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Love the 'bars. Where can I get them?

I think these lugs are called 'Capella' They were used by Carlton, and Rotrax. Mike Compton. who was the head builder for Rotrax cut and modified a set for me. Just as a matter of interest, Mike built the last of the Thanet Silverlights.

It's a 5-arm, and yes, it's a hair under 70mm between the boltholes, multiply by 1.7 and it's within a whisker of 120mm. I did check - This time!

Sorry, it's 120BCD that I need

Has anyone got a Zeus Criterium or 2000 3/32" chainring. 42 tooth inner, or 51.52,53 or 54 tooth outer. 120 bcd. Last part needed to finish project. Telephone me on 01249 814071 or 07976 885316. or P.M. thanks.

Hi E.D., My cranks aren't the TA type. They are nearer to Campag dimensions with, I think 131mm pcd, I'm told it's the same fitting as Ofmega.

Has anyone got a 50-54tooth outer Zeus chainring in good nick?. PM and let me know.
thanks for reading this, cheers, Charlie

That frame is one of the rarest Hetchins ever to be made. It' a Cognicenti ( hope the spelling's right).

I think only four or five were made.

Claud Butler once built a gold plated track bike. Not only the frame, but the barrels on the Airlite hubs, the Chater Lea chainset, pedals and the metal parts of the Brooks saddle - all GOLD. He advertised that it had been built for the son of an oil shiek, and then had the bike photographed with a Pakistani kid who lived in the neighbourhood dressed up for the part . It's a true story, and the bike is now owned by a guy called Bob Ross, who bought it when it was advertised in Sporting Cyclist. Nobody else believed the story, so he got the whole bike for £150 in about 1990.

The reason that the MKM Ultimate looks similar to the Bespoke is that Steve Elseworth was a sort of partner of Norris Lockley. He was also a Partner in MKM with Ron Kitching and one of Britain's best builders

Norris at Bespoke builds some fabulous frames - eventually! I still think that Mike Harding's greatest achievement was to get Norris Lockley to actually finish a frame. I waited over two years and then had a hassle to get my deposit back.

PS. If anyone does buy it, I've a pair of Frejus forks. If your paying £350, the forks must be worth a ton.

That's a hell of a price for a 1950 Frejus with no original forks, and no head badge - and in need of a full renovation! I would expect to pay £350 for a very good example complete with acceptable paint, original headbadge, transfers and Frejus chainset - which came as standard with the frame. Also, I am not convinced that it is 531.

WTB Zeus chainset Criterium or 2000 any condition considered (dependent on price). May be interested in cranks on their own.

phone me on 01249 814071 or pm

I hope the irony was apparent in the multi-denominational bit. Loved the cards though !Keep up the humbug,
but merry christmas anyway.

Is it the right time to wish everybody on the forum a Happy Christmas - well, more a multi-denominational mid-winter celebration. Hope the booze is plentiful and have a great time. Especially as we're going to be broke in the new year.

No pasaran! All the best, charlie

Hand the forks into a plater, he will 'reverse plate' them. This removes the plating electrically.

The Viking SBU Tracker was an attempt at building a stiffer frame by dealing separately with the lateral and torsional stresses caused by the pedal action. If you look at the construction you will see that the bottom bracket is held in place from above, below, and in front by the seat and down tubes, thus dealing effectively with lateral stresses. Torsional flexing of the down tube is dealt with by the downward sloping chainstays which were fixed directly to the downtube. The first rider of the SBU was Tour of Britain winner Ian Steel. He told me that he rode the bike in hill climbs and found it quite effective.

I think that the design was a bit radical for 1953, and although I can believe that it did what it was meant to do, it did not offer enough real improvement in actual times. Add to that the fact that you could not ride it on the road sealed it's fate.

Hi,
The alloy frame is called a Caminargent. Made in France in the '30s. In racing fettle it weighed in at about 6 kilo. It was supplied in a box and you had to assemble it yourself using allen keys (I think). The tubes were hexagonal and the lugs formed the joins. It was very fragile and most of them broke. A Caminargent is one of the scarcest and most collectable of all 'unorthodox frames'.
MEGABUCKS to buy, if you can find one.

Having seen the bunches of flowers and the photographs of cyclists killed in my area (Wiltshire) I started to look for a helmet. Apart from making me look like a prat I couldn't see any difference from one make to the next. A Premier at £12.99 had the same 1078 certification as Bell and others up to £65. I then looked up some experts views, and they were all fairly damning.
From what I've been able to gather, the 1078 helmets sold in UK and Europe are not much better that a balaclava, and can't be guaranteed to save you even if you fall off a stationary bike on a deserted road.
The only exception seems to be the Specialized helmets which have the Snell Approved label. Snell standards are much higher than 1078. Maybe I'm being too fussy. Anybody got any strong feelings on the subject? I'd be glad of the advice.

You mean the Scots love fixed wheel. It leaves us more money for scotch!

I think that fixed wheel set-up is regarded as a rear brake. Having said that, my advice would be you can't have too much stopping power. Never mind the mutilated bodies and blood all over the place, think about the damage to your bike. With frames and parts costing as much as they do, a pair of brakes is cheap insurance. As for skidding to a stop, how much do you pay for tyres? Get real!

I agree with Boss Hogg. This is a good forum. Good natured good advice, and friendly support. I mentioned to my wife a couple of weeks ago that there did not seem to be any 'proper' classic cycle forums. She said that it was unlikely that anyone would want to read about 200 members stabbing each other in the back! Welcome to the best cycle forum Boss!

Dave Yates once told me a story about a very good friend of mine who sent a couple of frames down to be painted. The friend, whose identity I will not reveal is a great cyclist who thinks nothing of cycling 100 miles on a Sunday ride. His problem is that his wife does not like the amount he spends on his bike collection.Before the days when mobiles were commonplace, it was necessary for him to do all his negotiations by telephoning from a call box.The call in question was to discuss the colours for his frames. One of which was a classic Claude Butler USWB tandem (circa 1948), the other was a modern Brian Rourke track iron. As it was a long distance call, the 'phone required feeding as fast as he could push the money in, and he lost the connection more than once during the conversation. Suffice it to say that with the confusion caused by bad lines, cut-offs, and stopping passers-by for change showed itself in the finished job. My pal became the proud owner of a British Racing Green track bike, and a Fluorescent Pink Vintage Tandem.

Wow, how do I thank you guys for your encouragement. Don't get into London much as I live in Calne (Wiltshire) but just to let you all know that work on the bike has already commenced, and ten years shit is being removed from substandard paintwork and un-anodised Alesa rims. Stay mad!