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READERS' PIKES

PJ 7779

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Patrick Wright contacted me and said…

Here are some pictures of another bike from the ‘Pike’ stable.  It was made for my late brother in law, George Reynolds Cannon.  I have no record of the date, but guess from the serial number that it’s a late “Pike of Crewkerne” model, although all the transfers were gone before it came my way. George lived in Marlborough, Wiltshire, and died  in 1992. He was very tall – some way over 6 ft 6, and the frame is correspondingly huge (69.5cm or thereabouts).  I am 6 ft 5 ins and find it a good ride as long as the saddle is as close to the post as possible – although the SunTour gear levers still seem a long way away! Unlike some other owners on this website,  I can be pretty relaxed about locking it up:  it would be impossible for 90 per cent of people to ride away on the thing. It was initially silver-grey and has been resprayed and reassembled once.  It now needs respectful restoration.

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READERS' PIKES

SP 8178

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Michael Bannon contacted me and said…

I rode Eroica 2015 with a friend on a 1982 Stan Pike tandem. Unfortunately we only got half way before a catastrophic front wheel failure sent us over the handlebars. I think this was secondary to a blowout, secondary to the front rim getting too hot from braking on one of the long descents. I bought the tandem two years ago in slightly tatty condition, did a service, only to find that the rear seat post was welded to the steel with corrosion. After mechanical methods failed I resorted to the caustic soda approach- which worked but stripped the  paint, so I had it redone with new stickers. The frame was unscathed by the crash and I have had a new front wheel built using a NOS 27″ 48 hole rim on ebay.

Hope to finish Eroica next year – although my stoker might be less than keen – so I could be doing it on a different bike!

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READERS' PIKES

SP 22664

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Simon Jones contacted me and said…

I have a bike I’ve recently bought. It’s badged as a Bob Addy. He had bikes made by other makers to sell through his shop. The frame number is SP 22664 with the word DRAYCOTT, both under the BB. The lugs look very similar to SP 25332 but without the cloverleaf cutouts. The drop outs are campagnolo with a Gipiemme brake bridge. Components include Campag nuovo record PAT.83 rear with record downtube shifters. Cinelli R1 stem and bars. Dura ace seat post. Modolo black professional calipers. I’ve seen on the internet that Stan Pike built frames for other shops. Do you think he might of made my bike frame?

As you can see, the brake levers are not correct, but look better than what was on there when I bought it. Also the saddle and front mech I’ve replaced with parts I’d got on another bike. The photo of the rear mech shows the dropout with 2 holes for a Portacatena and no holes for mudguards, so the bike was presumably built for racing. The rims and hubs look good so I’ll respoke the wheels. I hope the photos are good enough for the website.

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I forwarded photos to Stan’s son, who replied…

I know this one and knew from the pictures it was a Stan Pike, you can tell from the feathering on the lugs, no one else would bother to spend the time perfecting them! Built in Sept 1983. It’s a 23″ frame, built from Reynolds 531 double butted tubing for Bob Addy.

As it was built in Sept 1983, it means it was one of the last Stan built before his death in November 1983.

Now living in Australia, Bob Addy is very busy as a professional cycling coach. He has a hugely impressive list of achievements – amongst other things Bob is a former British Road Champion, Australia vets Road, Criterium and Time trial Champion, and has ridden in the Tour de France, Olympics games and Commonwealth games. See his website here. I emailed Bob in the hope that he might have some Stan Pike related information. He said…

Yes, this is a Stan Pike frame and I don’t mind it going on the website. My father had a TT bike made by Stan, low profile which I still have in the garage. I will try and get a photo of it over to you within the next few weeks.

Fingers crossed Bob will supply me with more detailed information and photographs. I’ll update the page if so.

READERS' PIKES

SP 2163

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Trevor Harrison contacted me about his Stan Pike and said…

I own a Stan Pike frame. Bought from Alltrax Cycles in Plymouth, I have tried to trace information on the original owner for some time. It’s a very light frame and a fast ride. Some details for you:

Reynolds 753 tubing – 21″ time trial frame
Powder blue with gold lug lining
Original riders name in gold on op tube – CR Sweet
Bottom bracket is stamped ‘Christopher Sweet’  SP 2163
Campag Super Record 52/42 Chainset
Super Record pedals
Nuovo record seat post and shifters/headset/front and rear mechs
Cinelli bars and stem
Ambrosio Sprint wheels + tubular tyres
Campag Record hubs
Regina CXS 14-24 freewheel
Reg Bottle cage
Leather saddle

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Trevor Harrison with his Stan Pike

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I contacted Alltrax Cycles and received some further information from John Benney. He said…

Here are some more pictures of the bike as it was when I purchased it from Mr Alan Cox who was the second owner of the bike having bought it from Mr Sweet of Plymouth. At the time of having the bike in the shop for sale I managed to trace Mr Sweet, he came to the shop to see the bike, unfortunately I was out at the time so did not get to meet him, but he did leave a contact phone number. I still have the receipt from Mr Sweet confirming the sale to Mr Alan Cox for £350 for the complete bike. Trevor Harrison bought the frame & forks from me as I striped the bike down & sold all the Campag Super Record parts separately.

