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Alan Woods / Articles

Ephgrave No. 1 Road/Path Bicycle - 1954
Owned by Alan Woods



FRAME: Les Ephgrave road/path (i.e., road/track) #2557 LE (1954) – Black/dark green seat tube panel. No. 1 lugs lined in gold. Mudguard eyes. A simple post decorates each top eye and the adjacent part of each seat stay. Reinforced, rear facing, track ends. Round fork blades.
Geometry — 73º (parallel) head and seat angles. Seat tube: ~60 cm [23.5"] (center to top). Top tube: ~60 cm [23.5"] (center to center). Chain stay length: 442 mm ± 16mm [~17.3"± 5/8"] (center to center). Wheelbase: 1062 mm ± 16 mm [~41.8"± 5/8"]. Front center distance: ~63.3 cm [24.9"]. Bottom bracket height: ~273 mm [10.75"] (with 27 mm tubular tyres). Rear drop out spacing: 110 mm [~4.34"]. Bottom bracket shell width: 66 mm [~2.6"]. Fork offset: 48mm [~1.875"]. Trail: 54mm [~2.125"]. Fork blade diameter: ~22.25 mm [7/8"] (at crown). Brake drop front: 54 mm [~2.1"] (with sprint rims). Brake drop rear: 62 mm [~2.4"] (with sprint rims).

WHEELS/TIRES: Fiamme Red Label sprint rims (ferrule at valve hole, Brevetto Longhi) and 27 mm wide tubular tires on 36/40 hole T.F. Blumfield Duralite large flange hubs with oiler nipples. Blumfield blue anodized alloy wheel nuts. Fixed, 19T cog. Lock ring. Double butted spokes, tied-and-soldered.

CHAINSET: Chater-Lea ~165 mm [6.5"] steel, cottered crank arms with Chater-Lea 48T chainring. Bayliss Wiley bottom bracket with Bayliss Wiley No. 15 hollow axle. 1/8" wide, 1/2" pitch chain.

PEDALS: Chater-Lea Sprint with Christophe toe-clips.

GEAR: 67 inch fixed.

BRAKE: GB Coureur front brake caliper. GB Superhood brake lever.

STEM/HANDLEBARS: GB Spearpoint 3.75" alloy stem; Maes-bend 16.25" wide alloy handlebar.

HEADSET: Stronglight V4 Competition.

SADDLE/SEAT POST: Brooks B17 Champion Sprinter saddle on 27.2 mm Reynolds alloy seat post.

Road/path bicycles appeal to me because they combine the performance, reliability, and durability advantages of a fixed gear with the practicality of brakes, mudguard clearances and eyelets. It is a class of bicycle that has largely disappeared from the marketplace.

I have long admired Peter Underwood’s 1959 Ephgrave No. 1 road/path bicycle (pictured in the Readers’ Bikes section of ClassicLightweights.co.uk; see classiclightweights.co.uk/EphgravePUblue.html). Unfortunately, large Ephgrave frames rarely are offered for sale, so my wait to own one was long. I bought Ephgrave #2577 LE from a dealer, Hilary Stone. Bill Stevenson, frame builder from Olympia, Washington, inspected, repaired, and aligned the frame; as part of the job, he replaced the steerer tube that had been damaged by an over-tightened stem. Jeff Pinard, of Olympia, refinished the bike to a high standard and did the brush striping and lining. Corey Thompson, of Olympia, built the wheelset. The crankset, hubs, headset, and saddle are new old stock items purchased from Ray Etherton. No. 2557 LE is a good bicycle to ride, with excellent performance and handling. As pictured, the bicycle weighs less than 21.75 pounds. Its long wheel base (relative modern racing bicycles) helps to make Ephgrave #2577 steady on the road, while slowing reaction time only slightly.


Above: No. 1 lugs lacked cut-outs (i.e., windows). Otherwise, they were identical to Ephgrave's No. 1 Super lugs of the same era.

