7.9 Kg Roy Thame Campionissimo TT

The Roy Thame Campionissimo TT is finally finished.

As I explained here, I have been collecting period aftermarket 

O.M.A.S. and Cobra performance and lightening parts for this 

super light TT project bike for several years.

 I didn't actually have the right bike frame to attach the parts to

when I started the project, but when a 1979 Roy Thame TT 
frame set came along, 
I knew it was the one I had been looking for.

Thame as Holdsworth Team manager 1974

Roy Thame is mostly remembered today for being the driving

force behind the iconic British Holdsworth Professional team 

from it's inception in 1962  in sponsoring Bob Addy 
through to it's disbandment in 1978.

However Roy was also I very good TT man himself during

the 1950's and was Hemel Hempstead Cycling Club 

champion in 1952.

In 1976 the Holdsworth shops at Putney, Penge and Welling

started selling frames bearing the Roy Thame name.

Apparently many of the custom made frames where 

built by master frame builder Reg Collard at the Putney shop.

I brought my Roy Thame from it's original owner,

(unfortunately I have lost his name), he ordered the frame from

Roy at the Putney shop in 1979, it is a Campionissimo model

made in Reynolds DB 531 specifically for TT work.

I am extremely pleased with the build, sometimes you get it just

right, and I think this is one of those times.

The Blue is pretty similar to the original colour.

I couldn't find any decals that I thought where right, 

so I made my own set, which I am also very happy with.

The lugs where hand cut, filed and drilled to the club pattern

by Holdsworth employee Bob Donington, himself a top

25 mile time trailer.

Bob Donington in action on a Holdsworth.

Classic 1960's English TT style

This build really is about the sum of the parts 

being brought together to make something unique.

Cinelli bars and stem both have full O.M.A.S.

alloy kits.

CLB professional brakes, my only deviation from modified

components on this build, I did have a full OMAS lightening kit

for Campagnolo brake calipers, but the CLB are so pretty...

...although I have used alloy retaining bolts.

CLB  professional drawing by Rebour, above OMAS brake kit I didn't use.

  Huret (CLB) Sulky levers, a bit lighter than the original

CLB Pro levers, helped along with a bit of extra work 

on the factory drillings

OMAS 28 hole hubs with titanium axles and alloy ends.,

laced to Mavic Monthlery Legere rims.

 Decals I made for the build, came out quite nice I thought.

Swiss Assos saddle, actually made by Soffatti in Spain.

(but don't tell anyone) still my favorite saddle after

the Brooks Professional.

Campagnolo Pista crank set, Super Record pedals

Fides extra light toe clips.

Cobra alloy chain wheel bolts, Cobra alloy B/B nuts.

OMAS Alloy/Titanium B/B

Regin Extra SL Superleggera hollow pin chain.

Campagnolo Nuvo Record modified with full OMAS kit.

Regina Alloy freewheel.

Campagnolo chromed dropouts, drilled. 

 All up 7.9 Kg ready to ride, I was hoping to get under 8kg's

so am very pleased.

 Could I get under 7kg's?, I think I can, I have decided to slowly

keep on working on this bike to see if it is possible for me to

trim weight where ever I can over time, and achieve the

impossible dream, not quite in the Martin Luther King

league of dreams for the future...

...but a dream none the less

What it is all about for me, recreating as close as

I can those amazing TT bikes from what I consider the last 

classic period of English hand built lightweights.

Ron Kitching Crono Express

  Ron Kitching, a name well known in

the UK during the sixties through to the eighties, 
as being one of the biggest importers of cycle 
racing components and in the country.

Ron was also known as a generous and enthusiastic 

sponsor of top riders in Cyclo Cross, Time Trialing,

and even had his own sponsored teams .

Barry Davie, Ron Kit Cyclo Cross team

 Ron Kitching (R) with Andre' Bertin and Eileen Sheridan

 photo courtesy of Bertin classic cycles, who have a great piece

on Ron Kitching here. 

Ron Kitching also had a range of bikes built under his

name on the market in the early seventies.

Of course every item in the bikes manufacture was 

gleaned from the Ron Kit inventory.

This could make for quite an interesting array of

tubes, lugs and components on the one Ron Kit

machine..witness the Crono Express.

 The Crono Express as it arrived, tatty, but as far as I can tell

mostly original.

according the original add for the Crono Express, the frame

was constructed from the following components;

Tubes Vitus 971

Bocama 'sport' head lugs

Milremo 'Trident' bottom bracket shell

Milremo' Super Corsa Fork crown

Zeus 'Gran Sport'drop outs

Milremo 'Classic de Luxe' head set

TA Professional bracket set.

