Another Holdsworth Mistral

This time from the late 60s, frame number 30524. 531 butted, of course.

The frame was my grandpa's retirement present to himself, and he built it up with a Sturmey AW hub (having come of age as a cyclist in the 1930s he was never sold on derailleurs). My dad inherited it in 1981 and it had much abuse as a utility machine until about 10 years ago when it was retired and has hung rusting on the garage wall ever since. It's dad's 70th birthday this summer so me and my siblings (or rather my labour, their cash) are restoring it as a surprise for him. My step brother 'stole' it the other day and I picked it up this weekend. We left a note in its place, but he hardly ever goes in the garage so hopefully won't notice it's missing before he receives it at the end of May.

It's not going to be period correct because we want it to be as versatile and simple to use/maintain as possible for dad. It was never a proper Mistral because it was built up with grandpa's existing components anyway - mostly from the 50s. The only things I'm planning on keeping are the GB stem and bars. The headset disintegrated when I took it out, and one cotter pin was stuck solid in one of the cranks so I just removed the BB with one crank still there because I didn't want to do any damage with the hammer! The 50s Williams cranks might scrub up ok for use on another machine, once I've got that pin out, though the chainring's very worn.

The rear dropouts are 119mm and a 5 speed Sturmey will drop right in without having to worry about respacing. With a front ring of 42 and rear sprocket of 21 teeth, this will give an 'on the flat' 72 gear inches in 4th gear and 1st gear of 33.8 for the hills, which seems reasonable for dad.

I took it to Ellis Briggs yesterday to be resprayed - the rust on the chainstays will leave some pitting visible but it isn't terminal - and am currently on the hunt for decals. So far I can't find exactly the right ones. PlanetX don't have the same typeface on theirs, though some on ebay are a slightly better match.

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I think I got that Mistral decal on the top tube. Will check.

Looks lovely!

That one is proving to be the trickiest one to source, so if you did have it I would be extremely grateful!

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I am sure I have it. It was the wrong one for my Mistral. I'll have a look when back home later tonight. :)

I Remember I've got them from H Lloyd before Planet X took over and asked them to stop selling then

Yes I've been in email contact with Planet X but they won't tell me what their Mistral decals look like, and they can't get a photo for me because the factory's in a different location to the customer service centre!

I suspect however that the only Mistral set they sell will be the one for the current model...

Sorry couldn't check tonight. Will do tomorrow morning.
I have it, just want to confirm :) and it's the one you're looking for

There you have them :)

Free as my gift to your father for having kept this nice frame all this time in the family!

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Sir, you are a gentleman and a scholar! Thank you.

It is a pleasure.
PM me with your details and I'll ship it possibly today

The shop's framebuilder reckons the fork's thread is stripped and the only solution is a new fork column at £60.

Are there any other less pricey solutions out there - e.g. can the column not be rethreaded, or the threads made good with melted brass (sure I read that somewhere once)?

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Check with the Vaz brothets in Hither Green.
Mario worked with Holdsworthy before and his brother is a framebuilder who worked for Roberts.

He might know better?

PS: The decals will be shipped today

was discussed on my local forum (Australian) last night

You can brass up the threads and then re-cut the thread - any
competent builder can do this. Saves your paint.

Thanks - my cousin runs a manufacturing business in Peckham, I'll take the forks down there and see if the brass option is a goer.

btw, decals were shipped yesterday evening ;)

Thank you!

Can't wait to see how they'll look on your frame!

Subbed, this thread is awesome.

I've decided to just let the shop get on with replacing the column, to save me faffing around when the frame comes back to me with the risk that the headset won't tighten. With a tight deadline of 22nd May I don't want to scupper everything.

This is an extra £60 I need to save on the build though, so I need to make some cost savings.

I was planning on a sprung Brooks saddle - are there any cheaper alternatives that are similarly comfy and smart? It doesn't have to be leather. I have a cheaper Spa leather saddle on my commuter, but it's still not properly broken in after several hundred miles and I don't want to put dad through that..!

Instead of buying new calipers I've found some 2nd hand centre pulls - which is a nod to the period of the frame too I guess, so two birds and all that.

I might have to stick with the existing front wheel, which is a generic 27" alloy rim and a no-name hub that was bought some time in the late 90s. It might scrub up ok though and I'll regrease it obvs. If I do this then I'll have to have the rear wheel built up as 27" too because it would be a bit weird having mismatched wheels. Was planning on 700c for the quality of rims and variety of tyres available. So if anyone has a nice usable pair of 36h (or 36h/32h) rims for a reasonable price then do pipe up.

The old rubber pedals are a bit grotty but will also save me £40 on a new pair. And are another nod to the bike's past.

I've got a 700c wheelset with Maillard hubs and Maillard freewheel but the rear rim has a bump.
Maybe worth getting them for the hubs?
Also got Shimano 105 white goods aero brake levers and some pedals.

Will post pictures if you're interested.

Btw I also have a pair of Rigida Sputnik, heavy but solid rims which I paid new £36 the couple and never used.

Any updates? :)

+1 for the Vaz Finishers in Hither Green, had exactly what I needed when getting a Holdsworth repainted.

Where does he sources the decals now that Planet X forbids Lloyd from selling them? Anyone knows?

No idea, when I last spoke to Mario (5 years ago) he told me a story of how he used to work for Holdsworth and when he left a load of the decals left with him... May have been a slightly embellished story on his part, either way I believed it and he did a great job.