Category Archives: READERS’ PIKES

SP D11948P

Martin Wills contacted me and said…

Sadly my friend Dave Pitman recently died. His family have been clearing his house and I have been assisting with disposing of his bike bits. I knew he owned a Stan Pike years ago, but when we found the frameset in the roof we were all surprised. Dave’s brother said if I made a donation to The Air Ambulance I could keep the frame, which is what I have done, with the intention of building it back to it’s former glory. It’s been badly resprayed at some time but the serial numbers are just visible. SP D 11948 P (Dave’s date of birth was 11th September 1948). I would be very interested in what tube set and what year it was made.

Dave often spoke of the frame he had built by Stan, but I really didn’t think he still had it, as he disposed of a lot of his old racing kit when he moved from Chard to West Coker in the 1990’s. Dave was at the top of his form in 1979 having just won the Western Division Championships the year before and coming second in the National Hill Climb at Hay Tor that year.  I wrote a brief history of Dave, that Ian Booth (Chard Wheelers) used in shortened version as an epitaph that he read out a Dave’s funeral. I can send it to you if you like so you can get a picture of the man the frame was made for.

The frame has been resprayed brick red, probably by Argos. I may just get some decals from Lloyds and get it lacquered over as the paint has covered well but has been applied a bit thick in places. I will take advise from Jim King, who is the best bike painter I have ever found. I think I already have some 531db stickers somewhere.
I will send you some photo’s as I make progress.

Stan Pike worked in the next department to me in Westlands back in the early 1970’s. I knew who he was, but never had any close contact with him. Small world but Bob White junior, who’s dad had the bike shop before Stan, worked with me in another part of Westlands in the 1990’s.

I contacted Stan’s son, who said…

This one was built in 1979, using Reynolds 531 double butted main frame tubes with Columbus chain stays. It’s silver brazed and is a 22″ frame.

Update 3rd April 2017. The frame and forks have been resprayed.
Update 2nd May 2017. Martin says ‘I’m not sure if Dave Pitman would of approved of the red saddle, but I thought it looked the part.’
SP D11948P outside 66 Hermitage Street, Crewkerne, where the frame was built 38 years ago.

PJ 23185900

Keith Glover contacted me and said…

Nick Watson passed your details onto me regarding the Stan Pike that I have just got from him.  I am coming up to speed on Stan Pike and its especially interesting as I live in a town practically next door to Crewkerne and often go past where the shop would have been.

The frame has been resprayed by Argos of Bristol. The original paint colour was white. As you can see I have some components, but not all. I have started by cleaning the wheels up and they are not too bad, but its going to take a while to finish it.

I contacted Stan’s son and he said…

This one was built for Philip Hamlin in 1983. Confirm the frame is built from Reynolds 531 plain gauge tubing as noted by the new owner. It’s recorded as a 23″ frame with 22 & 7/8 top tube. 2″ fork rake. 14 & 3/8 wheel clearance. 17 & 1/4″ chain stay length with 73 degree parallel seat and head tubes.

If anyone has any further information on the original owner, Philip Hamlin, please let me know.

Keith says his will send more photographs as the rebuild develops.

SP 7908

Keith contacted me and said…

In the early 1970s, Stan started making forks for cycle speedway bikes, through Gerry Wallis who rode for Hendon Aces. I think Gerry got to know Stan through Don Farrell who had a shop in Burnt Oak Broadway. With the success of the forks, Stan went on to make custom built cycle speedway frames which we all used very successfully in the 70s. When Gerry retired from cycle speedway he sold me his last Stan Pike frame, cranks, wheels etc. As you can see from the pictures the frame has all the classic Stan Pike workmanship.

I contacted Stan’s son, Steve, and he replied…

Built early 1979 for Gerry Wallis. It’s a small one at 19 3/4″ frame. Built from Durifort tubing (this was a heavier section tube). The top tube is recorded as 21 & 13/16″ length with a 1 & 3/4″ slope to the rear.