  Crono Express add International Cycle Sport

May 1974.
Notice that they have the rear wheel set at the very
front of the rear drop out, to make the wheel base of this TT
bike look a bit shorter I assume.

My Crono Express seems to have been brought as a

frame set, and built up independently from the suggestions

made in the Ron Kit add, which is a bit of a shame.

I think I will build this up (one day) as it is in the add.

Quite an unusual seat cluster, I am sure that I have read

elsewhere that this was also a Milremo part.

Note the Ron Kit badged seat bolt.

Bocama lug and decal, bot the prettiest lug profile I have seen. 

Mafac Tiger brake caliper, with Milremo fork crown, plenty of 

light between the tyre and bottom of the crown.

 Early version Campagnolo Record R/D.

Zeus drop out.

Vitus 971 decal, very unusual to see on a English bike.

 Cinelli steel stem/bars, non original brake levers.

Even though Ron Kitching bikes where heavily 

advertised at the time, often with full page colour adds.

I could only find a bare few examples on the internet, 

whether this means that they didn't sell well, 

or just that not many have survived I don't know. 

However after talking to my pommy pals, 

I have the feeling they were not that

highly regarded by most serious riders.

Still Beryl Burton was sponsored by Kitching for quite a while,

so they couldn't have been all that bad.

Although that being said, Burton would have probably still

kicked everyone's arse riding a Raleigh MK 1 Chopper.

Roy Thame TT with O.M.A.S.

I have been obsessively  collecting after market 

component lightening items from O.M.A.S and

Cobra over the past couple of years, with the

view of building the mythical period TT bike

you might have built in the late seventies had you

the money and inclination.

This after market lightening gear was horrifically

expensive at the time, hence it's rarity today. 

Part of the O.M.A.S and Cobra collection.

Of course the big problem was finding the right frame set

to fit this gear to, it had to be something special, and

preferably a purpose built English TT bike...

When I saw a late seventies Roy Thame TT in my

size, well I knew the search was over.

I will expand on the Thame history when I have finished 

the build, for now let's look at the crazy set of parts that

will go into making up this straight line 

dragster seventies TT replica.

Roy Thames after refurbishment, including a decal

set I had made, I have to say I am really pleased with the 

colour, which I mixed from some leftovers.

 OMAS alloy head set

Cobra alloy chainring bolts

Cobra allot bottom bracket bolts

Full OMAS alloy replacment set for Campagnolo

Super Record seat pin.

 Full OMAS alloy kit for Campagnolo Nuvo Record

 

Regina Extra Superleggera hollow pin chain

 

Regina Alloy Superleggera Extra America Freewheel 

 CLB Professional brake set, one of the nicest and 

lightest on the market at the time.

Now all I have to find is a lightweight stop watch....

Vic Edwards built Condor TT

After a very prolonged restoration, I have 

finally finished rebuilding this beautifully 

constructed Vic Edwards built Condor TT jewel.

Frame No V4571.

Condor advertisement International Cycle Sport 

October 1971

As you can see this really is a full on period Time Trial

bike in the classic British tradition.

Weinmann brake calipers/levers light and reasonably effective.

3TTT Bars and stem, an easy style choice.

Single rear Zeus shifter with classic

Zeus 2000 rear derailleur, how do you make a

Campagnolo Record R/D clone more beautiful,

drill it full of holes of course....  

Stronglight cranks with TA chainring and

Campagnolo Pista pedals.

Italian Gran Prix saddle, drilled, with Zeus seat pin.

Classic shot in stays, bit of a Vic Edwards signature it seems.

Custom 28 hole wooden rims, especially drilled for me by

Ghisallo, laced to Camagnolo low flange hubs.

 Probably not quite a period item, but what hey. they

look cool and ride even better.

 Condor TT Frame No V4571
Wheel base 37 1/2 inch
Zeus 2000 rear derailleur/gran sport shifter.
Stronglight 49 cranks
TA 54t chainring
Campagnolo Pista B/B
Campagnolo Pista pedals
Regina 5 speed block
 Everest Serie Special chain
Zeus seat pin
Gran Prix plastic saddle
Campagnolo steel headset
3TTT Record stem
3TTT Bars
Weinmann 500 brake set
28 hole Ghisallo wooden rims
Camagnolo Record L/F hubs
TA bottle & cage
Saba pump

Vic went on to build frames under the Rondinella name.

Add from Cycling November 1980.

  Serious 1970's English hot rod.

International Cycle Sport November 1968