Knight Frame - Me Likey!

[ian c]

I was having a little gander round the usual haunts and came across a Knight racing frame on eBay, which caught my eye.

Being chiefly interested in bicycles with links to Wolverhampton it looks like something that would be right at home with my Wearwell and be an ideal base to steadily bring back up to a working model with correct parts as I find them. It's a good excuse to wander round the various bike jumbles too! It look to be in fair condition so I wouldn't be mucking about with it beyond stopping any small bits of corrosion getting a hold. Plus, as I tend to do plodders, a racing bicycle would be a nice change and take me back to those golden days in my teens when I was regularly falling off my Fred Williams.

Knight were made at a long defunct aerodrome in Pendeford on the outskirts of the town - if you have ever watched the film Man In The Sky starring Jack Hawkins this was shot there - and Boulton Paul produced a few planes their such as the Defiant. A good friend of mine's father had a small garage business on the site and I remember it being a fascinating place to go explore round.

Before I ramble on far too much does anyone have any pointers about this make?

 

[biggs682]

i presume you mean this one http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281963743481?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

its a name i have heard off along with Fred Williams from my cycling youth in and around the Kidderminster area

 

[PMarkey]

Looking at the last pic on that listing I would be a tad cautious , is that a crack radiating from the rust patch on the chain stay/seat stay ? plus a hole through the rust at the top of the pic ?

Paul

 

[ian c]

I'm not sure about the crack although I did see the hole, which I would be hopeful can be plugged which may be fun as it is 531 tubing.

 

[ian c]

i presume you mean this one http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281963743481?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDXT

its a name i have heard off along with Fred Williams from my cycling youth in and around the Kidderminster area

I forgot to put the link in my post - sorry about that. That's the one, yes.

Last time I was round Kiddie on two wheels was on my old Ducati a few years back - the ring road is a lot more fun on a 750 Monnie!

 

[rhm]

That black spot does indeed look like a hole, but frankly, I doubt that's what it is. I'd ask the seller to take a photo with better light. For sure, 531 can get rust holes.. but that's not what they look like (in my experience... and what do I know).

 

[Apollonius]

Knight is one of the many descendants of the great (and now sadly diminished) Viking line of bikes. Very good frames and there are plenty still around and being used. I think the company now build wheels for those funny folding bikes you see in London (Bromptons - just remembered) . 531 does't rust easily, being chrome steel, and it is, at a cost of course, always repairable. Argos at Bristol do superb refurbs of 531 frames. They had a little K at the top of the seat stays.

 

[ian c]

I'm pretty sure 531 is an alloy steel and later variations were chrome-moly?

Anyways, I ended up with the frame in the back of my car a few days ago and it's now in a nice dry safe place for me to give it a good once-over soon as I have the Sunbeam packed off to the dippers. I'll get some pics up a bit later, really pleased to have it although the prospect of eventually getting on a racer again after so many years away might make for a few comedy moments!

 

[ian c]

BTW, the chap I had the frame off also had a stunning Raleigh Europa which he uses regularly.

 

[Apollonius]

You are almost certainly right about 531 - I am no engineer! You now have the fun job -and I mean this without irony as I did the same for a Viking Severn Valley a couple of years ago - of sourcing decent parts to make it up. My Viking ended up all Campagnolo, which was what I always dreamed of having as a kid, but I didn't stick to "in period". I just bought nice bits. I have contacts in the Wolverhampton area if you need parts.

 

[ian c]

I might well be in touch about bits, thanks for the offer. I think Knight are currently in Bilston, as you said making Brompton wheels, and funnily enough near to a firm called Soda Blasting Ltd who did an excellent job cleaning up some engine parts on my BSA. I'm hoping to get in touch with them to see if they can shed any light on the frame date and model, and what would have been bolted on it.

 

[ian c]

Okay, here it is. Getting the crank and headset bearing off took a bit of care as they really weren't playing ball at first but they eventually freed off. As a bare frame it's darned light! The pic shows the design of the inside of the lug on the front fork picked out in red, rather nice.

From what I can tell this is a later frame as noted by the headstock badge.

Two areas of concern are these - first a pin hole in one tube. Not too serious, it should be possible to plug it with some braze.

This needs more investigation. A hole and what looks like a crack emanating from it too.

The inside had a fair amount of rust flakes which eventually tipped out once the crank was out. A friend of mine has one of those fibre optic cameras which I'm going to borrow to look inside the tubes and see what state they are in.

I like it, going to be fun wandering round finding bits and slowly have it back on its wheels.

 

[biggs682]

Do you still have this?

If so what is the frame number and did you ever manage to tie it down to a build date?

 

[daysnways]

http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/builders/knight-cycles-builders.html

I have a Knight with the frame number 0800. It is yellow, has the same headbadge as the top right image on the link, but the downtube sticker is different to any of the ones on the link... It has one small round cutout on the lugs filled in red, and is yellow. It has the sloping fork shoulders, no K. They had a bike named Saracen, which went on to become the name of the Saracen brand via a store who used to stock Knights in Kenilworth.

via dating the crank with a date stamp and the fact there is an 80 in the number I've assumed mine is from 1980. But the link would suggest there wasn't a year dating system?

It came with mainly jap stuff, and 27 inch wheels, the frame is light but the wheels are tragic, and need replacing.

 

[biggs682]

@daysnways does your frame number have a prefix alpha character?