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

oh god yes. Have made this mistake twice when over eager and subsequently have 2 hubs hanging around I need to remove the sprocket/block off. I would say never again but I didn't learn the first time, so I doubt I will now....!

You can get them off. You’ll need to lace a rim back onto the non drive side. Then, best thing to do is put the freewheel tool into a sturdy vice and use the rim for leverage.

Freewheel arrived yesterday, totally impractical 13-17 cog range. Regina gran sport in good condition and new chain fitted.
Took the bike out today to Farningham and it was a dream no slipping at all and it actually changes gear from top to bottom without incident.

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Highly practical for an under the hour 25!

Here we have a tiny benefit from the lockdown.

I had a new cable made for the Resilion front brake on this machine. It was made by Venhill Engineering of Dorking - they did a good job and I would recommend them.

However the new cable is just the tiniest bit short which made it difficult to fit . I think it's fair to say that anything to do with these brakes demands a lot of patience and determination - it may well be that an original cable would have been just as difficult.

I tried to fit it last summer, dropped a vital small part onto the workshop floor, failed to find it and gave up. Now, armed with plenty of time I cleared the floor, found the missing piece and spent about another three hours struggling with it, eventually succeeding.

These brakes were highly regarded in their day and it's undeniable that they do work well, but the amount of effort to maintain them today requires a lot of dedication.

It is possible to alter the cabling so that they work like modern brazed on cantilevers, but of course that spoils the vintage look.

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This bike has been in this thread before, but while we're at it here's another view.

I 'created' this machine (i.e. it's a bitsa) in order to use the Cyclo Standard derailleur which I was curious to try.

It's quite enjoyable to ride, and reasonably practical (brakes excepted). The block is 16, 18, 20 with 46/32 rings, giving a bottom of 41.6" and top 74.7, with fairly even spacing. A lower bottom would be desirable, but for some odd reason there's not much choice nowadays in three speed blocks. I have got a 16, 19, 22, but the gain at the lower end is offset by problems in the middle of the range.

You will notice that this bike is similar to the James shown at the very top of this thread.

Another try with the photo:

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Sorry, I have been away for a while. To Northern Ireland then over to Islay. It was rudely cut short as we made a hasty retreat back to Australia. That trip is to be resumed.
Your question related to treating rubber products. I use Aerospace 303 Protectant. I also used it on the slow burn 1952 Blue Riband

The headset has been replaced with a Lytaloy. A 'compulsory isolation' project.

Up loading worked then.
The gearing and for that matter the braking system is staggeringly elaborate. I would love to see it in action.
Gillotts were not made until after the war and as I only deal with Gillotts I haven't had any exposure to any of these pre war components. What front derailleur are you using as that's quite a step up from small to large ring

I hope you got some of their lovely whisky when you were in Islay. My Favourite.

that was the intention. But they had closed for tours. A bottle bought in Bowmore for local consumption did help lessen the impact. I have been collecting a range of the Islay whiskies for a number of years.
Lussa Gin hadn't yet closed and received our patronage. The trip along the Long Road to get there was spectacular. Today we were supposed to be on Orkney, but it is our last day in compulsory home isolation in Adelaide, Australia.

Sadly, it doesn't look like any of us (or anyone at all for that matter) will be getting very far at all in the foreseeable future. How's autumn in Australia?

Gillott - Fleur de Lys.
Collection In London.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/164155303407

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The gearing and for that matter the braking system is staggeringly elaborate. I would love to see it in action.

You’re correct about the brakes. They are complex, but when properly set up they work as well as anything else I’ve used. They had a long run as the best brake available, starting in the late twenties (I think) and continuing up to about 1960 and were particularly favoured, as I remember, by the CTC and tandem riders.

