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

So the crank replacements. The RH cranks are one of those iconic looking things that make the bike. Skinny alloy, three arms and the big jump between the 46 and 26 chainrings. To maintain that look, I looked around for a Stronglight 49D NDS crank arm. They looked so similar I thought I could get away with it and not really notice. I didn’t find one, but an early Stronglight crankset popped up on eBay with TA 48/44/28 rings at not too silly money. That was the look I was after so I snapped it up and cut down the chainring bolts to turn it into a 48/28 double, almost exactly as per the original. Early Stronglight rings didn’t come with a big jump like that, but the TA drilled for a triple has that small bcd that accommodates a small ring.

Last bit, which I should have checked first, was to check it actually fitted on the BB taper. Perfect fit!

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I mentioned how similar I thought the 49D and RH cranks looked. Here they are side by side. Almost identical. Size, shape, surface finish and features are near enough identical even down to the size, shape and depth of the scalloping. There's only about 20g between them. There’s been some discussion on other forums about whether RH made their own cranks and I’m of the opinion that they probably didn’t have the means to do it themselves. They're so similar to the early 49D that I would wager they got Stronglight to make them.

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Rh looks to be the same as the later, post mid 60s Stronglight crank (badges Marque Depose) with the squarer profile

Very nice bikes, but grossly overpriced...

Hi!

I recently acquired this frameset in hope of some proper fit to my needs.

As it appears it was made by the two brothers R & J Quinn - but I can't find much information led alone some sort of advert or catalogue of their work.
As I don't actually have the set in my possession yet, I can't provide more details such as a frame number. Still, from the looks of it, I assume it was made in the 1950s.

What you think?

Cheers,
Nora

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from the looks of it, I assume it was made in the 1950s. What you think?

If I had to guess based on nothing but those pictures, I'd probably say 1970±10

Really, why so late? I'll attach another pic. Especially the fork crown and the headset seems more pointing to the 50s!?

And not that much braze one's, lack of DT shifter, bottle bosses, and such ... mmmhh.

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lack of DT shifter

Band-on shifters were still common even on nice bikes into the 1980s, although the absence of a dérailleur hanger would be surprising that late.

To be fair, there's nothing on there that precludes being as early as 1950 without very detailed examination of the components, the Nervex Pro lugs were in the UK from 1950 but still in use well into the 1980s at least.

The trouble is, without a solid provenance, it's really hard to say; steel frame tech had more or less reached a plateau by the late 1930s from which it wouldn't move for more than half a century

Its a funny one. Fork rake and the oiler on the BB suggest mid/late 50s but the campagnolo ends, I think, are later. Google R&J Quinn / Quinn Brothers Cycles Liverpool and you should be able to piece some information together.

Thanks.

I got some more info from the seller:

Spacing is 95 to 122mm; and the dropouts (again f&r) are Agrati apparently...

I'll provide more specs when it's finally here.

The derailleur hanger might have been chopped off at some point - at least the DS dropout looks a bit like it.

Looks 50s to me. Single cable stop on down tube so a 5 speed.
Yes, they are Agrati dropouts available from the early 50s onwards. I don't think these were available with gear hangers. Campagnolo dropouts were also introduced in the early 50s. I have them on a 58 Holdsworth with hanger.

Hi all!

I realise I’m not about to talk about an old enough bike or about old enough components (sorry!), but something tells me that the historic knowledge on these pages is likely to bring me an answer, more so maybe than other sections of the forum where things are more orientated towards today’s bikes…

I’ve stopped riding fixed since moving the other side of crystal palace, it’s just too steep a hill for me, in the middle of my 12 miles commute… I’m using my touring bike mostly these days.

But I wanted to ride fixed again, so had set an eBay alert for a 3 speed fixed Sturmey Archer hub, and got one for a really good price a couples month back, after a good couple of years waiting for the deal. It is the newer S3X thing, not the older version that I know exist (saw one at a jumble once).

I built the wheel, then over the weekend finally found a bit of time to put things together, on my Bob Jackson track bike. I fitted some road forks to mount a front brake and to allow me to run 25c tyres.

