I bought a new S.W. Cotten frameset in 1975 from Vienna Cycles. Joe Schiff (not sure of the spelling) imported them and later opened his own shop in Leesburg. I think he sold a bunch of Cottens later to Georgetown Cycle Sport.
The frame was built by Alec Iles, and had spectacular looking metallic blue paint with black bands. However, I never liked the way it handled, so I sold it a year later. It had a crit geometry with very short chainstays and vertical dropouts. I don't have a clue wher it is today, but I'll look for pics.
How did I hear about these frames? I worked at Sports and Cycles International in Clarendon with Sam's brother, Joe Cotten, who rode one.
Pete Czapiewski Alexandria VA
Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2005 16:37:21 -0400 From: "K Moody" <mowalsh@verizon.net> To: "CR List" <ClassicRendezvous@bikelist.org> Subject: [CR]S.W. Cotten / W. B. Hurlow/ Sam Cotten Message-ID: <000701c5c46c$6d5dc0e0$2f01a8c0@myhome.westell.com> Content-Type: text/plain;charset="Windows-1252" MIME-Version: 1.0 Precedence: list Message: 4
Dear CR Listmember's, I saw the e-bay auction for the Sam Cotten fillet brazed frame.....It got my curiosity up about the name,because I had remembered talk of S.W. Cotten bicycles back in the 1970's that were reportedly built by W.B. Hurlow and Alex Isles (? Spelling) an apprentice or partner or sub-contractor to W.B. Hurlow of England. Yes, Chuck I checked the CR archives (a great source of information). Skip Sinatra of Virginia, or Larry Black of Maryland do you have your ears on? I w
ould love to hear from some of our esteemed list members in England
(Hilary Stone, Mick Butler, Griff King-Spooner...)
If I understand the story or pieces that I've heard......
"S.W. Cotten" bicycles/frames were contract built in England by W.B.
Hurlow and company for import to the United States.
Sam Cotten was the person who had the frames built under contract in the
early 1970's.
Reading between the lines in the archives it sounds like "Georgetown
Cycles" was one of the shops that imported the "S.W. Cotten"
bicycles/framesets into the Washington D.C. area in the 1970's.
(Larry Black was an employee of the local bicycle shop at the time
before starting his own bicycle shop(s) in College Park, Maryland,
U.S.A.
If anyone has an S.W. Cotten I would love to see a picture or web
location.
Thanks !
Yours truly,
Martin Walsh in Vienna,Va