The Cyclo Standard dérailleur also had a long life, from 1932 (according to the Disraeli Gears website) and they were still widely used up to the late fifties. The mech is robust and runs quietly with very little noticeable friction. The long arm allows it to cater for a big jump on the chain rings. Its weak point is the control cable which has to be the right one for the mech and lever – if not set up correctly it will get damaged, and you’ll probably end up back at Venhill engineering. The DG site shows an earlier (1912) mech –‘Le Chemineau’ which looks remarkably similar!

The front changer is a modern ‘Altus’, because that is all I have available, but front changers don’t seem to be all that fussy – I have used an old Campag ‘cigarette packet’ changer with 32/44 rings and that worked perfectly.

I certainly hope you will see the bike in action and in the flesh, but there doesn’t seem much chance in the near future. I know it’s not really what you meant, but for the time being I offer these two pics of the bike on the Cote de Wanne which is a little south of Stavelot on the Liege – Bastogne – Liege course.
Second pic on another post.

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Second pic - gives a better idea of the gradient.

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The pictures made me smile, I was looking for a green 2cv at the bottom of the hill. Looks very nice,

Of course you're right, there was a car not very far away.

But it does look even nicer when you're there - you can paint a flower, but you can't reproduce its scent.

The Ardennes are great for cycling.

Anyone got any cambio corsa long levers. Mine are short.

Are there such a thing as fixed cups which are as deep as the DS cup on a modern square taper. For italian thread. On my Benetto iha e haste fit an andel chainset and shimano square taper bb as the old cottered bb cup would not stay in placem the shell seems to have tapered over the years and a deeper cup is required now.

The other option is a stronglight 49d.

rhyming names for triplets

I've had a look on eBay but there doesn't seem to be many options I must admit.
Do you have an appropriate chainset for the bike. I think it deserves something special, as you have gone to all the trouble of fitting the Cambio gear.
I know Bayliss Wiley have deep cups and they do a BB set with a sleeve which works on frames with damaged bracket threads. Whether they do an Italian size or whether you could get something similar from another brand I'm not sure.
I will keep an eye out
Excellent by the way can you tell us more about the frame?

Falconvitesse is right - this is a special machine and it deserves special treatment.

I think the statement above that 'the shell seems to have tapered ' is misleading - surely it has splayed out; that's to say the right hand side has become enlarged. This is not a rare problem - I remember being in Ken Ryall's workshop and going through a box of assorted BB cups looking for a slightly larger one - Ken claimed the diameters varied slightly.

If I'm correct in thinking that the shell has stretched, a deeper cup will not solve the problem because although it may be tight in the thread at its inner end, it will still be loose at the outside end of the shell. Surely this is where most of the stress occurs and the result will be more movement and more stretching.

A technique which is proven to work in this situation is what I will call The Dave Russell Method.

Braze a collar onto the underside of the bracket shell, hacksaw a cut through the shell and the collar, refit the cup, insert a bolt through the collar and tighten, thus clamping the shell onto the cup. Touch in the burnt paint and you're ready for that Alpine tour or road race victory!

Of course, there may well be less drastic methods that I don't know about, but this will get you back on the road as a last resort.

Have rather optimistically taken the mudguards off the RRA today. Going out for a short ride with my wife tomorrow which I will use to try and re-tune the Sturmey Archer AM geared wheel I had built in January-it went out of tune just before I put the bike away 2 months ago and would only hold properly in 2 gears-the 3rd kept slipping when any force was applied to the pedals.

I also had an STurmey Archer ASC 3 speed fixed hub built into a wheelset with some Constrictor sprint rims I am itching to try at the same time. If the weather stays fine next week I may well try and get that set up and use the RRA with it for my daily exercise rides next week. Really keen to try the novelty of a three speed fixed....

Taking off the mudguards...

Wondering if for this, as with gardening lore and planting to ‘cast ne’ar a clout til May is out’ might apply :)

Wondering if anyone here can help, trying to date a Claud Butler Olympic Road frameset, f. no. is 004088.
Cheers.
Jon

There's a thread on Retrobike with CB numbering :)

Ta. Will have a look, see what I can find out.