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@falconvitesse
I picked this up a couple of months ago from Ebay thinking it might be an A.S Gillott
Its not pre 1950's i know but this thread is my new go to thread and a favourite of mine, so here it is,
First impressions
Crappy paintwork and as usual nothing hidden under the cheap car spray like original transfers or paint, the rust is just superficial and came of with the paint.
it looked promising, Nervex Pro lugs,
Nice Nitor saddle, Campag pedals and steel Campag stem.
Rounded rear brake bridge,
Albeit Gillott's would normally have a sleeved brake bridge for strength, this didn't.
My first impressions were that maybe the frame had been originally built as a path frame with horizontal drop outs and the hole for the brake bolt had been drilled out at a later date.
The forks added to my suspicions as they were of the rounded type normally associated with path/track frames.
Note the detailing in the crown. A.S Gillott used this design in a lot of their frames. The crown itself is a Davis crown used on Holdsworth and other builders around in the 50's, the Accles and Pollock fork steerer is also something A.S Gillott used as according to M. Stevens they preferred.
Agrati rear drops outs, the front drop outs are Simplex!
Im starting to think now that the forks are not a match for the frame.
It turns out that the frame is very low (centre of gravity) if thats the term, i didn't really notice this until my pedal had started crashing into the ground when riding and turning so definitely built as a road bike and not a path frame.
The frame number "252" unfortunately was not anything like a A.S Gillott but surprisingly the fork was stamped with the same number, so a match at least.
So not a Gillott then but i have bought some Continental tubs and fitted them to the Fiamme/Campag wheels and it makes for a good road bike, though I'm not sure about the Campag handlebar levers they take some getting used to.