I'm taking this frame in to Argos soon, so thought I'd share details and maybe get some input beforehand.
Quite nervous I might just be reporting on a bit of archaeology, will have to see what Argos say about the soundness of the frame. More on that later.
I've had my eye out for a 40s lugless frame for a while, I was imagining an unrestored Hobbs but always like the R O Harrisons and have been oggling a Shortwin on Hilary Stone's site for a while. Before I could decide on that a Lyta showed up on Ebay with an early brass head badge and I got giddy and bought it without looking at it. [No criticism of the seller here, he was a pleasant bloke and I would still have bought it if I had seen it. He was not the original owner, nor had much knowledge of the bike’s history, he picked it up as part of a lot with another bike he wanted.]
The serial number is 1271731 so a December 1947 build based on info at classiclightweights.co.uk/harrison.html. Looking at the 1949 catalogue on classicrendezvous.com/British_isles/Harrison-RO_main.htm I am reasonably sure this is a Lyta. There are a few suspected Lytas around, but I think mine has decent supporting evidence. It is lugless, it also has double tapered seat stays and oval to round forks. I will double check the angles with Argos when I take it in to see if they agree with the spec. I would also be reasonably confident it is the Lyta ‘Professional Model’ as it has braze-ons for a rear brake and gears (they look original to me, but obviously could have been added later).
I'm taking this frame in to Argos soon, so thought I'd share details and maybe get some input beforehand.
Quite nervous I might just be reporting on a bit of archaeology, will have to see what Argos say about the soundness of the frame. More on that later.
I've had my eye out for a 40s lugless frame for a while, I was imagining an unrestored Hobbs but always like the R O Harrisons and have been oggling a Shortwin on Hilary Stone's site for a while. Before I could decide on that a Lyta showed up on Ebay with an early brass head badge and I got giddy and bought it without looking at it. [No criticism of the seller here, he was a pleasant bloke and I would still have bought it if I had seen it. He was not the original owner, nor had much knowledge of the bike’s history, he picked it up as part of a lot with another bike he wanted.]
The serial number is 1271731 so a December 1947 build based on info at classiclightweights.co.uk/harrison.html. Looking at the 1949 catalogue on classicrendezvous.com/British_isles/Harrison-RO_main.htm I am reasonably sure this is a Lyta. There are a few suspected Lytas around, but I think mine has decent supporting evidence. It is lugless, it also has double tapered seat stays and oval to round forks. I will double check the angles with Argos when I take it in to see if they agree with the spec. I would also be reasonably confident it is the Lyta ‘Professional Model’ as it has braze-ons for a rear brake and gears (they look original to me, but obviously could have been added later).
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