Saving Keith Lippy

As a lifelong cyclist and rider of interesting bikes, I have had several opportunities to find and restore fine examples of these machines. I’ve had some very interesting projects, though admittedly they have been relatively easy restorations, mostly involving minor repairs followed by great paint jobs and excellent components. They typically result in fine riding machines that I am satisfied to have rebuilt and ridden.

What sometimes happens because of this is that other cyclists or friends see these bikes and offer additional interesting bikes that they happen to know of. These vary widely in their condition; everything from simply dusty to complete wrecks. Such is the case with a recent find, a very early Keith Lippy frame, #028. More accurately it was the remains of a frame, without a fork.

The remains were unearthed from beneath a house, where they were moldering in the filth of poor storage. What I actually found was the rear triangle of a Hellenic frame, the headtube intact with lugs, the remains of the top tube with cable guides, and the custom rear rack.

The bike had been crashed in the distant past, the circumstances unremembered. The top tube and downtube had been cut out and de-brazed, fortunately by someone who did the job skillfully.

It was a very large frame, measuring at 64.5cm ctt, much larger than my usual frame size range of 60 to 62. So the first order of business, after assessing the remains, was to find out if I could actually ride something that size. A friend rides 64cm frames, so I paid him a visit and asked for a test ride. His 64cm Cinelli SC actually fit me very well, with good clearance on standover height, and a great feel when riding.

Step One was complete. It was, by far, the easiest step in the process.

Restoration seemed a daunting prospect. I had never attempted anything quite so 
involved, but I was fascinated by the frame and resolved myself to the task.

I began by stripping the old paint from the frame and carefully examining it. Fortunately the remains were relatively unscathed by whatever misfortune had befallen it. Then, with input and guidance from Brian Baylis, we made a full-scale frame drawing to determine the correct dimensions for the frame as our guide when rebuilding the frame and constructing a new fork.

For reference, I am fortunate that I have had several Keith Lippy bikes pass through my hands, most notably the bike that was built by Keith for Dr. Clifford Graves. I oversaw the restoration of that bike and my other Lippy, doing all the grunt work on both, including stripping and prepping. In addition to those great machines, I have closely studied several other Lippys, including those in the collections of Joe Bell, Brian Baylis, and Sky Boyer of Velocult. All this experience has given me a great regard for Keith Lippy’s work. He built to a very high standard and was a superb artist and craftsman. And his bikes ride amazingly well!

With the fork from my other Lippy and the Dr. Graves bike as reference, I located the correct Wagner fork crown and carefully carved and filed it to shape, along with fork tangs and Campagnolo dropouts. Using Reynolds 531 blades, Brian brazed the fork together and I did all the shaping, filing, and finish work. This frame and fork have cantilever brakes, and I’m very pleased that my shaping of the brake boss joints and their flow into the fork blades turned out so well.

A new Reynolds 531 top tube and down tube were carefully mitered and silver-brazed into place, giving me the first view of the frame as a whole. Brian again did the brazing, with his own recently finished Hellenic frame fresh in his mind. I did all the filing and sanding at this stage as well, paying particular attention to the seat stay/top tube joints. The frame and fork were then carefully checked for alignment.  

Another frame builder also came in to help, Rob Roberson. He brazed on the correct top tube cable guides and performed a couple of minor repairs, along with reaming out the seat tube to clean it up to it’s original diameter of 27.0.

The custom rear rack was bent and twisted but otherwise undamaged. I made a set of very small frame blocks of the correct diameters for the steel tubes and, through a long and careful process, straightened the rack. It was worth the effort, as the rack is a beautiful piece of work. I found a closely matching front rack through Velo Orange to complete the set.

After I carefully prepped the frame, fork, and racks, they were turned over to Joe Bell and Jon Pucci at JB’s shop. I again did the grunt work of sanding, filling, and more sanding through successive coats of primer until the surfaces were judged ready for color.

Another challenge presented itself regarding the correct Lippy transfers. The rear triangle had the remains of the original Lippy transfer on it when I found it so I knew the correct style. I also had photographs of another Lippy downtube decal, so using these I had a graphic designer friend and fellow cyclist create vector files, from which JB had stencils made. The results are beautiful. Joe is truly a master of his art and the stencil technique.

So why go to all this trouble?  Why restore a bike that others have judged to be too far gone, and only fit for the dumpster? Joe Bell said that rather than a restoration, it should be called a resurrection. Perhaps I’ll call it Phoenix, as it has risen from ashes.

What influenced me the most was my other Lippy. Since restoring it I’ve ridden it many miles, and the ride is sublime. Whatever his combination of skill, tubing, and geometry, Keith Lippy knew what he was doing.

Also, the fact is that there are not that many of these bikes around. Keith Lippys were all custom built, so each is one of a kind. If I had not found it and it had rotted away, no one would remember it’s existence.

I made the decision to save it’s life, and my motive was simple: I wanted to ride it, and to do that I had to bring it back. In the process I was helped by some of the best craftsmen in Southern California, who also knew Keith Lippy when he was working here. A full circle, of sorts.

And eventually, when it leaves my care, I will have given another cyclist the chance to experience something unique. In the meantime, I intend to enjoy the ride.