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

That (build) is just terrific.

Thanks for your comment - you've cheered me up.

I was pleased with the way it looked, but not the way it worked.

In some ways it rode pretty well, but there were two problems.

1 The derailleur was attached to the chainstay with a clamp (not a brazed on mounting). In order to remove the back wheel it was necessary to loosen the clamp and swing the gear out of the way. Unfortunately the position of the clamp was critical to the working of the gear, so although it was not too difficult to reset on a workstand it was next to impossible after a puncture at the roadside.

Also, the control cable is quite fragile and they are difficult to find or make.

However, I could see why this mech remained in production so long, since when it did work it was a pleasure to use.

2 Those brakes! They must always have been challenging since the are much more fiddly and unforgiving to set up than anything modern. The cables have to be a fairly exact fit and the only way to get a new one is to have it made (unless you can do it yourself - and if you can - congratulations). In my time I've had two made: one failed suddenly and dangerously - it was for the back of a tandem and I had a child behind me at the time. The other started to fray.

The brake blocks are special and although it's possible to buy modern blocks which fit the Resilion shoes, they are not 'angled' upwards like the originals and so do not come up square to the rim. There are still some original blocks around, but since they must be getting on for 70 years old they are excessively hard.

I've had an enquiry for the brakes (I'll respond to this separately tomorrow) and so I thought it worth explaining my experiences with every one as well as the would be buyer.

In a nutshell, it did look good, but it wasn't a practical bike to ride. The frame would probably make a decent vintage hack if fitted with other kit