A.S. Gillott owners & appreciation club

I don't think it's a bad price for a repeated gillott.
I'd like to see a frame number first though.

Alterations will depend on what kit you intend to use.

• gear lever boss: are you going to use Campag? If so you will need a Campag lever boss, not Simplex or Benelux.

• Rear fork end spacing : is it right for whatever wheel you want to fit?

• I'd certainly add bottle cage bosses and cable guides

• I would remove pump pegs, lamp bracket boss and any other brazings I didn't want. Of course these are personal choices - some people are keen to keep things as original as possible and I'm not going to say they're wrong.

Finally, make sure your builder checks the tracking.

Hi there,

I have long wanted a Gillott as my main bike to use. Been something of a dream and have been checking ebay daily. That lovely green frame has just popped up and I was wondering if I could ask you fellow fans with more technical experience than I: would a 26" wheel frame allow 27" wheels and mudguards? If so whats the mac tyre width that could fit - 28 or 32?

Would really appreciate anyone's help!

repeated

Repainted?

But, for the reasons given in my response to Settle, if you want a newly painted old frame, surely it's better to get it done yourself so that it can be modified to suit whatever use you want.

Also new paint may be hiding old faults (just like old cars that have been resprayed!)

Found the frame number!!!

584771

Obviously 1958

While I'm here......

I looked at that ad for the green Gillott and it struck me that it is probably for 27" wheels. I would certainly want to check that.

27's don't come in metric widths - they're usually one and a quarter inches. 26" wheel frames generally take 700's comfortably, but it's not possible to say what size 700 without seeing the frame. I've got an ancient frame which has plenty of clearance for 28mm, but I'd never want to go bigger than that, so I've no knowledge on the maximum possible.

Hi Clubman, thank you!!

I was hoping you would answer because I had seen that you have a 26" Gillott with 700 wheels. From the photo, it seemed quite a tightish clearance. As you say, this would have to be tested.

It is otherwise exactly my size. Of course, with 26 wheels it would be too small. A bit wary to take the chance on a frame that may not work. The owner told me it was built for 26, but hr had tried 27 on the rear, which worked. I dont know if that allows for mudguards or tyre width options.

Yes, it's you're correct - my blue Gillott is fairly close, and that's with 23 mm tyres.

But you can't really draw inferences from one frame to another just because they've got the same transfers! Many of these frames were built to order, and the customer would probably specify how much clearance he (or she - I believe mine was built for a woman) wanted.

I hope you've read my posts to Settle and Falconvitesse above on this page. Certainly Gillott frames were excellent, but there were plenty of other good builders and so far as I can see there are still plenty of unrestored frames about.

I think it's better from the riding point of view (and that is what a bike's for, after all) to have something that you're satisfied meets your particulat needs, rather than a particular brand. If you could ask Arthur Gillott himself, I'm confident he would agree with that.

Thanks for your very helpful reply. The seller very kindly gave me the background to the bike - it was built for a woman too. She delivered the post and this was her winter training bike.

The seller communicates really well and I could certainly do business with him. But you are right, the bike should fit properly and meet my needs. And there are other good builders. I've admired others too.

Maybe better to sit this one out.

Thank you clubman, food for thought indeed.

My father in law dropped around his Gillott he got new from Edwardes, Camberwell in 1973. He rode it for decades as his daily, but it's been out of action for a few years.

I'm not under the illusion it's rare or special. It needs quite a bit of work and I'm wondering how much time and effort its worth. Any ideas?

If I've read up correctly, by the 70s the frames were hand-built but by a range of different local builders.

It is a tiny bit sentimental and I live near Southampton Way (the old shop) so for that reason I wouldn't mind getting it rolling.

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It doesnt look like it needs much doing to it, albeit cleaning up and regreasing the moving parts. Definitely worth the effort.
In this order of priority i would buy new inner gear and brake cables and brake pads. Adjust brakes accordingly
Replace the chain.
Pump up the tyres
Replace the inner tubes if the tyres dont stay inflated
Replace the tyres if they are damaged
If there is play in the wheel bearsings replace the ball bearings and regrease.
If there is play in the headset and BB then the bearings will need to be replaced on both
Good luck

Thanks. Good plan.

