From the Collection: BC-Built Early '80s Talbot Road
Talbot was a house brand of Carleton Cycles (no relation to the British Carlton Cycles) of Vancouver, BC, and various builders produced custom frames for the brand throughout the '70s and '80s. Although a rarity a today, this setup wasn't too uncommon in the era and many shops in North America could boast in-house framebuilding operations. Judging by the single water bottle mount and component date codes, this bike dates from the late '70s or early '80s and features beautiful cut out Prugnat (style) lugs, simple semi-sloping fork crown, and Campagnolo dropouts. Reynolds 531 frame tubes and fork blades with a complete Campagnolo Nuovo Record group is a quintessential pairing for a classic road bike, the go-to standard for quality and performance for many years, and the classic, simple paint job is a perfect match.
Details like the Silca frame pump, Avocet saddle, and Specialized toe clip straps round out this perfect example of a bike you might've seen on a club ride ca. 1980. That's what makes this bike so special: it may not be the flashiest or most valuable vintage bike, but it's a preservation of a different era of road bikes and road riding, when Nuovo Record and Reynolds 531 ruled the roads.
Beautiful cut out lugs.
Nice simple seat cluster, great brake bridge detail, and that classic 531 sticker.
Some previous owner hand-wrote a gearing chart and taped it to the Cinelli stem.
It doesn't get more classic than Campagnolo Nuovo Record.
Talbot headbadge featuring dogs!
Simple Talbot downtube decal. Fork blades are also 531.