Holdsworth special circa 1981

[12boy]

Bought a Holdsworth Special at an online estate auction recently and I am curious to know something about it. It is a metal flakey black , and came with a Cinelli stem and bars. Campy brakes, QRs, bottom bracket, crank arms and pedals. The owner put a triple chain ring and a freewheel that is 13 up to 32. It has "Gentleman" rims and Phil W hubs, Christophe toe cage and straps, and Suntour down tube shifters . The head badge is a decal and beneath the seatpost is a Reynolds sticker indicating double butted 531.Can anyone tell me anything about this bike? While it is certainly set up for touring or at least climbing steep grades I think based on the parts he saved, such as 52/42 chain rings, and close geared freewheel, it may have been some sort of sporty day ride kind of bike. Also the Phil hubs are bit loose, even with the QRs cinched down tight and there is no obvious way to adjust them. They do spin nicely though. Any thoughts on this model and do I need to worry about the Phils?

 

[biggs682]

Any pictures?

Are the hubs sealed or loose bearings?

 

[midlife]

Have a wander around this site for the specials,

http://www.nkilgariff.com/Models.htm

they changed over the years from a road frame into a general purpose bike with space for mudguards.

There's a thread on Retrobike about numbering for Holdsworth frames at the moment


Pics would be nice

Shaun

 

[12boy]

Any pictures?

Are the hubs sealed or loose bearings?

Hubs appear to be sealed

 

[12boy]

Have a wander around this site for the specials,

http://www.nkilgariff.com/Models.htm

they changed over the years from a road frame into a general purpose bike with space for mudguards.

There's a thread on Retrobike about numbering for Holdsworth frames at the moment


Pics would be nice

Shaun

 

[12boy]

Thanks, and I will put some pics up soon.

 

[12boy]

Here are the pictures

 

[stevevw]

You will be able to make a very nice bike out of this. Novel way of making a triple.

 

[GuyBoden]

Very nice bike..........

 

[Fab Foodie]

Here are the pictures

View attachment 139668 View attachment 139668 View attachment 139669

Dammit that's nice ....

 

[12boy]

It really is a comfortable bike and climbs like a goat. The one person before me that owned it was the Levi jeans rep for Wyoming and Montana and took very good care of it. All the grease in the bearings and headset was dried up but the bearings were pristine. He did a lot of old time things like soldering the ends of cables so they would not fray, and there are loads of extra parts. All in all well worth the 207.42 I paid for it. Still though, is the looseness in the Phil hubs a concern? Cannot figure out how to adjust them.

 

[midlife]

Nice

Home made triple. The factory jobby had the holes in a different place with short spline flutes

Shaun

 

[12boy]

I have owned a few bikes in my time including a Witcomb Superlight, Centurion Iron Man, Fuji track, to name a few, and I must say that although this isn't a particularly light bike it sure feels faster than any of the others. I really don't feel the weight and it is like an old comfortable chair. If I were to ride any distance at all this would be the choice.

 

[Dave Scrimshaw]

Hi, I see you have added to this thread recently. I have just had a Special passed on to me which i hope to rescure from the scrap heap, has a stuck BB and seat stem cut off by a previous owner. I believe it to be 1981 model and all looks correct, the only thing I an unsure of is the rear brake bridge which is plain, no center boss. Several Specials I have seen have this boss, but are also a year or so latter. No boss was common in the 70's and I think changes over early 80's. Can you confirm if yous has this boss or not? not quite clear from the pictures above.

Interesting to see the color of your and the decals, do you believe them to be original? I think my has been re-painted, but could be trying mimic the original, just a bit more metallic. At some point this has been used a sa single speed, all the lugs and clips have been cut off. You can still see the marks under the paint where they were.

 

[12boy]

The color is similar. The brake bridge on mine has a brazed on piece that attached to the bridge fore and aft, but your looks like someone may have removed one, since that area is rustier than the rest of the bridge. Mine has a pair of cable guides brazed on just above the BB that I thought I could see on yours as well. My water bottle bolt mounts are in the same location as yours, from what I can see. Mine is original and I have the paperwork from when it was purchased by the guy whose estate sale sold me the bike. I can't speak to yours, but if the frame is sound and you can remove the BB and seat post I think you will find it a sweet ride.