the bike collection again!!

Now for the bad news....it’s too small for me to ride.

This bike was the first steel vintage bike I’d ever owned and thought that visually it looked a good bet that it was my size. Having learnt more in the last 8 months and ridden other steel bikes I realise that I’m a minimum 60cm Seat-Top tube sizing and probably a 62cm perfect fit. This frame is only a 58cm and I must say I’m a little gutted that I won’t now build it up.

Unsure what to do with this piece of Australian Steel history as I’m not really a “wall hanger”. It does though have a very special place in my new found love for vintage steel. I like to ride the bikes I buy/restore and know that someone would love to own, build up and ride this frame, that said, can I sell the bike that started this whole obsession (now 6 bikes deep so definitely an obsession!)??

As for the 50th Anniversary Groupset, this is being cleaned and restored currently and is to adorn a 1979 Gios Torino I bought. I’m documenting this build on Instagram if anyone is interested at “giostorino_50thanniversary”.

SoccerBallXan

Geoff sure did put on his best smile!
Awesome photos and lovely restoration.

PS: The drillium on the EM Track’s handlebars is AWESOME.

MarkinOz

It’s the same face in every photo.
Genuine guy though, always eager to help out.