The Roberts Cycles Handbuilt Bicycle Owners Club

Croydon's finest
When I ride other bikes with 50-34 compact I tend to think what is lacking is another every day ratio - but where to put it? Perhaps tucked away nicely in the space between the other two and keep the chainline nice and straight, just a thought?
Shame campy and shimano both stopped developing the high end ones.

Gauging interest on this here before I properly advertise it, too big for me so it's time to move on to someone who will actually ride it - picked it up as a resto project & it's been stripped down and refinished so pretty much ready to go, was going to start building it up but people have different tastes so someone else can have the pleasure.

Size wise, it's 56 x 56cm / 16cm ht / 130mm rear - powdercoated in traffic white (RAL9016) which they made a nice job of, some repro decals applied (not yet lacquered over so can be changed easily if required).

Frame no 88114 - didn't get as far as finding out any more info on it, Cinelli BB / top eyes, Campag dropouts - "R" on seatstay bridge, but not forks - apparently this sometimes was the case (f&f were matching when I picked it up & looked like the original paint) Very similar in style to this one from the same era http://www.classicrendezvous.com/British_isles/Roberts_Chas/753.htm

Weight is 1980g for the bare frame & 720 for the forks - ~2700g for a 56cm f&f seems pretty good to me, again - no idea of exact tubing but judging by the weight it seems decent.

No idea of value, it doesn't owe me a lot so i'm open to suggestions - all comments welcome!

so much want but it would be back of the project queue and I know I'd not get it on the road for months or give it as much use as it deserves... Let me know a price though when you're comfortable with one!

That looks lovely
Great build

Greetings from across the pond!
I have been searching for a while, and am so happy to have found like minded Roberts enthusiasts.
For a little back story, my beloved track bike of 15+ years finally had to be laid to rest. I was in search for a cheap frame that I could build up with leftover components I had laying around the garage. I stumbled upon a local older gentleman (Richmond, Virginia) who was selling on Craigslist an unbranded, stripped track frame that he had been in possession of for the last 30 years. He was only asking $75 USD, so I figured I’d take a chance just to have something to put on the road until I got around to building the bike I really wanted. After picking up the frame I realized I might have something pretty special. I posted photos of the frame to various bike forums and had feedback from multiple frame builders expecting the frame to be an early Roberts frame. I reached out to Neil Carlson at robertscycles.com to see if he would be able to confirm this suggestion. He contacted Tom Bogdanowicz, for his advice. In his opinion, he feels that it is most likely an early 1960’s Roberts Frame. Neal also shared my photos with former Roberts mechanic Brian Phillips, who concurred with Tom’s analysis. After a few months of research, we have determined this frame (frame #414) had made its way to the states via “Cycle Imports” out of Cornish, Main. The gentleman I purchased the frame from had bought the frame used in Boston, Massachusetts in the late 1980’s. By the time he had purchased the frame it had already been stripped of all paint/decals and had been clear coated. Unfortunately, the frame providence was not shared with the gentleman I had purchased it from, but that might have worked out in my favor considering I was able to buy it so cheap.
I have taken the time (and a lot of money) to purchase components of that era to fully restore the bike back to it’s original glory. I also reached out to hlloydcycles.com to have custom decals made that match the white, black, and gold Roberts badge and downtube decal as seen on the earliest other track frame (#66) example provided by Neil Carlson. I am about to have the frame and fork professionally painted, but before doing so, I hoped to get some feedback from this group on my preferred color combination. My choice might make a few purists cringe, so I was hoping for some honest feedback before having the frame painted. I really like my design, as I feel it highlights the lugs that Roberts is so well known for. What are your thoughts?
As a newbie, I doubt I will be able to post a picture, so I will include a link to the design I have planned as well as photos to the frame as it sits now.
Thanks so much and look forward to hearing back from other members of the forum.

Photo 1 (Frame as it is now) - https://www.flickr.com/photos/8132829@N04/50587961026/in/photostream/lightbox/
Photo 2 (My design for the finished restoration) - https://www.flickr.com/photos/8132829@N04/50695477481/in/dateposted-public/lightbox/

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Great research, and lovely frame (that fork crown!)

Before you order decals - the H.Lloyd ones are not particularly accurate. When I was doing up my matching Roberts frames I ended up collaborating with the exceptionally magical and sadly departed Big Daddy Wayne on here to make more accurate replicas. I still have the files somewhere and will send them to you - H.Lloyd were happy to print from them.

Sounds like a great project, can't wait to see the finished bike : )

That would be great, please do!
I do a bit of graphic design on the side and actually created the vector files myself since the version I wanted wasnt listed on the H.Lloyd site. Using the #66 frame as a template, I created the attached designs (granted these are .png vs .svg but you can at least see what they look like).

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berkleydriskill@gmail.com - would still love to see the decals you have

Great story!

My own 2 cents is that lug lining would be a classier touch and more in keeping with other frames I've seen rather than block painting the entire lug.

However, you've already put in a lot of work so you should go for what you really want. If you have a good painter it should turn out nicely either way.

I'll second the lug lining, unless you can afford getting the head lugs chromed (not cheap!)... I always think block-painted lugs look like an unconvincing fake chrome job.

Will send the files via pm and post them here in the thread if I can.

Lovely frame. Have you considered having just the headtube in gold, maybe with a panel on the ST too? It's not particularly "Roberts", but neither is lug lining after all.

Great recommendations! Neither of which I had mocked up before. Is this what you all were thinking?

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My Roberts track has gold lug lining on a blue frame!

Either of them would be a big improvement on block-coloured lugs... when people paint their lugs I always assume what they really wanted to do was chrome them.

Also, shame San Marco didn't start making the Rolls until the 80s - black and gold paint is begging for one!

You could also see how white colour for the 'Roberts' looks (maybe with a gold outline) more contrast can look good between the frame colour and the text colour.

Gold lug lining and black looks great, I approve 10/10

Let's see if I can just upload the decals file for everyone....

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• RobertsDECALS.eps

Here's what they look like....

1. Original 80s
   
2. Big Daddy Wayne version (posted above)
   
3. One of H.Lloyd's versions
   

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It's all about the little dog in the R:

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Very cool. Thanks so much for the file.
The attached are the earliest version of the decal and badge I have found. Both shown here are from Roberts Track Frame #66 and are what I used to design my own version of the files.

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Thanks, I think I tend to agree. This will most likely be the version I go with.

Thanks that's another great recommendation.

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Yeah yeah I know they exist, but they're hardly a visual trademark of the brand.

Good point up thread about the white logo, a bit of extra contrast does not hurt.

I like more gold. Gold is best

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