Somewhere up in the lowlands of Southern Scotland is a 24" Bespoke of Settle Baines Gate-design frame. I made it in the mid-80s to the custom design of a close friend who never had much money, having been made redundant from his jobs as an engineering draaughtsman thirteen times in his working life. nevertheless he still wanted fancy lugs on his frames.
Because he had to make-do-and-mend with his cycle parts his frames were always built to accommodate a variety of parts that he transferred from bike to bike. For this bike he specified that the frant and rear brake clearances would be different, and that he would a combination of Weinmann side-pull brakes. The dimensions he supplied on the drawing supplied were very precise with little or no room for manoeuvre.
He explained that he required these odd clearances so that he could accommodate a choice of 27inch or 700 C wheels, with mudguards and alsohave the freedom of using gears or a fixed wheel - hence it was a polyvalent design.
Having oredred the frame and I had built it, he lost his job once more and could not afford to buy it. Feeeling bad about the fix he had landed me in he said he would find a buyer..which he did quite quickly. Some months later I was called to the phone to answer a call from an irate customer who turned out to be the owner of this frame.
The chap was very complimentary about my ability to copy Baines' famous design and even congratulated me on the finely fretted lugwork. However he went on to satate that none of this was any good if he could not find a set of brakes that would enable him to set the bike up correctly so that it could be ridden. He also recommended a certain brand of tape-measure to me. Fortunately I was able to send him a copy of the draughtman's drawing to guide him on his way. I still have that drawing on file just in case some fine evening I receive a phone call....
I do not recall that it was common-place for builders in the UK in the 70s to build frames with the intention of using different lengths of brakes for front and rear, but I do remember that often when setting the rear brake bridge, the brake block might set slightly lower down the slot in the caliper just to make it slightly easier to accommodate a mudguard. And, of course, many Club-type riders did tend to ride both 27inch and 700C wheels.
Norris Lockley
Settle UK