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F.A. Lipscombe Cycles

Author Bryan Clarke

Frank and his wife Rita opened their bike shop at 185-7 Markhouse Road, Walthamstow, London E 17 in February 1939. Frank’s career as a ‘crack’ time-trialist in the age of ‘black alpaca’ was remarkable, winning numerous races and breaking records firstly for Ingleside CC and then with the Century Road Club for which he is best remembered and had a long standing association. He helped them achieve the team BAR in 1935 aided by club mate Stan Miles who won the individual prize with Frank third behind the Midlander, Charles Holland. All three were on blistering form that year.

Lipscombe 1

Until early 2006 it was unclear who was responsible for building the fine bicycle frames sold by Frank under his own name. It was correspondence in the VCC’s News & Views that revealed the craftsmanship to be the work of Frank himself up until he became ill in 1969 at which time Les Ephgrave was asked to step in. However, as Les sadly passed away that year, only a few frames were made by him under the Lipscombe name and it has been suggested that Vic Edwards made the later frames. The business was finally sold to Brian Wilkins in early 1973. Wilkins advertised that year as also having branches at Gidea Park and Harlesden.

Lipscombe 2

From the small number of bikes that have come to light in recent years, Frank seems to have built as the fashion dictated whether it was to be fancy lugs, customised Nervex lugs, Nervex Pro, or Prugnat lugs in the Italian style. Perhaps the finest example belongs to VCC marque enthusiast, Alex von Tutschek. Both his model that has fancy lugs and one owned by the writer are reminiscent of Ephgrave because of the lug designs and the way in which they are so beautifully filed. The latter, pictured here is similar in style to the Ephgrave No.2 that also creates crescent shapes from Nervex Legere pattern head lugs but achieved by removing different areas of the lug. Alex’s has more than passing resemblance to an Ephgrave No.1 and shares a similar but not identical lug pattern. Both examples show a close association and admiration for the frame building skills of Les Ephgrave. It is known that Frank was a visitor to Les’s lock-up garage in Upper Clapton Road in 1947/8 before his business really took off and he subsequently became an agent.

The three and four figure frames numbers are found under the bottom bracket and on the fork column. It has been suggested by John Clark that the first two digits probably represent the year of build. He purchased his bespoke Italian style model in the mid 1960s. Bicycle frames by Frank Lipscombe are therefore worthy additions to the frame-builders hall of fame.

I am grateful to John Clark for supplying me with additional material for this short article.

Lipscombe seatstay bridge
Compare with bridge on right

Ephgrave seatstay bridge

Lipscombe down tube transfer

Roger Bugg writes:
I can add that my machine is 5926 and was almost new when I bought it in late 1960. This seems to lend weight to the theory that the first two digits represent the year.

Richard Masson relates:

I have just found your excellent website and read the piece about the Frank Lipscombe frame. First let me put to rest any suggestion that anyone other than Frank build his frames. Up until I went off to sea in the Merchant Navy in 1959 I knew Frank pretty well and hung around the shop in Markhouse Road whenever possible. I never heard Frank say a good word for any other framebuilder ever. As far as he was concerned there was only one person who could build a frame 'properly' and his name was Frank Lipscombe. End of story.

I rode a 1950 Claud Butler Courier Anglais, lugless and double welded Accles and Pollock tube which Frank always said would fall apart one day and kill me! My Dad bought it for me second hand in 1953 for £15 which was a lot of money back then.

I was a racing mad lad and Frank took me to the Century Road Club in Waltham Cross, about 1954 and I stayed a member throughout my cycling career. I rode time trials mainly but some massed start, mainly evening 'sign up and race' events at Crystal Palace. We used to train on a set of rollers on the pavement outside Frank's shop on Saturday afternoons to the amusement of passing shoppers. We thought we were so cool!

I was interested to read the piece about Ray Booty. The Boot was hero to most of us, this quiet clarinet playing RAF National Serviceman seemed superhuman. I understand he had a naturally very slow pulse rate which helped his incredible stamina. Gordon Pirie the athlete was the same if you remember him. But what is that about his gears? I remember him riding with a rear derailleur operated by a rod up the back forks. He used to reach back to the base of his greatly extended seat tube and twist the lever to change gear. We all called it a finger-chopper because you risked getting your hand caught in the rear spokes. (Ed: I wonder if Richard is confusing Ray Booty with Dave Keeler who used the Paris/Roubaix gears for a few years)