[CR]60s Carlton Flyer questions

(Example: Framebuilders:Chris Pauley)

Date: Mon, 02 Feb 2004 16:26:27 -0500
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
From: "Larry Osborn" <losborn2@wvu.edu>
Subject: [CR]60s Carlton Flyer questions

Greetings campers and future Anglo-phobes

Thanks to my pal Tom Hayes, who ventured out even farther than I did to rendezvous at Westminster, I am now spending an inordinate amount quality time with my "new" love interest, a Carlton Flyer frame. Coffee brown, fading irregularly into something else a little more orange in the sunlight that I won't even begin to try to describe, lots of chrome, lots of patina, I like it a lot. Campy dropouts, Carlton Special lugs w / triangular cutouts (similar to the 72 Raleigh Pros), brazed-on shifter bosses, a brazed on cable housing stop on the downtube for an old Campy front der with the integral cable housing stop. Also the typical bridge gizmo across the seat stays supporting a cable housing stop for centerpull brakes. "Carlton" decal on the downtubes is in script lettering, not block letters, but I have detected no pattern to that particular detail. Not quite the Carlton International I still lust heavily for, but close enough for now. Pictures available on request.

Serial V4139. Not certain what the "V" means in the serial number. With uncharacteristic optimism I had hoped maybe Carlton used the same system for both Raleighs and Carltons. Silly me. Maybe it is the same system (making it maybe a 1961), but a strong scientific background and too many encounters with Raleighs prevent me from extrapolating that far back from known data without some sort of evidence. Somebody please, send me a data point!! This one doesn't appear in any of the on-line Carlton catalogs. In the 68-70 catalogs the Flyer was available as a track frame only. This frame, and a couple others I remember for sale in years past were definitely road bikes. Components that were on the frame prior to my acquisition were predominantly Campy Record. Nothing Nuovo Record, so that fits in with the 1960s. Does anybody have a clue what year this frame might really be? Any assistance/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks Larry "was Retro Raleighs, now appearing as Carlton Curmudgeon" Osborn Bruceton Mills, WV

Or perhaps Carlton Cadavers? Carlton Carcasses? Crusty Carltons? Creaky Carltons? Carbon-dated Carltons?