Here are some of John’s photos…IMG_5893 copy IMG_5908 copyb 5913 copy 3a DSC01471 DSC01478 DSC01479 DSC01480 DSC01481-1

READERS' PIKES

SP 25332

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Nick contacted me in March 2014 to tell me about his Stan Pike frames, but it wasn’t until he decided to ride at Eroica Britannia 2015 that he built one of them up as a complete bicycle. Nick said…

It is a lovely  Reynolds 753 frame, but obviously really a time trial frame, so it  has very tight clearances and significant toe overlap with the front wheel!  Not exactly what you might think was designed for Derbyshire off road tracks!

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The frame number is SP25332, stamped on the fork stem and under the bottom bracket.  Also under the bottom bracket is stamped the name:  Jim Bartlett.

I bought the frame initially from Hilary Stone and at the time it was sprayed up as an Argos, although Hilary knew it was a Stan Pike and sold it to me as such.

I actually sold the frame within days of buying it to Paul Baker who runs the Cheddar Cycle Store.  Paul is a vastly experienced Somerset road racer in his mid sixties who knew Stan very well and Stan used to make all Paul’s frames. As Paul rode as a professional for some years, he used to have the name of the shop who sponsored him on the frames. He had always said that he regretted selling his Stan Pike frames and I sold it to him as a favour. He had it re-sprayed by Argos with the correct decals and rode it for a short while, but as he now rides modern carbon bikes he found that he did not really use it, so he offered it back to me and I re-bought it.  All very convoluted I know.

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I contacted Stan’s son, who said…

It’s a 21 3/4″ frame, built in November 1982, from Reynolds 753 tubing.

Interesting, in May 2015 I received an email from an Englishman now living in Australia, who said…

My uncle, Jim Bartlett, who passed away ten years ago, had an absolute stable full of Stan Pikes. He rode with the Frome Wheelers for 50 years and took me in 1977 to see Stan to have my first road frame made. Jim’s frames would all have been 54cm/21” with a serial code that began with the letters JB. I’ve often wondered where his Stan Pikes would be now.

Looks like one has turned up.

If you know the whereabouts of any more of Jim’s frames, please get in touch.

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READERS' PIKES

SP 58

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I was contacted by Anthony Thompson a couple of weeks ago…

I recently bought a Don Farrell frame, which I am about to restore. The bottom bracket and forks are both stamped “SP 58” and “140773”. The bottom bracket also has “SILVER BRAZED”. What I am wondering is whether this is one of the frames which Stan Pike built for Don Farrell. The Reynolds transfer and the way the cable guides are arranged suggest that the frame was built before about 1970. I would be grateful for any help that you could give me on this.

I contacted Stan’s son, who said…

I can confirm the frame was built for Don Farrell in  Jan/Feb 1973. It is silver brazed and is a 23 &1/2″ frame with 14″ wheel clearance. The front fork rake is 1 & 5/8″. Chain stay length 17″ with 23″ top tube length.

I asked Anthony if he had any further information that I could put on the website. He replied…

I’m afraid that I know nothing about it’s history. I bought it from Vintage Bike Cave in Highgate knowing nothing about Don Farrell or his connection to Stan Pike. It was simply very obviously a very well made frame.

I’d be very happy for you to feature it on the website – any information your readers could supply would be gratefully received.

I won’t be restoring it exactly as original – the chrome has rust underneath and will have to be removed and the downtube decals I’ve obtained are white with a blue edge. However, I will try to capture the rather flamboyant  circus big top feel – use the blue and red from the Don Farrell logo and shift the cream background into a definite primrose yellow. Sounds risky, I know, but I think it will work. If not, I’ll start again.

I will share updates from Anthony’s restoration as and when I receive information. 