I wanted to keep attachments to the frame to a minimum (the S3X kit comes with a very long outer, but I didn’t fancy that). So I decided to run the cable along the top tube, with a SA pulley (mounted to the seat post) but needed a cable top. The only products I found only are destined to down tubes so fit only a greater diameter. The frame has Columbus tubing and the top tube is 26.8mm. I bodged something for now, with a butchered chainstay cable stop, and a Shimano top tube brake outer collar (also a little butchered). It almost works but under cable tension, there is some movement; ultimately the collar will cut through the protective tape I pre-emptively wrapped the tube with, then the paint, then… It also doesn’t look particularly good.

Anyone would happen to have had a similar need and know a better solution / product? I may not know the word I am looking for in English / bike terminology, hence limiting my Google searches… many thanks in advance!

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Would this work?

(I searched “Band on cable stop”)

Would this work?

Thanks!
In principle, yes, first type of product I looked at but diameter is too big.
That said if I can't find better I'll go for it and use shims. Was hoping to avoid this though...

Sorry. I misread 26.8 as 28.6!

Good point about "band on" I'd not thought of searching using that word...

Could something meant for handlebars be reamed out to fit? I’d call SJS and talk to them as they know what products exist, but eg this? £££ though:

Or probably a Campagnolo or huret band on shifter clamp could be butchered, and might be £10, bur you’d have to ask eBay sellers to measure up, or go to a bike jumble.

I've got actually got these! Funny you mention it! One Simplex, but I felt bad because it's part of the derailleur set (front and back, gold ones) so I didn't want to butcher. I also have a Camp at one, again felt bad butchering, because Campag...
But cheapo Huret if I find one, I wouldn't be so scrupulous.

Possibly just taping the outer cable down to the top tube so that the outer is in line with the clip would help.

I have three machines with Sturmeys - two have 'quadrant' levers on the top tube (see Sunbeam photo below), the other, a four speed which requires a handlebar trigger control, has a cable stop brazed on the top tube. This would be the best solution for you, but you would have the burnt paint problem to deal with.

Incidentally, the normal position for the S.A. pulley is at the top of the seat tube, rather than on the seat post. Moving it would perhaps give you a slightly better cable run, and so less pressure on the clip.

If it would help I'll photograph my cable set ups for you.

London - Oxford - London
On a Roadster
18th & 19th April 2024.

See my posts 5098 and 5103 (pages 204 and 205 in this thread). Perhaps I should have posted this in the weekend ride column, but the bike seems to have more interest here.

Those who read my posts will know this is a ride I’ve done many times and on a variety of old bikes. It’s a two day job – I visit my sister and stay overnight. I had intended to go on this Sunbeam roadster at my usual time before Christmas, but it couldn’t be fitted in, hence this April trip.

Spring is a bit easier than December – warmer and more daylight, but even so I had a persistent headwind on the way out and this made for a fairly tough 55 miles on the roadster which, even with the bars as low as they will go, does not allow for an aero position. I punctured at Uxbridge, an unexpected problem on a dry road with newish heavy tyres, but it was just bad luck – a sliver of glass, and this took a few minutes to find. The ride back was helped by the same wind, now stronger than the previous day – even so I was glad to arrive home. Both days took about six hours, including various stops. Apart from the puncture the bike behaved perfectly, although a shower when leaving Oxford showed up the weakness of braking on steel rims, even when not chromed.

My mileage has been poor so far this year and my fitness has suffered, so it’s not easy to say whether my sluggish speed was caused by me or the bike. This machine is about ten pounds heavier than my ‘modern’ seventies road bike – with luggage rack the Sunbeam weighs 32 pounds and I was carrying 12 pounds of luggage. Progress up both sides of the Stokenchurch climb was slow but steady on my 45” bottom gear, which was just about adequate.

Perhaps I do this ride, an old bloke on an ancient bike, as a sort of anti consumerist stunt. I’m demonstrating that intercity journeys can be done by anyone on any bike – unfortunately very few people will notice. Also, strictly between ourselves, although I proved that the journey is possible, I haven’t proved it’s a sensible thing to do! As usual I used the A40, which is quieter than you would expect (especially after High Wycombe), but there’s noticeably more traffic than a few years ago, and that traffic is getting faster. In addition the road surface is deteriorating, especially on the left where cyclists normally travel.

I can see the possibility that this ride will become impossible because of the conditions, even though I may still be physically capable of the riding.

Pictures: Outside Worcester College in central Oxford, and at the top of the major climb.

A small concession in weights and measures above is to write ‘pounds’ instead of ‘lbs’, but I’m afraid you will have to do your own metric conversion.

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Superb work

Brilliant, as ever.