SV980
Regular
righto !!!!
Here we go down the rabbit hole .
Long story........... but ,
I have a Carlton Frame that I am trying to pin down to model and year .
HAd it a few years . Came from a source that had no history on it unfortunately .
Imagine the tales it could tell ?
It is one of the few english machines I have ,amongst another 20 or so (mainly french)
CArlton history is a bit of a mixed bag it appears , by the research I have done .
The only frame I have found that seems to line up with mine is a TEAM BMB frame from 1967 /1968 ish .
There is one very odd detail of the frame that makes me pretty sure it is a Team /BMB frame .
The top tube has three raised areas with a unthreaded hole .
They appear to be original and unmodifed going by the surface and paint cover .
( ie not cable guides cut off )
HAve found very few pictures of the Team BMB machines from this time .
There are a couple that show "something " on the top tube .
They also reasonable clearly show no cable clips which would have been fairly standard at the time .
My thoughts on this is that there was a plastic ? clip pushed into the hole holding the cable .
Similar to some Moulton cable clips I have seen .
Several other frame features seem to indicate a racing pedigree .
Victor fastback seat stays with brake bridge .
Threaded seat bolt clamp (5/16 BSF thread )
Zeus dropouts front and back with NO eyelets .
Sloping fork crown .
Chrome head lugs , forks and rear stays .
I have been keeping an eye on EBAY etc for the last couple of years but have yet to see anything like it .
The componentry it came with is a bit of a mixed bag with some early bits still on it .
HArd to know if they are original after all this time I guess .
The wear on the cranks would indicate they were original .
Components as found :
Cranks stronglight 57
brampton bottom bracket cups ( stronglight square spindle)
GB66 Coureur center pull cailpers with Altenburg ? levers
3TTT GRAN PRIX stem
Unicanitor saddle
Benelux candle stick seat post (27.2 )
The rest of the bits were "modern" bits and not relevant.
the final bit of evidence is the paint colour and the panel colours
These seem to be specific to a very short period .
I have photographs from 1967 ,1968 of frames with same paint job .
Carlton went to LAgoon blue in 1970 ?
There is one fly in the ointment ,depending what you read /believe .
The serial number ( on the bottom bracket) is E1068 .
It has been suggested in the past that this dates the frame to the 1970s
My hope is that someone out there has seen one of these machines in the flesh and can confirm the top tube clip assumption .
The ride is very light and nippy in comparison to my other machines so it is much enjoyed regardless of the date and history .
I just like to know as much as possible about the machines in my custody so any information , comments , questions, criticisms etc happily received .
Hopefully I have not
put you all to sleep with the preceeding :-)
Thanks for your time and attention .
Hope you are all keeping safe wherever you may be in the world .
Here we go down the rabbit hole .
Long story........... but ,
I have a Carlton Frame that I am trying to pin down to model and year .
HAd it a few years . Came from a source that had no history on it unfortunately .
Imagine the tales it could tell ?
It is one of the few english machines I have ,amongst another 20 or so (mainly french)
CArlton history is a bit of a mixed bag it appears , by the research I have done .
The only frame I have found that seems to line up with mine is a TEAM BMB frame from 1967 /1968 ish .
There is one very odd detail of the frame that makes me pretty sure it is a Team /BMB frame .
The top tube has three raised areas with a unthreaded hole .
They appear to be original and unmodifed going by the surface and paint cover .
( ie not cable guides cut off )
HAve found very few pictures of the Team BMB machines from this time .
There are a couple that show "something " on the top tube .
They also reasonable clearly show no cable clips which would have been fairly standard at the time .
My thoughts on this is that there was a plastic ? clip pushed into the hole holding the cable .
Similar to some Moulton cable clips I have seen .
Several other frame features seem to indicate a racing pedigree .
Victor fastback seat stays with brake bridge .
Threaded seat bolt clamp (5/16 BSF thread )
Zeus dropouts front and back with NO eyelets .
Sloping fork crown .
Chrome head lugs , forks and rear stays .
I have been keeping an eye on EBAY etc for the last couple of years but have yet to see anything like it .
The componentry it came with is a bit of a mixed bag with some early bits still on it .
HArd to know if they are original after all this time I guess .
The wear on the cranks would indicate they were original .
Components as found :
Cranks stronglight 57
brampton bottom bracket cups ( stronglight square spindle)
GB66 Coureur center pull cailpers with Altenburg ? levers
3TTT GRAN PRIX stem
Unicanitor saddle
Benelux candle stick seat post (27.2 )
The rest of the bits were "modern" bits and not relevant.
the final bit of evidence is the paint colour and the panel colours
These seem to be specific to a very short period .
I have photographs from 1967 ,1968 of frames with same paint job .
Carlton went to LAgoon blue in 1970 ?
There is one fly in the ointment ,depending what you read /believe .
The serial number ( on the bottom bracket) is E1068 .
It has been suggested in the past that this dates the frame to the 1970s
My hope is that someone out there has seen one of these machines in the flesh and can confirm the top tube clip assumption .
The ride is very light and nippy in comparison to my other machines so it is much enjoyed regardless of the date and history .
I just like to know as much as possible about the machines in my custody so any information , comments , questions, criticisms etc happily received .
Hopefully I have not
Thanks for your time and attention .
Hope you are all keeping safe wherever you may be in the world .
