Pre 1950s rides of LFGSS: old bikes, vintage rats, classic lightweights

I am all for making hard to acquire components. I have done a few.
But next to that headset we need something of quality.
And bottle cages need not be outrageously expensive.

It’s stamped 1/8” for 3-speed / 3/32” for 4-speed, but if I use it I’ll probably stick with the 3-speed freewheel I’ve got, which I think is 16/18/20. Seems fairly simple to set up.

I expect you already know this, but all those plunger type Benelux rear mechs were fragile and didn't work that well even before they got bent. It's amazing how much effort was put into promoting a product which was so puny - not that Simplex or Huret were any better!

I didn’t know that! That’s exactly the sort of info I was looking for.

Can we make it Wednesday around 6.30pm are there any parts I can help you with.?

Sounds great!

Nice mostly original looking 22" Duckett in Forest Hill, £250.

Noted.

Cotterpins arrived in the mail. I think I light have everything I need now except for help filing and hammering those cotterpins.

Went for a couple of sets of these

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F381715035236

Which I hope are decent enough.

This looks quite interesting and appears to be from the 40s-50s era.
Seller has clearly put to many zeros in the starting price though.
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F323795644612

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New pedals from Chater Lea
https://www.chaterlea.com/

Also appears that they are planning on making cranks & toe clips.

Cool, could you bring it here (Erith) as I have plenty of tools.
Next Thursday after work is possible or the Thursday after that.

I quite like those. Would look good on a modern tourer.

I like them, cranks will also be interesting.
I've left my contact details on their site to find out more about them given that there is no mention of a price.

These were waiting for me when I got home :)

edit. Sigh. Can't upload a picture.

Aaaah - What have you bought?

A saddle from Velo Solo, sort-of-knock-of of a Brooks but synthetic because vegan (and only £20 :) and a Gran Sport RD that all looks good (but missing the bolt thing for securing the cable if anyone has one :)

Now with added picture.

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I'd say £90 would be far to much for this one. Apart from anything else, the front forks are clearly non original - even if the crown didn't look modern, the position of the mudguard eyes on the fork ends are a give away.

Do we think this new version of Chater Lea has anything in common with the old one ?

If they can make British style kit of the same quality as their forebears, I wish them every good fortune. I just hope they're not a bunch of scammers trying to cash in on a great name from the past; I'm not over impressed by the fact that their web site has no actual address or phone number. Perhaps I'm just old fashioned.

I'm still wondering about the Chater-lea thing.....considering a friend of mine bought/aquired the patents when they shut up shop......including the original cast sign, a complete bike, loads of pedals (and pieces thereof) hubs, etc, etc.......

Look what I got for free :)
Pedals, brake bits (Mafacs so has all the adjustable bits on the guides), cottered bb, saddle bracket possibly even the crank arms and pins if I can get it all free and a chain which will need a little soaking...

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Seatpost saga. I always thought the seatpost on my 1938/39 Parkes was 26.8mm, but when I went to tighten it up it bottomed out the clamp. I opened the clamp back up and it was clear the hole wasn’t very round. Sort of 26.8 across one way, 27.0 round a lot of it and 27.2mm front to back.

I borrowed this brilliantly vintage adjustable reamer from work to chase the hole out. Started at 26.8mm and uncovered a very old brazed repair on one side. This was probably why it wasn’t round. Then up to 27.0 and finishing at 27.2. Now got a nice round hole and handy 27.2mm seat post size.

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Funny side note with this reamer: you can see it’s a pretty old tool. I once used it years ago to lightly open something up on another bike. I was made redundant and subsequently came back to work there recently. It was still set at the same size I left it all that time back. Made me smile!

I'm not sure whether this version is the same as the original one.
On their Instagram page they state they are the legendary British bicycle component maker established in 1890.
The website is lacking with next to no real detail.
I wonder if anyone on this forum is visiting the bespoked bicycle show in Bristol this weekend as they have a stall and it would be good to actually see a component in real life.

On another old component , Coloral water bottles are being produced again - https://coloral.cc/products/the-original-cycling-bottle?variant=7988121960506&utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Facebook%20Shop

What I'd really like to see is them actually producing some modern goodies. Chater Lea making some modern headsets etc. Coloral making some cages etc. None of this recreate the past shite.

Maclean which I think is a club model.
Seat stays, lugs and top of seat tube are great.
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F163660950647

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I'll try my best to try to come.

Thanks!!