Track to Street. My Nervex Lugged mystery project.

[emilmh]

Hi All.

After a road conversion build up which I have sold on, and now riding a Fuji Feather (Love the bike, will be used as my "exercise" fixed gear bike), I have finally found a worthwhile project I want to focus on.

I have bought a frame second hand, but much of it is a mystery. I hope with the expertise and help of other enthusiasts I may be able to identify the frame, and in the process do the frame justice during the rebuild.

Features which may aid in identification:

• Real track frame (not just rear drop outs, or a new street fixed bike), based upon sizes and no front, or rear brake holes
  "standard" sizes, ie English tread bottom bracket, head set, 100mm fork spacing, 120mm rear dropout spacing, 1" threaded forks, steel tubing with lugs, 560mm top tube, 550mm seat tube
  Nervex lugs
  Elongated, and wrap around seat stays
  Thin seat stays
  No crimped chain stays
  Odd shaped fork ends
  Odd shaped rear dropouts
  Flanges on head lugs
  Non- Nervex lugged fork
  Built for 700C wheels (Yet to be confirmed)
  Round fork blades
  26.8mm seat post
  "Ross Cycles, red and white" written by hand on fork steerer, appears original colour may have been red and white

The whole frame and fork. Paint is clearly not original. You can see that someone has sprayed black over a chipped layer of paint.


I was told it had Nervex lugs, but had to be sure myself. I removed several layers of paint to reveal this. It says NERVEX up top and serial number c95306400222F38 (from what I can see). It uses a combination of super script and sub script letters and numbers.


The top of the bottom bracket, showing lugs, chain stay brace, and non crimped chain stays (ovalised where tyre passes through)


Track ends, showing odd shape. Also note how small the diameter of the seat stays are in comparison to the chain stays.


Fork steerer. Who are Ross Cycles? Could this indicate the original colour when built? Flat fork crown, doesn't appear to be Nervex. No brake hole.


Fork ends. Steep curve at end, with odd shaped ends, round blades.


Head tube lugs. Note flanges on ends of head tube.


Seat lug. Note elongated, and wrap around seat stays. Accommodates 26.8mm seat post.


I appreciate any info people can add.
Cheers

[daripper]

Ross Cycles was a shop owned by my Great Grandfather Allen, then taken over by his son John (jock), who then passed the shops onto my uncles Allen and Mark .

They had a shop in Bathurst, then moved to Penrith and were there for over 40 yrs along with starting a small shop in Umina for about 10yrs.

[GaryF]

Ross Cycles was a shop owned by my Great Grandfather Allen, then taken over by his son John (jock), who then passed the shops onto my uncles Allen and Mark .

They had a shop in Bathurst, then moved to Penrith and were there for over 40 yrs along with starting a small shop in Umina for about 10yrs.

Now that's a very nice addition to this thread. I wonder if the frame is an original Ross? Did Jock, Allen or Mark send their newly built frames to a paint shop?

Never the less, if it was my bike, I would repaint it a red and white colour scheme and try to fit some Ross decals to it if available. I wonder if daripper has any old photos he could post to show the decals?

[ldrcycles]

Some of the details are like my Tom Wallace, the dropouts are the same (although my Tom was set up with 5 speeds on the back and a single chainring), as are the headtube lugs. I'm pretty sure my BB isn't stamped as Nervex though.