After a quick search of the internet, I found these photos of the Hendon Aces

Hendon Aces at Uxbridge Pirates. Gerry Wallis leads Richard Lee, Elfryn Forbes, Bonny Edwards at the rear
The Aces. l-r – Pete Courts, Matt James, Gerry Wallis, Alan Harman (front)

SP 12262

Mike Riley from Riley’s Cycles of Sherborne recently purchased a Stan Pike. He said…

Collected another Pike today from Barrie Carter, this one is a keeper for myself. Can you provide any history? It is SP 12262, stamped Alan Hyde ISHIWATA RECORD SILVER BRAZED.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a record of this particular frame. If anyone knows of an Alan Hyde, probably born on 12th Feb 1962, we’d love to hear from you.

UPDATE FEBRUARY 2018
Mike sent me updated photos below. He says…

As you can see from the photographs, I swapped out the Shimano parts and Fulcrum wheels and fitted Campag Athena 8 speed groupset and wheels. I may swap the shifters for downtube mount, indexed Synchro shifters if I want to ride in an Eroica event. If anyone has suitable complete Synchro 8 speed shifters please get in touch. The bike is a treat to ride and is much admired on dry club runs with Digby Etape CC.

SP 23433A

I received an email from Colin Witt. He said…

I have just purchased a Stan Pike framed bike. Its frame number is SP 23433A and is made with 531 Reynolds tube. I was told that it is the same build as the John Woodburn frame that he rode his End-to-End record on. It belonged to Roy Fairchild and has his name stamped on the bottom bracket.

I contacted Stan’s son about Colin’s bike. He couldn’t find a record for 23433A, but he told me that two frames were made forJohn Woodburn’s record breaking End-to-End. One broke (and we think was later repaired and returned to John), and the other is owned by the Pike family. Both frames were made from Reynolds 753. He said…

I can confirm two things, yes it’s definitely one of ours, no doubt about that. But it was built for Roy Fairchild, not John Woodburn. Second point, it’s too big for John Woodburn. Both the seat tube and the top tube are longer than on his spec, because it was built for someone else, but built by Stan Pike nevertheless. 

Over the years, there have been a number of frames advertised for sale with descriptions such as, “It is the same build as the John Woodburn frame that he rode on his End-to-End. That is because the Pike name will forever be linked to the Woodburn record. When people advertise a frame with the description “same build” as the record-breaking bike, they own a Stan Pike frame, built by Stan Pike, but not a replica of the Woodburn frame.  No replicas of the John Woodburn frames were ever built. Each frame was built to suit the individual owner.

Colin told me…

I bought it from Alan Sharpen who is on the South District Committee for Cycling Time Trials and, like me,  is a member of Sotonia CC.

He knew Roy and about 3-4 years ago Roy said he had some bikes to get rid of as he was downsizing, so Alan picked up about three frames – the SP and a couple of Farrell frames, Alan said he would try to sell them and any money made would be donated to charity.

The frame had no wheels on it, so Alan had a pair of wheels with Royce hubs on Mavic GP4 sprint rims screw on block to suit the 125mm drop outs. It has mixture of parts on it – Shimano 105 rear mech, down tube shifters and cranks, Shimano Dura Ace brakes, Suntour front mech and Shimano brake levers.

Alan said that Roy liked to have top quality bikes and would buy a new frame on regular basis, so he had a lot of frames/bikes to dispose of when he downsized. 

I searched for a Roy Fairchild and saw that he used to ride with Bognor Regis Cycling Club. I emailed them and received a reply from Mark Haplik:

Roy gave me two frames about 3-4 years ago as his health was failing. Both 531, one was “putty” grey the other mid blue. I passed both of these frames onto clubmates – the grey one has been passed on again and I don’t know of its whereabouts. The blue frame is still in the possession of my clubmate and friend (I’ve received an email from Phil Stannard, the current owner, and am awaiting photos/details) and is built up with modern 105 etc. It has recently survived quite a serious crash and the current owner is still recovering from broken ribs, punctured lung etc, but the “Stan” came through unscathed.

If anyone knows the whereabouts of any of Roy’s other Pikes, please let me know.

SP 231255

Tim Whellock contacted me and said…

I am the proud owner of a Stan Pike. Stan made the frame in 1979 for me to ride short-circuit races in France. I still ride it on special days. The photo of Stan presenting a frame to my old mate Dave Smith was a bit of a shock, but brought back some good memories of the Somerset Road Club. Terry Manuel was also a good friend, he was a great photographer and must have many old photos from the 1970s.

Stan would often use your birthday as the frame number – mine is 231255. My name is also stamped in the bottom bracket.

