A bit of history, Ko Zieleman the elder started building frames in 1928, it is unclear
if he had his own shop or who he built frames for.
Ko Zieleman the younger was born in 1933, he had a successful amateur racing
career and rode professionally for the Legnano team in 1959 and as an independent
in 1960. Ko Zieleman started his framebuilding business in 1951 in a
couple of small workshops in the Reggestraat and Ijsselstraat (River
quarter). One would have to guess that this was the father who started
the business but again this is unclear at the moment.
Early examples of Zieleman frames show few if any braze ons, a KZ in
the seatstay cap and a plain fork crown (no engraving). Most of the early
examples I've seen have full wrap around seatstays.
later examples with the KZ in the seatstays have brazed over the BB
cable guides and shifter bosses.
I estimate that in the late 70's early 80's the KZ on the seatstay cap was
replaced by 'Zieleman' and either a 'Z' or 'Zieleman' on the
fork crown, Ko used both flat and semi-sloping fork crowns.
I'm not sure that the KZ vs Zieleman on the seatstay caps can be used to
differentiate between the father and the son's frames.
Ko, while not well know outside of Amsterdam supplied bikes to the likes
of Hennie Kupier (Peugeot), Leo van Liet (Ti Raleigh). According to Ko
he also built track bikes for Batavus...(QUOTE by Marty)
A bit of history, Ko Zieleman the elder started building frames in 1928, it is unclear
if he had his own shop or who he built frames for.
Ko Zieleman the younger was born in 1933, he had a successful amateur racing
career and rode professionally for the Legnano team in 1959 and as an independent
in 1960. Ko Zieleman started his framebuilding business in 1951 in a
couple of small workshops in the Reggestraat and Ijsselstraat (River
quarter). One would have to guess that this was the father who started
the business but again this is unclear at the moment.
Early examples of Zieleman frames show few if any braze ons, a KZ in
the seatstay cap and a plain fork crown (no engraving). Most of the early
examples I've seen have full wrap around seatstays.
later examples with the KZ in the seatstays have brazed over the BB
cable guides and shifter bosses.
I estimate that in the late 70's early 80's the KZ on the seatstay cap was
replaced by 'Zieleman' and either a 'Z' or 'Zieleman' on the
fork crown, Ko used both flat and semi-sloping fork crowns.
I'm not sure that the KZ vs Zieleman on the seatstay caps can be used to
differentiate between the father and the son's frames.
Ko, while not well know outside of Amsterdam supplied bikes to the likes
of Hennie Kupier (Peugeot), Leo van Liet (Ti Raleigh). According to Ko
he also built track bikes for Batavus...(QUOTE by Marty)