Witcomb Cycles

Not by any stretch of the imagination...

hey there,
i found a witcomb frame with horizontal dropouts plus a der. hanger in an old shop here in greece. i guesstimate it around late 70's early 80's, maybe later, and the old guy asks for 500pounds for it after some serious bargaining. i'm not sure abt the tubing though. i'm gonna check this and post back. do you think it's worth it?
it looks a lot like this one, different paintjob though. it has a beautiful ginger/gold paint with orange lugs lining
http://www.classicrendezvous.com/images/British/Witcomb_UK/WitUKB2L.jpg

Sounds purdy but £500 for a second hand frame also seems rather steep to me... given the exchange rate your old Greek guy would be doing rather well!

Hilary Stone is Greek?

quick interruption...

just to say hi to Paps, first post here? welcome - so you are based in Greece or just travelling? I have some distant rels out there and visited Athens many years ago, very curious to know what the fixed (or any other kind of bike) scene is like out there...

sorry for the hijack, as you were peeps.

hi paps, seems quite a lot of money really.

hi there, i think it's a frame that is merely shop spoiled for some 20-25 years! in good condition though. i have to check it extensively if i decide it obviously.
as for the fixed scene here, well it's just me and two other guys. but there are a few thinking seriously abt it. everyone who has ever been here knows that traffic and streets are seriously dangerous (as is extreme heat and smog), so many cyclists avoid it, even on conventional bikes.
greetings from florence where i'm drinking and eating and vice versa. what a beautiful place btw!

just to clarify,i'm from crete but i live in athens now. i'm just visiting some friends in florence right now

Dude that frame ain't worth anywhere near that and if you buy it don't covert it. That'd be a fucking shame. Old british road frames should be slathered in super record or galli and brooks saddles and cloth tape and cinelli bars and shit. not fixed gear shit. Offer the dude £100, £175 tops and turn that into a roadie. You can get plenty of proper track frames for reasonable money.

in my humble opinion thats NOT how i'd have my witcomb. the Hed3 i might keep. top tube protector thing whatever is a No, especially a polka dot one. i personally would put some nice old tubs on that bad boy some drops and a swallow tied brooks, and everything else campy.

That's why you're a trick ass mark and I'm the ninja. Buster.

done

Jack, have you just outed yourself as BSNYC?

Do people still read that shit? Bike snob? Hell no. Kike snob? Prolly.

Anyone wanna buy my Witcomb? By the way?

Bike snob? Hell no. Kike snob? Prolly.

Would you like to clarify your use of 'that word'? just for the record! Not flaming, I'd just like to know.

I'm a big dirty self loathing NY Jew with a "judging problem"? Flame away.

fair enough, you caught me on day 3 of no smoking, am still in a filthy mood, but I'm placated. it's pretty rare over here to use that word as anything other than a pretty vicious insult. at spurs' games etc.

Old british road frames should be slathered in super record or galli and brooks saddles and cloth tape and cinelli bars and shit. not fixed gear shit.

i agree, this is my plan. i'm perfectly happy with my fuchsia battaglin fixie. it's just a nice addition to have this option. i think i'm gonna try to drop the price a bit more.

Conveniently enough I am also a tottenham fan. Funny how that works. I should make a shirt that says kids for yids or something.

Anyone wanna buy my Witcomb? By the way?

only if you throw in the TT protector ;)

so, it's indeed a shop spoiled frame, bought in early 70s and it's reynolds 631. looks perfect but the old guy is tough (doesn't really care to sell anymore, he's there for the fun), i may have to work hard to drop the price a bit more.

Give him a sandy handy. Nobody can resist the roughest of tugs.

What the hell is happening-Witcomb's is shut and moving to Wales.
I don't get it-can someone help me out?

What the hell is happening-Witcomb's is shut and moving to Wales.
I don't get it-can someone help me out?

With what..?

Well it's a south london institution and i'm gutted that it can suddenly just shut-
also who's going to do the frame repairs -my understanding was that Barrie did most of London's work sent from other shops.

Does anyone have the inside story on why Witcomb's has shut and "moved to Wales"?.
Rather sad end to a great Deptford institition .

do a quick search for witcomb, or tony malone, there's a couple of threads which explain the whole sorry story...

Because they jacked up their prices massively and lost all their customers.

Nice username by the way, breakingaway. Classic cycling movie that.

I believe the Witcomb website has a fairly decent explanation of the move to Wales