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

My 1938 Hetchins
Sounds great, Got any photos?

1st July 1948

I have an early one like @themidge a fixed gear 1938/39 Parkes in Reynolds 531 and it rides not that much differently to my 80s track bike. I have the same gearing on both of them. I think if you were on an 80s/90s road bike you wouldn’t know the difference.

Thanks all, sounds promising. Might spend some time on ebay then

He's right - in fact it's hard to keep up with Jonny on his Parkes (Playhatch!) whatever machine you're on.

I have a frame which is said to date from 1929 and which is steep enough to ride like a modern bike. I rode some TT's on it and got results that were good enough (for me anyway) to think that with a modern frame I could revive my racing career. Wrong! I tried for three seasons to achieve results as good as I'd got on the old frame and I didn't even match them, let alone improve.

Did they know, when they made him favourite, he was going to rely on the power of prayer?

Gino rode the 1948 tour using a Cambio Corsa derailleur, so his victory does look like a miracle.

Most Surly frames have 72 degree seattube and headtube angles which is the same as many 50s/60s frames. Frames of the period typically had either 71 ST and 73 HT or 72 parallel angles.
650B wheels may be unecessary. There is often enough clearance for 700C with 42mm tyres and mudguards in these frames, although some don't have enough width between chainstays.
A 700C wheel with 40mm tyres has the same outer diameter as 27 x 1.1/4 inch.

Yep, it's looking a bit 80s at the moment :D, fitting given the geo.

Sorry if repost... Gillot

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F372791554010

One Year out I know- but lovely and affordable.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Holdsworth-Zephyr-1951-road-path/202776496919?hash=item2f366bcb17:g:HD4AAOSwoeBdeO3s

Yer.. but careful, from a distance it looks like a great barn find, However on closer inspection, none of the parts match or are period to the frame and the paint work is thick and gloopy.

And definitely expensive

This is a tidy Dan Genner Built For Excel Cycles. Ends very soon!

Morning all, does anyone know if Accles & Pollack and Reynolds tube would have been mixed in a frame? More specifically a 1950 Hobbs Clubweight (lugless) frame. As Hobbs used both I would guess there is an increased likelihood, although as a customer I guess if I specified A&P / Reynolds I would expect one or the other. There is this article on classiclightweights that indicates that it is possible

http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/components/accles-pollock-comp.html

I see that TI acquired A&P in 1919 and Reynolds in 1928 so they were associated companies by 1950. From catalogues and marketing material, it seems like they still presented themselves to the paying customer as competing brands though.

Long story short, I have just found an A&P A oval stamp on the steerer tube and was hoping that meant I knew the frame was A&P :)

Is there any reason to assume it's NOT all A&P? (such as seatpost size etc or relative weight?)

I think quite a few Hobbs were A&P,

No good reason, I don't know that much about Hobbs but I guess if the steerer is A&P then the rest is too. I would be pleased if it was, for interest's sake more than anything else. I've just been looking in to it today, starting with the classiclightweights article linked earlier, which got me wondering.

I think this frame needs to cool its heels in the attic for a bit anyway. I didn't mean to keep it, but it's hard to part with now I've had it in my hands!

I know that Gillott used A&P fork steerers if only because they preferred them.

I’ll try and check the tubes when it comes to it. I’ve had luck with a couple of Reynolds frames previously, the top of the forks being the best place to check. In my googling I’ve seen a few pics of A&P stamps on forks. It’d be nice to know.

Sorry for another "can you identify this frame" post - this one is weird ! An oldie, that's for sure, but it has the cables running inside the tubes, through some crudely made er.. what's the word for them ??

Bodges?

That pump peg though...

those lugs don't look \British, look more Italian or French to me, somehow. What threading is the bottom bracket?

Yes, the head lugs look like French Art Deco to me as well. Internal cabeling is an unusual bodge, but the quality isn't there for a proper job is it. The pump peg is a work of art ;-)

French was my first thought too. The pump peg looks similar to the ones used by Peugeot. I'm sure I've see internal cabling on '30s randonneur type bikes (Not that I think that's what this is).

That chainring has to be a clue.

It's got to be worth it just for the horn!
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F372699396682

Condition is Used

You don't say.

It'd be fun to honk around town with that indeed!