Meldon Road Bike?

[biggs682]

The bike does not have a IM frame number. In fact, possibly no frame number.
Hmmmmm………but then I read that not all of his frames carried numbers. Confusing.

I have an Ian May bike that was not one his own built frames it's a bought in (Italian made) frame with his decals on and I bought of the first owner who bought it and never built it up till he sold it.

A bit of a unknown then

 

[Kevberlin]

Thank you to those who have input on this. It’s been interesting to read and digest comments.
I’m viewing the bike on Tuesday. At the end of the day, sizing, condition and price, in that order, will determine whether I come back home with a new toy.

 

[Kevberlin]

I cancelled the viewing. I could not establish provenance of the bike, though it was clearly a very nicely presented machine.
At £400, with a chainset I would have wanted to change, it became less appealing.

 

[biggs682]

I cancelled the viewing. I could not establish provenance of the bike, though it was clearly a very nicely presented machine.
At £400, with a chainset I would have wanted to change, it became less appealing.

I can understand that

 

[raleighnut]

Cut out lugs, over BB cable guides, long dropouts, no brazed on shifter bosses, Cinelli MC fork crown, nutted brakes. Seems like a nice mid 70’s jobby so in good nick.

Lots of builders could turn these out for sale in shops with their decals on. Carter and Hall bike shop for example

Yep Sid Mottram's in Leicester did that with their 'run of the mill' bikes made by Holdsworth amonst others and their 'top of the range' bikes made by Mercian.

I also have a bike with no frame number, my 653 TT bike which also has cut out bottom bracket and long 'spearpoint' lugs. It also has such a short wheelbase that the back wheel won't come out with the tyre inflated (that's on 25mm tyres) and I don't know if you could call it 'toe overlap' as it's more half a foot overlap. Strangely though it is very stable and rides very well so whomever built it knew what they were doing, there are also other little touches like the rear brake cable running inside the frame but there is a small tube brazed into the top tube and the rear stays are 'shot in' to the seat post clamp.

 

[raleighnut]

This is how tight the rear wheel is

Gawd that's tight, even tighter than my TT frame on 25's

View attachment 567339

 

[AndyRM]

I cancelled the viewing. I could not establish provenance of the bike, though it was clearly a very nicely presented machine.
At £400, with a chainset I would have wanted to change, it became less appealing.

That's fair enough I reckon. If you ain't feeling it, it's not for you.

 

[Kevberlin]

So I went left field and bought this for £250 to complement my old FW Evans road bike. Hardly been used. A few adjustments and routine maintenance and she’s good to go.

 

[biggs682]

So I went left field and bought this for £250 to complement my old FW Evans road bike. Hardly been used. A few adjustments and routine maintenance and she’s good to go.

Nothing wrong with that at all very nice

 

[Drago]

Very nice!

Very capable but vastly underrated machines. A good buy for those in the know.

It looks tidy for a bike North of 25 years old. Someone has spend a bit of money on the gear train in recent years.

 

[AndyRM]

You got a bike you like, what's not to love about that?