1979 - Gazelle Champion Mondial AB-Frame

Gazelle of the Netherlands has been in business since 1892. Mostly they will be known for their typical town bikes called "Hollandrad" also. On other hands they build high quality lightweights also.

The Champion Mondial is known to be one of the most famous european pro road frames of the 70's and 80's and was hand built with nice lugwork, constructed with Reynolds 531 tubing only and get some changes in design over its 30 year of production, resulting in five different models.

First there was the A-Frame with fender eyletts and a longer wheelbase, second the AA-Frame with a shorter wheelbase, chrome on Chainstays and fork and an upgraded Bottom Bracket shell, third the 80s AA-Special with Reynolds 531 SL tubing and internal cable routing, forth the AA-Super with again a shorter wheelbase, indented seat tube and wishbone seat stays and at last the AB-Frame with a tighter geometry than A-Frames but no fender eyletts and without chrome.

Recently I came accross this light green metallic Gazelle Champion Mondial AB-Frame dating back to may be 1979. It came with a Stronglight A9 Aluminium headset and Campagnolo Super Record Bottom Bracket. Obviously this frame was asking for a Campagnolo setup.

Bottom Braket: Campagnolo Super Record

Headset: Stronglight A9 Aluminium

Crankset: Campagnolo Super Record

Front Derailleur: Campagnolo Nuovo Gran Sport

Rear Derailleur: Campagnolo Nuovo Gran Sport

Shift levers: Campagnolo Nuovo Gran Sport

Brake Lever: Tektro Inverse Levers

Brakes: Campagnolo Nuovo Gran Sport

Wheelset: Campagnolo Nuovo Gran Sport with Mavic tubular rims or Normandy Luxe Competition with Mavic tubular rims

Saddle: Lepper Voyager with Reynolds 531 frame
Seatpost: Selle San Remo Aero
Stem: Sakae
Handlebar: Sakae Road Champion cut to time trial/ bull horn
Pedals: 2 Danger

Frame tubing: Reynolds 531
Fork tubing: Reynolds 531

1958 - Dan Genner aka Excel Cycles Co., Colliers Wood

On Peter Underwoods really fantastic website I´ve found the story about Dan Genner and Excel Cycle Co., Colliers Wood. According to this informations the shop existed between 1910 and 1960 and was listed as a cycle manufacturer at this time at 90, High St. Colliers Wood. There should have been brazed some really reliable frames using Reynolds 531 tubes only.

While searching for components for my Hawkes Path Racer Project I came accross an eBay auction for this lovely Dan Genner frame and couldn´t resist.

Now this british beauty could give me many comfortable rides and has been equipped to may be mainly the original factory standard, as described in historic adverts I´ve found for Excel Cycles Co.

Bottom Braket: Stronglight

Headset: Brampton

Crankset: Stronglight Mod. 49D

Front Derailleur: Campagnolo Record, first type

Rear Derailleur: Campagnolo Record, first type

Shift levers: Campagnolo Record

Brake Lever: Mafac Course 121 with NOS black hoods

Brakes: Mafac Racer

Wheelset: British Hub Company Airlite with original QR and Conley tubular rims/ Campagnolo Record with Mavic tubular rims

Saddle: Brooks Professional
Seatpost: candle type in aluminium
Stem: GB Hiduminium spear point
Handlebar: Binda style
Pedals: Lyotard

Frame tubing: Reynolds 531
Fork tubing: Reynolds 531

Anybody more familiar with the history of Excel Cycles Co. Ltd./ Dan Genner? Your comments and tipps are highly appreciated.

1955 - AA. Hawkes ... more than a track bike - or a story about building up a Path-Racer

Spurred on by friends, I did my first laps at the Augsburg velodrome this winter with my 70th east german Diamant track bike. Obviously the Diamant track bike was a little bit too small, but nevertheless our trip made so much fun, and I decided to build up an appropriate track bike.

Although I found many of the needed parts but unfortunately no suitable frame. The Fixie hype speeded up prices and an eighties track bike I didn´t want at all. At this time I knew nothing about the scene in Britain.

At some point a friend of mine points my nose on an advert from Hilary Stone. Hilary and I get pretty quick an agreement and I got a pretty blue coated 50th frame from London frame builder AA. Hawkes.

At the first look to this frame I not only recognized this lovely old style Nervex lugs, produced before  1955 only, but also brake holes in front and rear.

Therefore it´s not a normal track frame but obviously an original Path Racer frame. But what does Path Racer stands for?

Many cyclists in the 40's due to the 60's couldn´t afford more then one machine. Therefore the one and only lightweight had to serve all purposes; riding to the factory day by day, training in the evenings, racing or taking part in club runs on weekends. The british time-triallist for example would have ordered a frame built to track specification to get a light and responsive frame and then have braze-ons for case mudguard eyes, Lamp boss, pump pegs and rear brake cable eyes added for general use. The frame also ould have been ordered with build in mudguard clearance also.

Just british cycling was characterized by dropouts open towards the rear and riding fixed gear untill the beginning of the seventies. Between 1985 and the 1930 th british cycling knows about track/ path racing, time trialling and club runs.

Due to an erroneous or mistaken description in the 1889 edition of Badminton Cycling Library the word path standing for trip distance or way around the oval course became similar to the word track meaning the oval of the velodrome. Henceforth path and track were the nmost common description for the track of the velodrome and track racing itself.

But back to this lovely AA Hawkes, wich got the following parts:

Bottom Braket: NOS Nervar
Headset: Tange
Crankset: Stronglight Mod. 49D, 165 mm, with T.A. Specialities Track Adaptor and T.A. Specialities Track Chainring
Brake Lever: Altenburger 126S
Brake (front): Universal Extra
Wheelset: British Hub Company Airlite with CBT Italia wooden tubular rims
Saddle: Brooks Competition
Seatpost: candle type in aluminium
Stem: Pivo adustable, chromed steel
Handlebar: chromed steel
Pedals: Lyotard M23 Berthet

Frame tubing: Reynolds 531
Fork tubing: Reynolds 531

On the left side of the top tube an inscription Essex Roads CC can be found, which stands for the still-existing and apparently very active Essex Roads Cycling Club ...

... and on the left side the name B.Davis ...

The following would be the setup the british cyclist would have choosen to ride to a weekend time trialing event, using his training wheels for the ride to this event and carriing his expensive and silk walled wheels with optional sprint carrieres to the velodrome. In the saddle bag he would have carried trousers, another jersey and some tools for repair and mounting mudguards an so on.

Anybody more familiar with the history of AA. Hawkes? Your comments and tipps are highly appreciated.