I don't think this is a real Gillott

[rogerzilla]

Good points: really straight frame and fork, superlight (frame under 4lb!), rear end ideal for an SA hub, not very rusty, right size and almost the right geometry (I'd prefer a degree slacker seat tube - this is 73° parallel).

Bad points: crown race seat has been dimpled to hold a 26.4mm race and really needs building up and recutting. Sold to me as a Gillott for £150 but the number on the BB and fork is only 3 digits and the Ron Cooper centre punch mark has obviously been added after paint. And it's a refinish. Head tube badge holes are the right spacing (I have a head badge) but it's not a spacing unique to Gillott. The seller has sent me a fake frame before and apparently doesn't do much research.















I like a lot about it but I'll have to sleep on it.

 

[Drago]

A lofely frame, shame about the poorly executed lug lining.

 

[rogerzilla]

The seatstay eyes are done well. I've seen far worse lug lining!

 

[biggs682]

The seatstay eyes are done well. I've seen far worse lug lining!

Looks good compared to some I have seen as well.

Sometimes an ol' scruffy original paint is better than a sparkling re painted one

 

[rogerzilla]

Fork is only 660g, too. I wonder what the frameset is made from? It could be a pastiche of an old frame made in more modern tubing. The BB shell is a thick cast one and the lugs aren't exactly minimalist. I've never seen a medium 531DB frame under 4 1/4 lb before.

 

[lenfield]

... The seller has sent me a fake frame before and apparently doesn't do much research.

And you bought another one of him?

 

[rogerzilla]

And you bought another one of him?

He's a big dealer and has most of the stock.

 

[Drago]

The seatstay eyes are done well. I've seen far worse lug lining!

Its not the worst for sure, but still painful to the eye.

 

[Hover Fly]

Father had a late 50s or early 60s Gillott, he claimed that in TT rig it weighed under 20lb, and that was with Williams fluted steel cranks! Perhaps with special lightweight 531-later sold as Professional- and other light fittings sit was possible. He sold it when he stopped racing to buy a sturdier bike.

 

[rogerzilla]

Father had a late 50s or early 60s Gillott, he claimed that in TT rig it weighed under 20lb, and that was with Williams fluted steel cranks! Perhaps with special lightweight 531-later sold as Professional- and other light fittings sit was possible. He sold it when he stopped racing to buy a sturdier bike.

It wasn't too difficult to get a steel race bike under 20lb with DT shifters. A TT bike in those days wouldn't have had aero bars, either.

 

[midlife]

531 SL didn’t come out until
The 70’s. I wonder if Kromo or Accles & Pollock we’re lighter than 531 ?

 

[rogerzilla]

Kromo was an A&P tube. Yes, I think it was lighter but was killed off when (I think) owners TI bought Reynolds, setting tubing back decades until competitors started using chromoly again.

A&P is still going strong, just not in bike tubing.

 

[Hover Fly]

531 SL didn’t come out until
The 70’s. I wonder if Kromo or Accles & Pollock we’re lighter than 531 ?

Although it wasn’t marketed as SL until the 70s, Reynolds supplied thinner gauges of 531 to selected builders such as Gillot, Hetchins, and a small handful of others, which is why occasionally a frame needs a 27.4 seatpost instead of the more usual 27.2 size.

 

[Hover Fly]

Kromo was an A&P tube. Yes, I think it was lighter but was killed off when (I think) owners TI bought Reynolds, setting tubing back decades until competitors started using chromoly again.

A&P is still going strong, just not in bike tubing.

A point of minor interest is that when both were part of TI, Accles provided the basic stock “long-drawn” hollow bar for Reynolds to finish.

 

[rogerzilla]

Gave the f&f a wash and what I thought was emulsion paint splatter came off to reveal very shiny paint, even if the masking and lining is a bit rough. It's certainly in the touch-up paint/wax crayon zone rather than needing a respray.

It is an extremely nice frameset but I have asked the UK guru on Gillotts if he thinks it's genuine (I'm 99% sure it's not). If not, it'll have to go back, if only so the seller is discouraged from selling fakes.