George Wilkes, winning Irish Cyclist

In 1950, after winning the Belfast to Dublin Race.

As a member of Windsor CC and later Northern CC George represented Ireland on numerous occasions throughout the 1950's. He was a former All Ireland 50 Mile TT Champion and held two place to place records - Belfast to Dublin and Belfast to Derry.
In later years George was prominent in promoting Youth Cycling in Ulster bringing teams to the ESCA championships and the Junior Tour.

Notice the handlebar mounted double waterbottles and bell. Appears to have Bowden brakes calipers and levers(very high end components)
True racing bike, not even a brazeon for a light bracket on the fork, which was ubiquitous at this time on British bikes. Spare tubular tire wrapped around his shoulders, the race must have been unsupported(riders had to fix their own bikes back then), unheard of now days.
I love the old jerseys with the pockets in the front, such a classic look.

Any more information on him would be greatly appreciated.

(Photograph comes courtesy of his son, who recently was bequeathed his father's 1952 Mercian frameset. Super nice dude too!)

Cool bikes seen at the Vintage Vagabond ride

 early 1970s Cinelli. repaint, after a cracked bottom bracket was repaired.

A rack of bicycles at the lunch stop. The Hill Cycle I rode, a beautiful wood rim restored Umberto Dei track bike, a fixed gear converted Scapin, and a mid to late 1960s Carlton.

 Rack 2- Peugeot PX-10 converted to a fixed gear with early Schwinn Paramount hubs and fork truss support. Chrome Maino fixed gear. Blue Trek 610 and then a Rivendell Bleriot 650b bike.

 Jed, one of the 2 ride organizers rode this stunning Carlton.

 The early Umberto Dei. Beautiful bike, and pretty fast rider as well!

 Chrome headlugs on the Maino, Italian built bike.

 Seat cluster treatment on the Maino.

 Front brake on the Dei, notice the cork brake pads for the wood rims.

British bikes stick together. 1970s Mercian and Raleigh Lenton Grand Prix- Reg Harris model.

 Colnago

 Beautiful, low miles Marinoni.

Mercian Vincitore

This is a beautiful bicycle owned by a friend of mine and a customer of the shop. It is a mid 1970s Mercian Vincitore. The bicycle is outfitted with a variety of period parts, from Campagnolo Nuovo Record drivetrain, Dia compe brakes, newer Mavic rims. I love the paint applied to the cutouts in the Nuovo Record high flange hubs, it is a very nice subtle touch. I may 'borrow' this for one of my bicycles, I forgot how well that accents a bike.

The chrome headlugs are beautiful, they were not listed in the catalog I was able to find online at the Mercian website(I wonder if this bicycle had that specially ordered).I really love the chrome Cinelli fully sloping fork crown as well. It does have vertical Campagnolo rear dropouts that were not that well received, as they were thinner than typical high quality dropouts and would either require a shorter axle or the frame builder to braze a slotted washer on it to give it more material. I am not sure how I feel about the seatstay treatment, it looks a little crowded. The wraparound seatstays over the lug is a bit 'meaty,' maybe if the wraparound was more profiled, or filed down, it would look a little more tied together.