Above: One-sided, Chater-Lea Sprint pedals on a "two-arm", fluted Chater-Lea crankset.
Above: The classic Ephgrave seat tube transfer adorns the seat tube panel of #2557 LE. It is pictured below in its entirety.

Above: The front of Ephgrave #2557 LE's features ornate No. 1 lugs with front spear points and a simple head tube transfer. Although a metal head tube badge was sometimes used by Ephgrave, most owner's preferred the transfer. Head tube transfers included "Aveley Road" address through 1962. Spear points on the front of head lugs were absent on No. 1 frames from the early-1950s, but, at least, most later frames had spear points.

Above: The characteristic Ephgrave curved seat-stay bridge with seat stay reinforcers help identify an Ephgrave frame.

Above: Gerry Burgess' classic brake caliper, the G.B. Coureur, was introduced in 1950. It was made out a high strength alloy (i.e., "Hiduminium"). The Coureur caliper was designed for racing bicycles, had a good reputation, and was popular. It features a cam-operated quick release and just the right amount of reach for period racing cycles; G.B. literature from the mid-1950s states that effective stirrup depth (i.e., brake reach) was adjustable from 1 7/8" to 2 5/8". The Coureur caliper was usually matched with the G.B. "Superhood" brake lever that featured a thumb wheel cable adjuster. When Coureur calipers are matched with Superhood levers and modern compound brake shoes, braking is strong and modulation is good. Mine are squeal free as well.

Above: Brooks Champion B17 Sprinter saddle on a 27.2 mm diameter, 10 1/4" long Reynolds alloy seat post. Oval logo saddles were produced before 1954. This one was probably made in the post war period. It is in beautiful, unmarked condition. Stamping is strong and well defined.


Above: A simple post (i.e., simple metal strip or "stick") adorns the top eyes and upper seat stays of 1954 Ephgrave 2557 LE. Ephgrave's emblematic round top post (i.e., "lollipop") first appeared on some frames circa 1953. The seat cluster was brush lined by Jeff Pinard of Olympia, Washington.

Above: The wheels on Ephgrave #2557 LE are built on high flange T.F. Blumfield hubs and affixed by Blumfield alloy track nuts. The front flanges measure 2 1/2" in diameter. The rear flanges measure 3" in diameter. Spoke count is 36 in the front and 40 in the rear. This spoke count is rather unusual for a British bicycle from the early- to mid-1950s. Much more common are wheelsets built on a 32 hole front hub and 40 hole rear hub.

Above: Classic T.F. Blumfield Duralite front hub with barrel 'collar', oiler, and Blumfield anodised, alloy wheel nuts. Duralite hubs have a felt seal to resist bearing contamination.

Above: Rims on the 1954 Ephgrave road/path are Fiamme sprints. Early 1950s versions, like this one, are stamped "Brevetto Longhi" and have a ferruled valve hole in addition to ferruled spoke holes.

Above: 1/8" drive chain with Chater-Lea "two arm", fluted cranks and Chater-Lea Sprint pedals. A Chater-Lea 48 tooth chainring is bolted to the cranks with chromed 17/64" x 25TPI Whitworth bolts.

Above: Rear wheel is built on a T.F. Blumfield Duralite track hub that accepts standard 1.375" x 24 tpi fixed cogs and 1.29" x 24 tpi (left hand) lock rings. It is secured by rare T.F. Blumfield blue-anodized alloy tracks nuts. This 1954 Ephgrave, and many British bicycles of the period, have mudguard eyelets threaded for 2BA screws/bolts. Track ends have been reinforced and thickened by adding an extra plate to the face of the dropout. A 19 tooth cog and a 48 tooth chainring are presently installed, producing a 67" gear.

Above: Chater-Lea steel cottered cranks attached to a hollow No. 15 Bayliss-Wiley axle. The bottom bracket is also Bayliss-Wiley. The crankset is all new old stock.
Above: Classic period down-tube transfer

Above: Flat-lying Ephgrave seat tube badge transfer showing correct position (i.e. 'EPHGRAVE' is diagonal). Restorers have been known to position this in the horizontal plane.