Johnny Berry - 1967
Posted: Sunday 21st November 2021
| Frame | Johnny Berry road frame No. 671828 (1967). Reynolds 531 double butted tubing, Prugnat Type-S lugs, Gargette (RGF) bottom bracket shell, Wagner forged fork crown, and Campagnolo 1010 drop outs. Wrap-over seat stays with flat top eyes, curved brake bridge without reinforcers, domed-end stays, and domed-end fork blades. 22½" seat tube, 22½" top tube, 17 5 / 16 " chain stays, and 40 1 / 4 to 40 3 / 4 " adjustable wheelbase. Brown with gold lug lining, decorated top eyes, and blue bands with intervening blue panel on seat tube. Chromed fork crown. Partly chromed stays and fork blades. Braze-on mounts for generator on left fork blade, for head light on right blade, and for dynamo powered tail light on right seat stay. Braze-on curved-head brake cable housing stops on the lower, right side of top tube. Braze-on diver’s helmet-style gear cable stops on top of chain stay and under down tube (right side only) near bottom bracket. Pump hooks brazed to seat lug and to lower part of down tube. A slotted and thinned, round stop for the gear lever clamp is brazed to the top of down tube. Grease nipples on left side of lower head lug and under the bottom bracket shell. |
| Wheels | Nisi Corsa Toro alloy clincher rims on 32/40 hole Campagnolo Record high flange hubs. Campagnolo QR skewers. Schwalbe Marathon 27x1¼” tires. |
| Chainset | Stronglight 49d alloy crankset. Triple 46/36/26T chainrings are now fitted. TA bottom bracket with a TA 373 axle. |
| Pedals | Campagnolo Record Strada pedals with Campagnolo toe clips and Christophe toe straps. |
| Gears | Campagnolo Rally rear derailleur and Campagnolo Nuovo Record front changer with integrated cable stop. Campagnolo down tube shift levers. Campagnolo single-sided, gear cable stop is clamped on left side of down tube. |
| Brakes | Weinmann Type 730 single pivot (side pull) brake calipers. Weinmann brake levers with red, push button quick release. |
| Stem / Bars | GB Ventoux engraved handlebar. GB forged alloy spear point stem. |
| Saddle | Brooks B17 Swallow saddle on a 27.2mm twin bolt Campagnolo Record seat post. |
| Headset | Stronglight V4 Competition. |
| Extra | AFA alloy pump, alloy Tour de France mudguards, Coloral alloy water bottle, and handlebar bottle cage. |
In 2010, Rick Hart acquired No. 671828, together with many original components, from its original owner, Fred Nightingale, a friend and customer of Johnny and Ida Berry. No. 671828 was repainted in the mid-1970s by C and G Finishes, Liverpool. It bears their distinctive, brush- applied, top eye decoration. C and G Finishes painted Johnny Berry frames from at least the mid-1960s onward. No. 671828 was originally fitted with a generator that bolted to the dynamo mount on the left fork blade.
Many construction details of No. 671828 are consistent with Johnny Berry’s usual, and very recognizable style, including fully wrapped seat stays, meticulous thinned and tapered lug work with crisp shorelines, clean brazing, flat top eyes, Gargette bottom bracket shell, curved-head brake cable stops, diver’s helmet-style gear cable stops, domed-end stays, domed-end fork blades, and the special slotted and thinned, down tube stop for the gear lever clamp. Long point Prugnat Type-S lugs, C & G Finishes’ brush-applied top eye decoration, block style down tube lettering, and “JB” in globe head tube/seat tube transfers are found on No. 671828, as well as on many of Berry’s later frames. The curved brake bridge on this frame is a rather special feature that was more common on Berry frames that were made for center pull brakes. No. 671828 was built without a gear cable stop on the left side, possibly indicating that the frame was originally built to be used primarily with a single chain ring.
Posted: Sunday 21st November 2021
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