R J Quinn road bike

[BigAl]

Hi guys & gals. This is my first post.
I have today dug out a very nice road bike from my garage which I rescued from a council tip some years back(!) & am in the process of cleaning it.
I know nothing about the bike & would be interested to know if anyone can assist.
it is a R J Quinn & as a decal on the frame states 'Quinn brothers Edge Lane Liverpool', I assume that R J is(was) Harry Quinn's brother.
Just why the bike was discarded is a mystery to me as it has Campag; Shimano; Cinnelli; SR; Zeus 2000 bits on it. A mixed bag of parts I know but it is nice & light & in very good condition.
The Kevlar Competition tubs are perished so I will have to shop for more. Hmm, can one still buy tubs?

I also have a Motobecane Grand Record road Bike, Shimano 600 throughout. Bought for very little money on a car boot sale. Any information on this one woiuld be much appreciated.

Thank you

[Rogerb]

Hello BigAl and all
This is also my first post - prompted by googling my Motobecane Grand Record (cream and brown)which I also found at a tip in good condition approx 8yrs ago. This must be happening all the time - my son now has a perfect vintage 1970's Harry hall which was at the tip - so new that the tyres still had the fine rubber 'hairs' showing they hadn't covered more than a few miles. There should be a campaign to stop the awful wastage of bikes, are they really so redundant?
My Motobecane was well kitted with Shimano which I now have in a box 'cos I need extra large sprockets for Derbyshire. In fact I was thinking about putting modern shifters and adopting this as a road bike for my retirement- short day-trips with maybe some lightweight touring.
I am a stranger to the frames developed in the past 20+yrs, determined to hang onto a faith in double butted steel (the Motobecane isn't reynolds but presumably the French equivalent). I haven't looked yet but presumably there is plenty of comment herabouts about losing weight around the belly before niggling about a kilo on the bike. How many gears do we really need?
Any strong opinions? Should i spend money upgrading an old format bike or try out the new? Is there something magic about new bikes apart from the colour? Sorry to interrupt the enquiry Al, I hope the Liverpudlians can put you right.
RB

[rogerzilla]

You can certainly still buy tubs. For more convenience you can rebuild the wheels with normal wired-on rims - 700c is the same size. The aficionados prefer 1.8/1.6/1.8 spokes on vintage bikes - apparently 2.0/1.8/2.0 looks wrong.

[Bill Mac]

Hi I don't know whether they were related to Harry but R J was Ronnie and Jack Quinn who ran a small cycle shop as you have rightly said on Edge Lane in Liverpool. The shop was taken over by Mel Vasey when they retired, Mel worked for them as a bike mechanic, in fact, I still have a frame built by him. Sadly, Mel became another statistic when he was hit by a motorist and killed whilst on a Sunday run. The shop which still bears the Quinn name is run by Mels brother although it is a much bigger shop now than the one I remember being run by Ron and Jack Quinn.

[broady2]

Sorry for the long delay in posting a comment but I too have a R J Quinn road bike. It was bought in 1958 from R J Quinn cycles in Edge Lane ( now Quinn cycles?) and started life as a track bike, fixed wheel and only a front Mafac brake and cost £37 approx!
Over the years it has had many mods: rear brake , Campagnolo gears plus double chainwheel aquick release hubs and two resprays the last one was at Quinn cycles.
The bike is still in my possession after 60 years but I have not used it for a couple of years. Maybe I should let it go?
Comments please
Alan Broadfoot

[Cyril Haearn]

Maybe you should keep it, you might regret selling it

There is a live thread about Holdsworth Majestics, if you search these fora you will find a lot more (more than a million posts )

[Jezrant]

Hahaha, after the Majestic thread, I thought this might be a wind-up. Welcome to our friendly forum Mr Broadfoot.
Can you post a photo or two of your old Quinn? The frame and Campagnolo mechs, regardless of model, will be worth something if you want rid of this clutter.

[martin biggs]

Hi guys & gals. This is my first post.
I have today dug out a very nice road bike from my garage which I rescued from a council tip some years back(!) & am in the process of cleaning it.
I know nothing about the bike & would be interested to know if anyone can assist.
it is a R J Quinn & as a decal on the frame states 'Quinn brothers Edge Lane Liverpool', I assume that R J is(was) Harry Quinn's brother.
Just why the bike was discarded is a mystery to me as it has Campag; Shimano; Cinnelli; SR; Zeus 2000 bits on it. A mixed bag of parts I know but it is nice & light & in very good condition.
The Kevlar Competition tubs are perished so I will have to shop for more. Hmm, can one still buy tubs?

I also have a Motobecane Grand Record road Bike, Shimano 600 throughout. Bought for very little money on a car boot sale. Any information on this one woiuld be much appreciated.

Thank you

I would love to see some pictures of this machine please
feel free to pop on to my facebook page about Merseyside bikes its In Appreciation of Merseyside Bikes and more than likely one of on there would love to own it

[Brucey]

Just why the bike was discarded is a mystery to me as it has Campag; Shimano; Cinnelli; SR; Zeus 2000 bits on it. A mixed bag of parts I know but it is nice & light & in very good condition.

to some folk an old bike is 'just and old bike' regardless of how much it cost originally. Sadly folk pass away and an old bike in a garage is just another junk item for the relatives to dispose of.

cheers

[martin biggs]

to some folk an old bike is 'just and old bike' regardless of how much it cost originally. Sadly folk pass away and an old bike in a garage is just another junk item for the relatives to dispose of.

cheers

That is so true and i have rescued a few bikes in similar situations

[Jezrant]

Just why the bike was discarded is a mystery to me as it has Campag; Shimano; Cinnelli; SR; Zeus 2000 bits on it. A mixed bag of parts I know but it is nice & light & in very good condition.

to some folk an old bike is 'just and old bike' regardless of how much it cost originally. Sadly folk pass away and an old bike in a garage is just another junk item for the relatives to dispose of.

cheers

Holy thread resuscitation, Brucey. That was posted over nine years ago.

[vward]

If there any folk out there still wanting some info on R J Quinn, my article of 4 years ago may help:
https://www.amershamrcc.com/the-mighty-quinn/

[colin54]

Welcome to the forum, a very interesting article.

[ircm]

I remember this post from years ago. I was looking for general info on R J Quinn. Glad to see someone has kept it going.

I grew up surrounded by frame builders. I bought a RJ Quinn back in 1985 and rode it until 2009, when I moved overseas for work. I gave it to a cyclist friend and he still regularly rides it now and really looks after it. It’s still original, apart from tyres, chain and brake pads. It was built with a mix of Campag Victory, Shimano 600, Modolo (brakes) and Mavic MA40 rims. I wish I still had it.

I still love handmade frames. Handmade Steel frames have got so expensive where I live now (USA) so I bought titanium instead. Love it.

[drossall]

There is a live thread about Holdsworth Majestics, if you search these fora you will find a lot more (more than a million posts )

Claud Butler Majestics, surely, although Holdsworth owned Claud Butler at the time when they were made.

We still have our Claud Butler Majestic II tandem

(PS I know I'm two years late correcting that, but it seems that this thread isn't going away!)