It certainly looks like a 1949 Gillott Fleur de Lis frame in quite good condition. The parts look mostly junk, so anybody wanting to get someone to ship it might be better off if they were left behind.
What is a bit of a tragedy is that the front prongs have been cut off the rear dropouts - they are not essential if you don't want to use the forward rear wheel position, but then the frame would not be right if the dropouts are not fixed. On that basis, it seems to me that the bike is already at the right price with days still to run on the auction - but doubtless it will be bid up higher by hungry masochists. Ideally the dropouts would be fixed and the bike bult up again with an Osgear like it originally had.
I have no experience with Osgears, but on the basis of design and technology I find it hard to understand why anybody would buy one in 1949 when the excellent Simplex Tour de France was available. Was there any significant advantage in cost, weight or performance of the Osgear?
Hugh Thornton
Cheshire, England
From: Dr. Paul B. Williams <castell5@sympatico.ca> Subject: [CR] Take a closer look - yes that's a Gillott on UK EBay To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Date: Thursday, 17 June, 2010, 13:31
Take a closer look at this UK EBay listing - it's a 1949(?) Gillott!
As a lover of classic British bikes this makes me weep a little (although the frame is way too big for me). At least it is not irreversible and, I suppose, was being ridden. I wonder if Fangio rode a Gillott? ;^)
Paul Williams, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Dr. Paul B. Williams, BAH, MPhil, PhD Instructor, Dept. of Geography and Environmental Studies, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada