Archie Wilkinson Frames

I finally went and visited "wilkinson wheel" today, where Carl very kindly spent a great deal of time showing me the Archie Wilkinson speedway frames as well as a prototype complete OTP single speed bike. (Which I got to test ride!!)

The two main purposes of the visit was to get detailed measurements & to see how much clearance the standard frame & fork had with a 700c wheel. I somehow managed to fail on both by forgetting the latter and leaving my notepad behind in the warehouse! Silly me, but I have taken a number of pictures which I hope youll find useful for now.

Ok, Wilkinson do two sizes of speedway frame, the small being VERY small and not really a pheasable size for adults looking for a street bike. The large frame has (if I remember correctly) a 55cm seatube and a 56cm top tube. Ill have to check these though.

The bottom bracket height with 700c wheels & tyres fitted is exactly 290mm centre-floor. The dropout spacing is 110mm, Carl said he regularly fitted 120mm hubs to the frames with no problem. The head tube is 1" and short at 100mm. It maybe a good solution to run standard road threaded 1" forks with a threadless headset & clamp on stem. Bottom bracket is standard British threading & width.

The company had been working on a OTP complete single speed road bike using the standard cr-mo steel speedway frame, and the prototype for this is what I got to try out. The bike was fitted with a raked fork different to the speedway one, which is not yet available for sale.

I must say it felt great to ride, and surprisingly felt lighter than my columbus cromor road conversion. Id say the bike would suit a smaller rider, my road frame is 56cm and this was smaller. It definetely felt 'trackier' than the couple other OTP I have tried, Charge Plug, Bowery etc (probably due to high BB)

The geometry to me seemed spot on, the bike handled well and was both sporty & comfy feeling. It was perhaps a little flexy though, but in a nice way.

Remember the complete bike is not yet available. They currently have a quantity of the black steel frames in stock at £70 or £100 with the un-raked fork, which is perhaps on suitable for speedway or Polo. They do sell frames in many other colours, but are awaiting new stock.

Here it is next to my road conversion:

Next I can show you some pictures of their aluminium speedway frame. It has similar geometry & size, but is both sitffer & lighter. The price is £199 for frame and fork if I remember right. They have a good choice of colours available for these, including translucent!

The company is a family business which produces competitivley priced speedway products to support the niche sport which they have themselves competed in. The bread & butter of the company is wholesale wheels, the only ones which they will sell retail is the speedway ones (26 1 3/8"). Which at £65 a pair with sealed bearing hubs are a bargain, they also have a range of fancy coloured ones for a few £ more.

Do give them a bell if you are interested in one of their frames, and also to show interest in bikes for the street in general. As Carl told me, anything is possible. They will supply the raked forks and the OTP single speed bike if their is interest, I also suggested designing a more specific track like non-speedway bike for the fixed wheel scene, which he also will consider.
**
0121 580 0401**
Barton Street,

                          West Bromwich, 
                          West Midlands. 
                          B70 8AJ.


                          Email : <info@wilkinsonwheel.co.uk>.