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>.

Aluminium Frame , contd.

Hey Thanks for supplying the information. I'd most prob go for the black frame without the unraked fork.

Thanks once again

Those rear dropouts look hard as nails.

that front fork fit 700c wheel's? and would it be suitable for the street

just to say ive got one of the steel archies and its a great ride. ive had it for around 9 months and it rides fantastically, and has taken a helluva beating . I use raked forks so never tried the archie ones but cant say enough good things about the frame.

one small issue is that i run a goldtech rear hub (700c wheels, not 26 speedway ones) and have to stretch the dropouts a little to get the wheel back in, that aside, its a brilliant little frame, cheap as anything and I would recommend to anyone

Currently riding a Unipack frame and am considering this as a replacement frame - would the geometry be quite similar?

You mean one of these.......

Brand new. Used as sample only

55cm Seat tube

56cm Top tube.

Wicked looking old school fixed. Plain gauge steel, Chrome power blades forks, 170 Stronglight cranks, sealed bearing hubs ideal bike training / winter / commutor

Grab a bargain £425.ish ish ish ono

email v-sprint@live.co.uk with a sensible offer and its yours...PS can AW sticker if wanted..

one of the london polo teams are sponsored by AW
they would be a good bunch to ask about the bikes / frames

james brown has been riding one for a few years noew

Guys...im doing some work with Archie and Karl at the moment with track bikes and wheels etc. different branding but the same stuff. Im a former Cycle Speedway rider and have knownthem both for many years..any help i can give just ask.

I have a full bike coming soon so ill keep you posted...

V

varno, you're new. But you really want to read the anti-spam rules and the classifieds rules before you get dumped for being a spammer.

Oooops cheers fella...

Ill remove link.

You mean one of these.......

Brand new. Used as sample only

55cm Seat tube

56cm Top tube.

Wicked looking old school fixed. Plain gauge steel, Chrome power blades forks, 170 Stronglight cranks, sealed bearing hubs ideal bike training / winter / commutor

http://tinypic.com/r/2hqv38l/6
http://tinypic.com/r/20r8pyt/6
http://tinypic.com/r/zvvnn6/6

Grab a bargain £425.ish ish ish ono

email v-sprint@live.co.uk with a sensible offer and its yours...PS can AW sticker if wanted..

Varno,

Ive met Karl too, who is a nice chap. The AW company seems like a wonderful little enterprise overall.

I even considered working some ideas for a complete bike with Karl too.

But I must say, that the bike you have put together there is perfectly described by those tags (overpriced poo).

You are using the same frame ffs! The speedway frame was a cheap "make-do" kind of beast for those who wanted to put a bike together quickly & cheaply, who didnt mind the compromise of a a bit of DIY and a non-specifically designed frame.

Things have moved on a lot, there is ample high quality affordable OTP on the market which will out spec that bike by miles at a cheaper price. An example, a mongoose maurice. Double butted 4130 frame, cast crown forks etc. And importantly, specifically designed geometry for a road-going bike. It is strong enough for someone like chris akrigg to do mad trials like riding on, yet is only £349 RRP.

That white built up bike still has the massive gap between the wheel & seatube, if it is the same as the speedway frames the bridges on the stays and the short dropouts prevent it from coming in tighter. This creates a longer back end than "track bike" loving fixie skidders might like. Plus the frames are rather flexy.

I think that you need to work on a specific frame if you want this project to deserve to be successful. Currently, its not looking that much better than a create bike.

This is disappointing.

I am disappointed

i am disappointed that you are back on the forum. i thought you'd banned yourself?

Do I smell a Foffaing?

Very disappointing, all of this, isn't it...

Thanks Fellas....sorry dissapoint you all...

Sold now.

Cheers.