Keith Lippy 1978
by drpaddle
My 1978 Keith Lippy touring bike. Keith only built frames to order. I worked with Keith at La Jolla Schwinn Cyclery in the early to mid-1970s. He later moved to Bend, Oregon, and became well known as a custom builder, especially of tandems. I acquired this frameset from eBay in 2014.
More information arose when the original owner spotted some discussion about this bike on a collectors list. Back in 1978, Jim Buccarelli worked with Keith and Pat Lippy in Bend. Jim had Keith build a frameset for him -- the bike I now own. Jim shaped the lugs (note the unusual profiles), and Keith did the rest of the construction. The frame number used is actually Jim's birthday "42051", so rather useless in pinning down any other Lippy frame number. Jim did confirm that the additional numbers on the bottom bracket, "8 78", indicate month and year of manufacture. That information at least puts a date to the head badge and decals. Keith has confirmed that Bucarelli worked for him, though he does not remember this specific frameset.
Note the fender and rack mounts. The frameset also came with a beautiful Lippy rear rack made of brazed steel tubing (not shown).
This is a "parts drawer" build, so components run from 1970 to the mid-1980s. I'll be more discerning about equipment when I paint the frame sometime in the future.
Frame is 59.5 cm (23 1/4") center to top. Wheelbase is a comfortable 102.5cm (40 1/4").