My frame was built alongside a frame for a mate, George Saunders. They were both the same colour, citrus, very period!

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PJ 24141

John Barnfield contacted me and said…

I have been looking for a Pike frame for several years and had given up hope of ever finding one, but a few weeks ago a friend told me of one that was being sold not two minutes’ walk from where I live. Although I didn’t need another bike I went to look at it and decided it was far too nice not to buy, so did.

As I didn’t really need it I had planned to sell it, but after taking it out for a spin I decided as it was such a sweet little bike to ride I would keep it as a winter bike, and as pictured is how I will keep it.

Its repainted Gios blue, which I think is one of the more popular Pike colours.

The bottom bracket is stamped PJ 24141 and Brian Duignan.

Stan’s son provided me with further details…

Yes. I have the records on this one also, built in 1983 for a Brian Duignan. Built from Reynolds 531DB, a 20 & 1/2″ frame with 21 & 1/2″ top tube.

A quick search on the internet shows that Brian Duignan was one of the founding members of CC Weymouth. If anyone has any further information about Brian I’d love to hear from you.

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Update May 2017. Unfortunately, due to ill health, John is no longer able to ride his bikes, so he has sold  PJ 24141 to John Pennington. John P has already added his favourite Brooks saddle, thinner Continental tyres and says, ‘Just need to ride it now – can’t wait!’

PJ 76

Mike Riley from Riley’s Cycles of Sherborne was lucky enough to be offered the chance to buy another Stan Pike. He told me…

I bought this Stan Pike today from a gent in Highcliffe. I also have suitable parts to return it to a derailleur setup. It is a 20″ in frame and seems in good condition. Unfortunately too small for me but I could not resist it.

I contacted Stan’s son and he said…

This one was built in 1982 for a John Pickering using Reynolds 531 plain gauge tubing. It’s a 20 & 1/2″ frame with 14 & 3/8 wheel clearance.

p1010343 p1010338 p1010337 p1010334 p1010335

Mike has now sold the bike to John Barnfield who intends to restore it to its former glory with a respray by Argos Cycles. Stan’s son was kind enough to supply me with original ‘Pike of Crewkerne’ decals which  I have passed on to John.

Update April 2018. Unfortunately, due to ill health, John is no longer able to ride his bikes, so he has sold  PJ 76 to Philip Clive. Philip joined us on the 2018 Stan Pike Ride. although not on a Stan Pike. John tells me that, “Philip is a proper Pike/bike fan and plans to alter a few thinks maybe to make it more period correct, I look forward to seeing how it turns out.”

Update May 2018. Philip Clive, the new owner of PJ 76, send me new photographs (below) and said, “I have completed the ‘tune up’ of PJ76, to try and bring the components more or less in line with the age of the frame (1982), I hope that you approve. Photos attached from todays’ shakedown ride. I hope to take it to Eroica Brittania and Anjou Vintage Velo in this set up.”

 

LU6 3LR

Tim Stevens contacted me with details of his Stan Pike. He said…

As a young time trialist I was an admirer of John Woodburn and Pete Wells who both rode Stan Pike bikes. John won the 1978 BBAR on his light blue Pike, badged Ken Ryall. Pete worked at Don Farrell’s shop for a while in his younger days and owned several SPs ; the picture of him on this website shows him winning the ’78 National 100.

On 6th May 1981, and after much consideration, I ordered my bike from Broadway Bikes at Enfield (the nearest shop to my home which was a Pike agent was ). Made from Reynolds 753 throughout, I had previously had a bike made from Columbus PL,  but it was too fragile and flexed.

