A S Gillott - L'Atlantique (I think)

Decent clean and saddle soap has rejuvenated the saddle bag -

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Managed to find a TDF derailleur in bits for a few pounds which I think is complete.
I thought that it would be very handy for spares.

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One issue is that the cage shows that this is a 4 speed derailleur.
Does anyone know whether I can make this into a 5 speed and which part I would need to change to adapt it to 5 speed?

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Considering what a classy bike you have there, I doubt whether the original owner would have put the brake levers in that position because he would certainly have known that you don't just hold the bottom of the bars. I notice in you first photos of the bike the handlebar stem is too high (you seem to have corrected this) which suggests some one in the past didn't know how to set things up.

I think this frame has almost certainly been resprayed at some time in the past. I can't believe it came out of Gillott's shop with no transfers.

Incidentally, although the shop was in the South East, a lot of successful West London riders rode Gillott frames - Dave Stalker and Jeff Marshall being two examples. This was at least partly because Ron Brown worked for them. Ron (originally Calleva RC, later Hounslow & Dist) was a charismatic hard man (no pain, no gain!) who had lost an arm in childhood, but this didn't stop him being an excellent bike mechanic and a very strong rider. His idea of an Easter training weekend was: meet 2.30 am at the Travellers' Rest (West side of Hounslow) ride to Aberystwyth, and that would just be the Good Friday!

If you were a young guy riding with Ron, your obvious choice for a new frame would be a Gillott.

I've got a picture of him which I'll post shortly.

Here he is....

Ron is facing the camera - I think you can see the right sleeve is empty.

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Simplex TdF

I think the telescopic slider is the component which would be different between the 4 and 5 speed.

I'm pretty sure those jockey wheels are non original.

When reassembling make absolutely sure the nut on the end of that telescopic arm is tight. It can easily come loose with terminal results for the mech. I covered mine with a big dollop of epoxy two pack glue and it got me through the Eroica.

Frame colour -
You are correct on the current colour as there is overpaint on the head tube badge and underneath the bottom bracket on the chain stays was a very small amount of what I believe was the original colour which I would describe as a turquoise blue - It appears that the whole frame is chrome underneath the two layers of paint.
Doing a bit of research, a close match would be a flamboyant turquoise Bob Jackson.

Fascinating history @clubman and a wonderful photograph of Ron Brown.

Way back when brake levers did get quite low. Here's a pic of my old boss Cliff Pratt on the front cover of his book

https://thejerseypocket.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/photo-11-04-2015-12-18-38.jpg?w=1200

Ah yes the telescopic slider is the missing piece and looking at that part for sale online, a seller has specified the speed of the component.

Thanks for the glue tip as it sounds disastrous.

Yes those levers are low, but notice the word 'tourist' in the title.

The bars in the picture are very shallow and even have rubber grips at their ends. It looks as though these riders were planning to hold the ends of the bars rather than anywhere else. We can't see their gearing, but I suspect it is low.

This Gillott, by contrast, has deeper bars and gearing intended for road racing. I think its bottom gear is 46 x 22 (56.5"). Try climbing steep gradients on that without honking - that's when you need to hold on top of the brake lever hoods.

Fantastic bit of colour there, @clubman. Thanks.

Before and after. One day in.
In real colors the before was worse than it lools in the pic.

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Looks good stuff, ordered some.

I have found some more notes of setting up Simplex derailleurs.
They may been sent by Dawes-man

Great link thanks

Not much above £100 which for a complete bike in original order is a great deal IMO.

Tried the Evapo Rust on the derailleur spare parts and it's pretty amazing stuff

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Tried the Evapo Rust on the derailleur spare parts and it's pretty amazing stuff

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It is, isn't it!

I've bought some of the evaporust gel as well as I think it will work great on spokes.

As recommended

Absolutely @Big_Block very worthwhile top tip.
Have you tried the gel?

not the gel, just the liquid.
I use a variety of non-mechanical rust treatments depending on what component is needing treatment.
Electrolysis is much more impressive to watch. (my normal forum for posts)

I don't know how I came to do this, but I've just realised I've been mis-spelling Gillott in every post by omitting the final 't'. Since I care about these things I have now inserted the missing letter in all posts.

Adie Bell - thanks again @Rodolfo

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