1979 Shorter (Barry Chick) TT

Serial no. 1479

Purchased as a frameset from Alexander von Tutschek in February 2010 who acquired this from the widow of the original owner about five years ago. Back on the road 21 April.

A British time trial frameset from the end of the great classic era of British time trialling exemplified by Alf Engers who was the first to do a 25-mile tt in under 50 minutes in 1976 riding a Shorter frame. My frame was built by the well-known framebuilder Barry Chick who built most of the Shorter tt frames during the 1970s and his name is pantographed on the fork crowns and bb under shell.

The outfitting of the frame was inspired by the time trialists’ tradition of being singular “weight weenies’ and whilst I didn’t go for the extensive (excessive?!) drilling out of components (Alf Engers was noted for this), the choicest and lightest components of the late 70s/early 80s were fitted. This resulted in a built-up weight of 17.3 lbs.

Comments posted to the CR List by Norris Lockley, UK

On this Specific Frame
"I am really pleased to see that the SHORTER 1970s time-trial frame recently auctioned on UK Ebay by Alex von Tutcheks son has found an appreciative new owner in Peter Kohler.

The frame really is a masterpiece of understatement..so very typical of Barry Chick's work..Barry was probably among the top half-dozen builders of time-trial frames in the 70s and 80s, and was equally at home with bronze-welded frames as he was with lugged ones.

I expected, as probably did Peter, that such an elegant frame would fetch a much higher price My reckoning on the low price and the paultry number of bids is that very few potential buyers an bidders knew very much about Barry Chick...and that they probably found the name CHICK engraved on both the bracket shell and the fork crown somewhat offputting.

The frame is an absolute CLASSIC.

Frame
Material: no tubing decals but believed to be Columbus SL tubing and forks
Colour: Silver main frame, GPO red forks and rear triangle. “Chick” pantographed fork caps and bottom bracket.
Size: seat tube 24” (c to t), top tube 22.5” (c to c)
Angles: 73.5 (head) 74 (seat)
Wheelbase: 39”
Rear spacing: 124 mm
Bottom bracket height: 11"
Lugs: microcast with windows
Fork crown: microcast pantographed "Chick"
Bottom bracket: microcast pantographed "Chick"
Fork ends: Campagnolo, rear vertical drop-outs
Serial no: 1479 stamped on bottom bracket casting and steerer tube

Components
Rear derailleur: Huret Jubilee Mark 3 with drilled pulley cage
Gear lever: Modolo Kronos
Chainset: Campagnolo Super Record Pista, 177.5 cranks, 56t strada ring
Chain: Regina America hollow pin
Bottom bracket: Campagnolo Super Record titanium, hollow axle
Headset: Stronglight B10 Hinault
Stem: 3ttt black anodised 125 mm
Handlebars: 3ttt Gimondi Superleggero 42 cm with black Benotto celo tape (up to brake calipers only) and Benotto black plastic plugs
Brakes: Weinmann 500 black-anodised
Brake levers: Mafac 435 Course with additional custom drilling, Promotion delrin bodies
Brake cabling: CLB Ultralight aluminium housing
Seatpost: 3ttt Criterium 27.2 cm
Saddle: 3ttt Superleggera with alloy undercarriage
Pedals: Campagnolo Super Record pista, titanium spindle
Toeclips and straps: Galli black anodized alloy and Christophe straps
Rims: Mavic CX-18 24-hole 700x18, 300g, gris anthracite
Hubs: OMAS Big Sliding 101A/101P with titanium axles/skewers
Spokes: DT bladed spokes, 2x rear and radial sproked front
Tyres: Tufo Jet Pro 700x19 tubulars
Freewheel: Maillard 700 Course Professionnel dural 13-18t six-speed straight block
Accessories: REG black anodised alloy bottle cage and REG bottle
Weight: bare frame 4.1 lbs
bare fork 1.5 lbs
complete machine: 17.3 lbs