It has a 23 inch seat tube, 74 degree parallel with the head tube. I wanted a very close clearance at the rear end as I used Clement No 3 silk tubulars or 18 mm  narrow section Wolbers. Therefore I left it to Stan to keep the chain stay as short as he could get away with. The front end was to be close too, a 1 inch fork rake was specified. The trend at the time was for a close clearance upright frame, because it made the bike feel lively and also kept the weight down as the tubes were that bit shorter. A semi sloping fork crown was deemed to be lighter which is in effect cut out and not a solid piece of metal. A clever little touch I chose to save weight is to have half of a Weinmann 500 brake spindle brazed onto the fork crown and rear bridge, as well as a neater appearance it eliminated nut and washer to secure the brake assembly. Similarly a Campag gear lever boss brazed onto the down tube. I used a 5 speed Mailllard  dural block 13-17, very light, and single 55 tooth Campag piste chain ring. The original intention was to use 170mm Royce piste cranks but I used Campag 177.5mm, extra leverage being the reason and I couldn’t source Royce cranks of that length. There was an overlap of front wheel and shoes but as time trials are straight lines it didn’t really matter. Bottom bracket shell is a Saba precision with a titanium Royce bottom bracket. The bottom bracket is stamped with my name and my post code at the time, LU6 3LR. Lugs are spear point and cut out, again to keep the weight down. I lightened several components by hand filing, by this time the fashion for drillium was on the wane, so I filed the gear lever and brakes and removed the ends of the handlebars and seat pin. The narrow end of the stem expander bolt was also sawn off. Steel chainring bolts replaced with alloy items. Rear gear is a Huret jubilee, the lightest available at the time, but a rapid rear wheel change was tricky.
My diary records the list of components.

  • Modolo brake levers £35.50
  • Omas headset          £20.70
  • Royce b/b                £45.50
  • Cranks                        £46.75
  • Frame.                         £297.00
  • Rear gear.                  £28.28
  • Campag seat pin       £17.10
  • Cinelli saddle             £16.70
  • Cinelli stem                £12.50
  • Cinelli bars                 £8.00
  • Cinelli M71 pedals   £31.95
  • Brakes                       £5.75
  • Cables                        £2.25
  • Bar tape                      £0.59
  • Bar end stops           £1.00
  • Wheels Omas small Flange on Mavic cx18 £64.95
  • Block.                           £49.00
  • Sedis chain                 £4.00
  • Tyres                             £30.00 each.

I rode the bike for the first time in a 25 on 14 <arch 1982 and came third.

After a few seasons of racing, and corrosion caused by sweat, a respray was required, plain white without SP decals. It remains as such to this day, although now in a terrible state, but the frame is sound.

Update August 2017: Tim has had his bike restored to its former glory by Chris Davey. It looks amazing. See below for images.

Redbridge cc 25 on E72 near Colchester with a time of 55.48 – 11 September 1982
Redbridge cc 25 on E72 near Colchester with a time of 55.48 – 11 September 1982
Winning the Norland 25 mile TT on the F10 near Hertford with course record 56.34 – 19 September 1982.
Winning the Norland 25 mile TT on the F10 near Hertford with course record 56.34 – 19 September 1982.
Winning the Vegetarian C&AC 25 mile TT on the F1 6 July 1983
Winning the Vegetarian C&AC 25 mile TT on the F1 – 6 July 1983
Winning the V C Slough 25 mile TT on the F1 with 53.10, 23 July 1983.
Winning the V C Slough 25 mile TT on the F1 with 53.10 – 23 July 1983.
Winning the Alton cc 25 with 55.56 on H25/3 (Newbury) 14 august 1983.
Winning the Alton cc 25 with 55.56 on H25/3 (Newbury) 14 august 1983.

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SP 8206

John McCarthy contacted me with information about his bike…

I had a 531SL TT frame built by Stan back in 1982. The build was arranged for by Pip Brown of Stonehenge Cycles in Salisbury.  The frame number is SP8206 with 531 SL also stamped on the BB. There is also ‘EO’ in a triangle also stamped.

I used to race for the Salisbury Road Club back in the 60’s and early 70’s, but used a Mercian Superlight then!

The Stan Pike is a superb machine and I achieved personals on it at 10 and 25 miles.

  • 23 inch 74 degree parallel
  • Single brazed on DT lever
  • Campagnolo vertical rear drop outs
  • Campagnolo Record headset
  • Campagnolo Record 177.5mm crankset with Gipiemme 53T ring
  • Campagnolo Nuovo Record rear gear (marked 1981)
  • Single drilled DT lever
  • Cinelli 66-40 bars and Cinelli 13cm 1A stem
  • Dia-Compe Aero 300G brakes
  • Record SFQR record 28/28’s Mavic GEL280 / GL330 sprints
  • SuntourUltra 6, 13 – 18T freewheel
  • SR seat pin (original saddle fitted was Unica Nitor Mod.55 black)
  • Campag Record Pista pedals with Christophe toe clips and Binda straps

It will always be a true classic!

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