1969 Holdsworth Professional

 1969 Holdsworth Professional

Specification:

  • Serial No: 69122
  • Frame: Reynolds 531 butted tubing, forks and stays; Seat Tube: 59cm ctt; Head Angle: 74.5deg; Seat Angle: 75deg; Wheelbase: 99cm; Campagnolo dropouts
  • Crankset: Campagnolo Record; Later Super Record Chainrings: 53t/42t
  • Pedals: Campagnolo Record
  • Gears: Campagnolo Nuovo Record front and rear derailleurs and shifters. 14-19t 6-speed freewheel.
  • Wheels: Super Champion Competition rims on Campagnolo Record LF hubs; 28-spoke F & R. (note: non-original wheels fitted in photos)
  • Brakes: Campagnolo Record – (early “no-name” type) – non-original brake levers
  • Handlebars and Stem: Fiamme
  • Saddle and Seatpost: Cinelli on Campagnolo Record seatpost 27.2 mm diameter

Notes:

This is a 1969 Holdsworth Campagnolo team bike allocated to Alan Bridges for the 1969 season – the one season that he rode for the team.  He had it fitted with handlebar gear control levers (shown in the team photograph below).  For the 1970 season it was fitted with down-tube levers and used as a spare machine for the team. It was carried as a spare machine for Les West in the 1970 World Professional Road Race Championship in Leicester, England.

The bike looks well-used and has lost some of its small transfers and gained a few non-original bits over the years.  It was acquired from Team Mechanic Dick Brodrick who provided the above information.  It is interesting that the team photograph below shows the team bicycles fitted with Universal Type 61 centre-pull brakes which were changed after the photo when the new Campagnolo brakes became available in England for the first time.  The rear brake cable stops and quick releases for the Universal brakes were brazed onto the back of the seat cluster and hacksawed off when the Campagnolo brakes were fitted – the remnant is still on the bike.

The 1969 Holdsworth Campagnolo Team

Holdsworth Team 1969Alan Bridges and this bicycle (with handlebar gear levers and Universal brakes) are next to Roy Thame at the left of the picture, and Dick Broderick is on the right.

More Photos:

1969 Holdsworth Professional rear derailleur1969 Holdsworth Professional rear brake calliper1969 Holdsworth Professional gear shifters

1969 Holdsworth Professional seat cluster1969 Holdsworth Professional top tube1969 Holdsworth Professional bars and stem1969 Holdsworth Professional front end1969 Holdsworth Professional front hub1969 Holdsworth Professional rear hub1969 Holdsworth Professional bottom bracket1969 Holdsworth Professional down tube top1969 Holdsworth Professional LH side

Certificate of Authentication

After usage with the Holdsworth Campagnolo team, this bike was in the possession of Dick Brodrick, team mechanic.  When he sold it he supplied a Certificate of Authentication.  Although his credibility is somewhat damaged by his association with the Bartali Bike Fraud, there is every reason to believe that his authentication is genuine:

1969 Holdsworth Authentication

2 thoughts on “1969 Holdsworth Professional”

  1. Lovely bike but mines prettier! I have frame no 2842 originally supplied by Fred Baker in Bristol. I bought secondhand for my Father in it’s original state i.e. all Nuovo Record kit with Campag sprint wheels Brooks saddle etc. I beleive it dates from before 1976 because it has chrome forks and half seatstays. I inherited on his death and Argos in Bristol made a wonderful job of restoring it to race colours of orange and blue. Previously blue and white. I’m now collecting the right bits to reinstate the original specification. I’d like to send you a picture Regards Mike

    1. Well, because mine has history as a team bike, I feel constrained to keep it as original as possible. I guess the only bits replaced are those that wore out or broke. So it looks the well-used bike that it is and I would have to agree that it is not the prettiest. Later bikes had chrome too – I think it was just 1969 bikes that didn’t. There is quite a lot of information on http://www.nkilgariff.com/

Leave a Reply