Could this be the oldest “dave moulton” frame in the United States? Built in England in late 1975 with Reynolds 531 tubing. My thanks to John Robinson for these pictures; John ordered the frame from me in 1975 when he was working on the Alaska Pipeline. The whole transaction was done by mail and I shipped the frame to Fairbanks, AK. John now lives in Montana.

Although this bike has a slightly longer rear end and clearance for mudguards; the overall design was established by the 1970s and the basic geometry would stay the same until I left the business in 1993.

Points that date this frame to the 1970s are the clamp-on gear levers and front derailleur, gear cable guides brazed on top of the bottom bracket. Also the old style Campagnolo drop-outs with the long slot and fender eyelets attached.

Other points were the top tube cable guides hand made from wire, and the water bottle braze-ons on the down tube were tall enough that the thread did not go into the tube; rather they were brazed on top of the tube. The painted on gold bands on the seat tube was typical of an English frame of that period.

Left: Old style Campy long slot drop-outs.

An interesting fork crown: Ron Kitching design, fitted inside the fork blades like the popular fully sloping crown, but this one was more flat-top in shape with a distinctive decorative groove in the side seen here picked out in gold paint. This crown only worked with the old style Reynolds narrow section fork blades and I never saw it in the US.