Re: [CR] Baines Flying Gate

(Example: Production Builders:Cinelli:Laser)

Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:17:43 -0800
From: Jerome & Elizabeth Moos <jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>, Norris Lockley <nlockley73@googlemail.com>
In-Reply-To: <29cfc1e00911170235x3be2fd39x7d54e9d53709f6ca@mail.gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [CR] Baines Flying Gate


Norris, if the decals on my apparently refinished frame are accurate, it was the Whirlwind and International TT that were one and the same. My frame carries a Whirlwind decal on the seattube and International TT decals on the downtube.

Regards,

Jerry Moos
Big Spring, Texas, USA


--- On Tue, 11/17/09, Norris Lockley wrote:


> From: Norris Lockley <nlockley73@googlemail.com>

\r?\n> Subject: [CR] Baines Flying Gate

\r?\n> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org

\r?\n> Date: Tuesday, November 17, 2009, 4:35 AM

\r?\n> There were several models of the

\r?\n> Flying gate design, including the

\r?\n> International TT, the VS37, and the Whirlwind, although I

\r?\n> think that the

\r?\n> latter two  might have been one and the same.

\r?\n>

\r?\n> The International TT was in fact not a time-trial model,

\r?\n> but a massed -start

\r?\n> one, its wheelbase was fairly short for the era, at only

\r?\n> 39.5 inches.The VS

\r?\n> 37 was the shorter model and boasted a wheelbase of 37.75

\r?\n> inches...htese

\r?\n> dimensions being obtained on frames that had an 11 inch

\r?\n> bottom bracket

\r?\n> height using 26 inch wheels. The TT model could be built to

\r?\n> specification

\r?\n> too, permitting longer rear triangles and wheelbases.

\r?\n> Angles were 74 head

\r?\n> and 72 seat.

\r?\n>

\r?\n> I have both owned several of these frames and also built my

\r?\n> own BESPOKE

\r?\n> versions of them. Although the design might appear quirky,

\r?\n> it does work, and

\r?\n> can give a very stable and exhilerating ride. The vertical

\r?\n> main strut allows

\r?\n> the builder tremendous freedom to vary the seat tube angle

\r?\n> and the length of

\r?\n> the top tube. It also permits a very short rear triangle

\r?\n> even with

\r?\n> mudguards.

\r?\n>

\r?\n> A fault on the design was the failure to braze a plate or

\r?\n> bi-laminated joint

\r?\n> at the point where the vertical meets the top-tube. On some

\r?\n> older frames

\r?\n> there is sometimes a noticeable bend at that point where

\r?\n> the top-tube has

\r?\n> bent down towards the seat cluster. More substantial

\r?\n> secondary seat-stays

\r?\n> would have prevented this slight fault. The other common

\r?\n> fault with certain

\r?\n> Baines gates is rust behind the seat tube and in between

\r?\n> the chainstays.  I

\r?\n> found this on a number of frames, but friends had advised

\r?\n> me that they had

\r?\n> also experienced this problem.

\r?\n>

\r?\n> Norris Lockley

\r?\n>

\r?\n> Settle UK