1950's GB stem

This is a stem that came off my dads 1953 curly hetchins which I have restored and used cinelli bar/stem.
I am thinking of having a go at restoring the gb stem and putting it back on the bike but slightly paranoid about its integrity ... Any experience of these things failing being 60 odd years old? There is no obvious cracking I can see.

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You'll be fine, I'v e had a few bikes with GB stems on from the 50's/60's and i'v enever had one fail on me, or indeed any of the older components that have been looked after.

A bit of polishing on this and it will come up very nicely. Its worth restoring the bars,levers and bar ends too.

I'm riding exactly the same one every day at the momment on the Elsegood and its grand. I've put 1000 miles on it so far and seen no issues.

any pictures/thread on the bike?

That'll be fine....GB spearpoint, hiduminium......nice stem. As the man says, get it on a polishing wheel, and it will gleam! I'd also like to see the hetchins

I had one of these that had a hairline crack of about 0.5cm at the top of the cut out (is that the right term?). This meant that it creaked a bit under load, and I spent 15 years saying to myself "I will replace it soon because it'll fail soon". Finally got round to replacing it last year (with exactly the same model, found on ebay) ...

I still have the one that's cracked slightly, if anyone wants it. Probably safe as long as it's not raised up more than a couple of cm.

I tried to polish one using oven cleaner, on alu stems this method is a massive win, on hiduminium it is a massive fail.. went black :-( stick to a polishing wheel.

Thanks for the comments/advice. Polish up it is. Although I do not have a polishing wheel.
Noted on the oven cleaner!
It's one to sort over the winter me think.
I will pull some pic's of the hetchins. Can't get any current ones as it's just been hung in the loft for the winter. There is no thread on it as I just joined the forum.
It is a crackling looking bike though. The curly stays really make it for me.
I also have the crank & wheel set that came off it. Will dig them out and post up some pics.

Right here we are. Pic of hetchins after 40yrs in my grans/dad garage ... At which I convinced my dad the bike deserved to be ridden

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Respray, chrome & decals ...

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Rear triangle is amazing! Beautiful frame.

Frame looks very nicely repainted / new chrome. Great that you want to ride it again.

Please put the old stem back on, that Cinelli looks odd as the angle is a bit off for the slack headtube angle.

Wonder how the clearances will look with those 700 rims instead of 27"s, I personally would put big-ish tyres and vintage (or at least old-looking) mudguards if I was using those.

Yep skully. After using the bike for about 2yrs there are 2 things I am not happy with stem and wheels.
The reason for this post isto start sorting the stem and to see if I can get the GB on.
Ref wheels ... Yes 700c with 23c tyres just look too small on tjis frame designed for 27".
I was thinking of sourcing some 27" wheels but they would need to be tough enough to take a good ride without needing truing every month!! If such a thing exist I reckon I go for 27".
Failing that a sensible suggestion - fatter tyres too fill the gap!!

Lovely. Who did the paint/chroming?

Go for large tyres and some mudguards, for now. Some good mudguards in steel/ally or perhaps white ones would be great!

If you fancied using 27"s, the next step would be to start going to jumbles, to build some really nice 'period' wheels. I have to say there's something rather lovely about using 27" wheels, the slightly bigger size is very pleasing to ride.

Look out for Airlites as these are the best high quality old hubs you can find easily enough, for not too much dosh. I know of one pair for sale (not me), let me know if you want to know who's got em.

Classically they come 40 hole rear, 32 hole front.

Finding a good pair of 27" rims with those drillings really is about going to jumbles. Ripley, and get yourself to all the little ones too. Look out for Weinmanns, Conloy, Rigida, even some steel Dunlops.

Don't worry about quality, the old stuff lasts forever, provided they're built properly they'll be fine (40 spokes on the rear!) Just polish the hell out of everything before you build them.