Its been a tale of good and bad over the last month in terms of my Gillott stable.
Firstly I have finished this, for anybody that missed my charity thread;
https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/374932/?offset=25#comment16549887

However no sooner had i finished '946171' then i literally followed through with this.!

The shredded white stuff wedged in-between the front wheel and forks is toilet roll. I was holding the toilet roll in one hand and braking with the other hand and somehow managed to get the toilet roll caught up in the spokes, dragging it through the forks.
I went right over the handlebars. Im fine, the fork crown on the other hand is not.
All my own fault.



Note the rip in the crown, its definitely a right off.
The paint work is ruined unfortunately, I have another similar crown, incidentally from another Gillott which along with this set of forks i have sent back to Argos. Hopefully it can be repaired without having to replace the steerer tube as this has the all important frame number stamped into it.

Gutted for you on the damage but glad you came out of it ok

Glad your ok,it should be possible to keep the original steerer.

Lets hope so.

I'm sure they can.
Worst case you can engrave it yourself on it once you get it back.

LOL, if it comes down to engraving, its best I leave it to the expects, i would make a weapons grade mess of it.!

It seems it's actually relatively easy, but also, given the location, I'd just stamp it with a sharpie :)

Or maybe they can stamp it for you !

I have just finished an epic ride around around the highlands of Scotland for charity. for those that missed it here is the link.
The ride is unfortunately finished now so i will revert back to the Gillott thread to keep continuity
https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/374932/?offset=25#comment16627022

The bike was great however, by the time i had covered the 400 miles my right knee was in agony which im sure was to do with the extra movement from the 7" cranks which as suspected were to long.

Brooks Flyer, both pictures above show the bike half way up the Struie hill near the Moray Firth Scotland.

Back in Kent and I have swapped the 7" Chater Lea chainset for my 6.5 inch BSA 5 pin cranks, 6.3/4 inch may have been a better bet but this is the only length i have so i will see how it goes.
I hadn't noticed even after riding the bike that the cranks are off set.? see picture above.
Problem resolved after fitting new cotter pins.

The original owners name stamped into both dropouts "J Dennis".

Did you accidentally put one of the cotter pins in upside down? That’s normally what makes the cranks do that.

Hope the knee heals. I’m well versed in managing knee issues so you have plenty of my sympathy!

They had been fitted correctly however i had used an old cotter pin and a new one allowing the cranks to seat in the wrong position. I must admit i hadnt noticed it until i had shared rhe photo above to this thread.

There's no reason why you should not use an old cotter pin on on side and a new one on the other, it's just a question of the angle of the flat on each cotter - they must match. It's not difficult to adjust the angle of the flat by filing.

When I fit cotters (and you may well have realised that I do this more often than most modern people) I'm careful to check that the cranks are straight, although I doubt that mine are really, absolutely 100% at exactly 180 degrees, but they are near enough to be acceptable - tiny errors aren't worth worrying about.

I notice in the photo that Falconvitesse has not followed the English rule for cotters, which is 'crank forward, nut upwards'. The continental practice is the opposite way round.

Crank Length
I've written about this before on the forum, and I believe it's a subject which still needs exploration.
There ought to be, one would have thought, a formula which would guide a rider to find his ideal crank length; so far as I know there is no such thing. For myself, I have found that I am much happier with 6.75" (170mm) than anything else. I don't like being fussy, but that's how it is - I've tried both 6.5" and 7" (165 & 175mm) and I really notice a difference (which I don't like).

As Falconvitesse has a bout of knee ache it may well be helpful to use short cranks for the time being since this will reduce the amount he has to bend his knee at the top of each pedal stroke. The seven inch cranks used for this long ride could have been a factor in causing the problem in the first place.

I think the main thing to take away from this is that it's important to use equipment that actually suits you, branding is far less important than people seem to imagine. Yes, Chater Lea cranks are very good quality, but if they're the wrong length you would be better off with Willliams of the correct size.

Really the most important part of this story is that Falconvitesse did manage to get round what was clearly a hard ride, and he did this with kit that wasn't ideally suited to the job in hand. There's only one word that fits here:

Congratulations!