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READERS' PIKES

SP 8309

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Type ‘Stan Pike’ into Google and one of the top results is the Classic Rendezvous website – a great site ‘dedicated to Lightweight Vintage Bicycles, circa 1900~1983’. I noticed that on the Stan Pike page, that there are images of a Pike owned by Wayne Bingham. It wasn’t difficult to track down Wayne – he owns Velo Classique – a bicycle shop that specializes in vintage and classically styled bicycles, parts and accessories in Purcellville, Virginia, USA. A quick email to Wayne prompted this reply…

You have, indeed, found the right person. And I do still have my Stan Pike, and have owned it for almost 20 years now. It’s actually one of the most prized bikes in my collection. In fact, it is the bike that started me down the path of being a “collector”, instead of a guy who primarily just bought and sold bikes so that I could have and ride nice bikes. My frame has been built up several different ways since I’ve owned it. The latest build was done several years ago to showcase some modified components done by a friend of mine in Oregon (Jon Williams at Drillium Revival). I’m attaching a couple of pictures of the latest configuration.

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I first found the Pike I own through a friend who managed a local bike shop, after someone brought it in to the shop and tried to trade it on another bike. My friend, knowing my affinity for classic bikes, sent them to me. It turned out that the original owner had died and his sister and her husband inherited the bike. The bike didn’t fit either of them, so they were trying trade it. I ended up building up a commuter bike for the husband, and got the Pike in trade.

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Although I thought I knew a lot about bikes, I had never heard of Stan Pike. I did, however, recognize a very finely crafted and beautiful frame when I saw one. I set about trying to learn more about it, and asked anyone I met about it, but seemingly no one else knew of Stan Pike either. I owned it for a number of years before I met the first person who had ever seen one, that being Dale Brown who created the Classic Rendezvous web site. Sometime later, and prompted by me, Dale put what information we knew on the Classic Rendezvous web site.  Stan’s son, Steve, contacted us and was kind enough to not only give us the correct story (essentially the one you have on your site now), but he also provided me copies of the original built and journal entry for my frame, #SP 8309, built in February 1983, just nine months before Stan’s death. Shortly after that, I came to know Hilary Stone, who related the info you also now have on your site. So as you can see, I’ve been a champion of Stan Pike here in the US for a long time. Interestingly, my frame was not built for a customer as most were, rather it was one of three consecutive frames build for “stock”. My frame appears to be even more finely finished that most others I’ve seen, and it is Hilary’s opinion that this frame and possibility the two other consecutive ones were likely built for show purposes.

Click below to find out more about Wayne’s shop, Velo Classique:

Velo Classique Flickr pages

Velo Classique Facebook

www.veloclassique.com

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READERS' PIKES

PJ 78673

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I was contacted by Steve Welch who said…

I have a very late 1983 Stan Pike, that I’m ashamed to report has hardly ever been ridden.There are a few hairline crazed cracks in the paintwork at the base of the forks, but not bad considering it has been hung on the garage wall for the last ten years. At the time of ordering it I was suffering from a running injury and my mate Dave Smith (Somerset Road Club) convinced me to get a Pike and take up cycling. I never did, and still run! On hearing of Stan’s death I was worried I might not get my new frame, but I was lucky.

Dave built the bike for me using bits from my previous crashed bike, so it really was a cheap bike. At the time, fluorescent paint was new and it really did stand out the few times I actually rode it!

I had my phone number in Taunton stamped on the frame (PJ 78673) as well as my name. Is this frame one of Stan’s last? I’d love to know.

I contacted Stan’s son, who replied…

Yes, I have the record for this one, it was finished by Phil and yes was one of the last. It’s a 23 & 1/2″ frame built for Stephen Welch and was the last one built in Oct 1983. Phil went on to build three more on his own in November 1983. Another twenty-six were then built by Phil in 1984 before the shop was closed.

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Stan Pike jerseys

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I was contacted a few days ago by Barry Dobson, as both he and Chris Davey are riding in this year’s L’Eroica Britannia and L’Eroica Italia. They’d been discussing the idea of getting some Stan Pike merino knitted vintage-style jerseys produced so that they look the part.

Before proceeding we’d obviously need permission from Stan’s family to use the Stan Pike name and logo. The wheels were set in motion. I contacted Stan’s son. He liked the idea and sent me photos of what we think is the last remaining long-sleeved jersey.

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Original Stan Pike long-sleeved jersey
Original Stan Pike long-sleeved jersey

I mocked up a new design based on Jura Cycle Clothing’s short-sleeved jersey and sent it to Stan’s son for approval. He liked a lot and is happy for us to produce a very limited, not-for-profit, run.

If you’re interested in getting your hands on a jersey, please click here to view the SHOP page.

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