Your best bet for tyres will be Pasela Panaracer, you can find them in 27x1 1/4 pretty easily. Also Michelin do a simar one, with classic looking gumwalls. I heard you could pick these up at Wilkinsons really cheaply. The magic number to be sure you're getting the right tyre is 630, so you'll be finding 630x32 or 630x28 perhaps.

Hope this is all of interest!

Good luck with the build. What cranks you going to use?

Beautiful frame! The renovation looks very high quality too. Not Neil at Atlantic Boulevard that did it is it?

What @Skülly says is exactly what I've done/am doing at the moment.

I run 700's with pasela (now pts) 25's and mudgaurds on a frame made for 27's.

The last (crap) photo are in this thread in this thread shows that set up - http://www.lfgss.com/conversations/231316/?offset=50#comment11890553

My plan is to eventually go back to 27's, down tube shifters etc so I'm collecting the older bits now, finding some NOS Dunlop Hp rims is challenging though....

On my Lenton I have 27's under white blumels and that's running Pasela PT's, it's gives a lovely ride quality I must say.

Moserism
curious. Why the oven cleaner? I normally associate oven cleaner with removing anodising.

etcdaman
There are plenty of GB Hiduminium spearpoint stems on lightweights, evidence is in Hugo's excellent database
I have one on my bike.
Is it safe to assume you are aware of all the resources available for bikes of this period?
There are many.

My lord!
This is lovely!
Move this to current projects and keep us updated on the progress please.
I normally like my bikes with a healthy dose of patina but this appears to be incredibly well done.
@elgato will like this and he can probably give you guidance on polishing British parts if you need it.

Sorry was just being lazy I meant removing anodising.

Also of your interested in a rear 27" I have a super wolber rim on a lovely campagnolo small flange hub that I'd be happy to part will. Its definitely 32h or more - open to offers.

Thanks for the comments. All really helpful indeed.
The paint was done by Colourtech in dartford (Dave). This is who Roberts use. He outsourced the chrome work. Done a great job (the chrome on the head tube lugs is not 100% but it is pretty good). The paint and lug lining is spot on.
On the wheels i think i am coming around to 27" - it just feels right! Let me stew on the wheel options.
The bike is currently set up as a fixed and has a c-record crank on it, cinelli bars/stem, & open 4 cd 700 rims & new long reach dia comp front calliper (due to 700c) . Basically it is built up as a mix of 1980's & new parts on the basis that I wanted it functional / robust as I ride it a fair bit in the summer and wanted (1) brakes that worked well (2) wheels that could take a hard ride.
My current thinking though is to build up another retro frame for fixed (something Italian!) using the current bits off the hetchins and in the meantime collect bits to then build the hetchins with a more original/vintage set of parts (again hence starting this post, 27" wheels etc).

How/can i move this thread to current projects? Or just start again?

Ps. When I say re build hetchins as original I meant with gears!!

Always, this is a the most ugliest frames ever..

Get out of bed on the wrong side guga?
Door is that way....

Definitely like this. Beautiful frame and colour.

I've always left components as they were, if fitted to an unrestored frame and did polish them if going the restauration route because I thought they complemented each other better. But I've also tried untouched (or lightly touched) parts on a renovated frame as I did not want a brand new look and it works. Just mentioning this as it coul be time consuming (if components are mainly alloy ones) and also expensive if going the re chroming route, if components are mainly steel
ones.

I think as the frame has been rechromed you may be lookin at an expensive nos or rechroming build, however this is going to be seriouslly bling when it all comes together..

nice restoration. sjs cycles do 27" rims > http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/rims-27-(630)-dept170_pg1/ < and wheels > http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/27-x-1-1-4-inch-wheel-rear-with-nutted-solid-axle-and-polished-alloy-rim-prod2986/

Hi all, I have the same GB Stem, was on my frame with “feather cycle” head badge. Was trying to identify the manufacturer and year, but could not find the answer for ages.

I have got this bike in the 80s, changed most of the parts but couldn’t get the GB Stem off, so decided to keep it. Anyone can advise the bike origin n year? Appreciate and thanks for your time. Cheers / desmond from Singapore

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