Lion Bellworks

Recently I came across some vintage bicycle bells from Lion Bellworks in England. These retro bells are just beautiful!!

They are made from high quality materials that will last for years. There are two versions, one version has an unlacquered brass finish and the other has a polished chrome finish. Each bell comes in a very nice calico bag.

I have pictured the unlacquered brass version above. The bells are 55mm in diameter and the striker mechanism is made of chrome and stainless steel.

There are two options for fitting these beautiful bells to your bicycle. One fitting is a standard handlebar mount and the other is for a standard one inch (quill type) headset. Both fittings are beautifully made from stainless steel.

The real feature of this bell, apart from its good looks and beautiful sound, is that it is made in "England". It has the words "Lion England" stamped into the top of the bell as pictured. As a bell ages and a natural patina develops this feature will look fantastic.

"Lion England" logo.

This  is also fantastic for restorers of vintage English bicycles as it adds to the British feel of the bike. I have noticed that other similar styled brass bells that adorn vintage bikes are Japanese made...and are not quite the real deal!



Standard handlebar fitting.



Fitting for standard one inch headset.



These bells have a superior tone to any other bell I've had. It's a crisp tone that can be heard for miles....pedestrians will be in no doubt that you're on the way! Please have a listen....

The bells are available at http://www.lionbellworks.co.uk/  Please have a look at their site where you can purchase the bells for a great price online. Feel free to contact John from Lion Bellworks regarding any inquiries at sales@lionbellworks.co.uk

I have mounted a Lion Bell to my Pashley Guv'nor. The Lion Bell is bigger and sounds far better than the bell that originally came on the bike. It would not surprise me if Pashley started fitting English crafted Lion Bells to their bicycles as standard in the near future. 



Until next time...safe riding.

James

Vintage Brooks B17 Champion Sprinter Saddle

As you can see from my previous posts I'm a big fan of Brooks (England) leather saddles. I particularly like the combination of leather and steel in any bicycle saddle. I also like how they can last a lifetime if they are treated well, and in lasting for so long the older vintage leather saddles also carry with them a bit of history too. 

I recently came across an old Brooks B17 Champion Sprinter saddle. It's a beautiful saddle and a rare find in Australia. It's been well cared for and barely used as evidenced by its excellent condition. Here is the saddle below...

The saddle measures 280mm in length and is 110mm at its widest point toward the rear. It has a black enamelled steel frame and rails that have lost only a little enamel. The rails are fitted with the original chromed seatpost clamp. The metal frame underneath the saddle has no stampings or markings on it of any kind.

It has 3 steel rivets at the front of the saddle and 6 at the rear. The leather has a beautifully aged patina and carries a couple of small nicks and abrasions, it is mostly brown in color with a darker brown showing in places where the proofhide has soaked through the thickness of the saddle.

The leather is 4mm thick and the sides of the saddle are both stamped with the circular Brooks logo that reads "MADE IN GREAT BRITAIN....BROOKS....CHAMPION B17 SPRINTER" as can be seen in the first photograph.

On the underside of the saddle is a date code of some type that has been branded into the leather. Each letter is about 10mm in height and black in colour. Here is the code:              

                                                        A P

                                                        I  A

                                                        2  1

At this point I have not been able to decipher the code and would welcome any thoughts that may solve the mystery! It's the old style of coding and due to the company changing ownership over the years I understand that Brooks no longer have the information available to decipher the codes. 

The rear name plate is fantastic. Its made from brass and is held to the leather by small copper rivets. It has lost a little of its paint which is consistant with its age. 

I've done a little research on the saddle and based on the styling of the name plate and the oval shaped Brooks logo on the side of the saddle I would imagine that this saddle was manufactured in the early 1950's, however I would be happy to be corrected.

I have had a browse through the various Brooks catalogues and found the first mention of a Brooks B17 Champion Sprinter model was in the 1925 catalogue as below:

All catalogues that I have seen from 1925 to 1957 carry the "Sprinter" model. Unfortunately the illustrations of the B17 Sprinter model in the various catalogues are all very average. The 1957 catalogue also carries an image of the Sprinter model, however this image is of a model more 'modern' than the one I have pictured. The extracts from the 1957 Brooks catalogue are below:

If you have a vintage Brooks B17 Champion Sprinter saddle please email to me any images of your saddle that I can add to another post in the near future. Any date code assistance for older Brooks saddles would also be appreciated ....

Until then, safe riding.

James

Carradice Zipped Roll

I've been going on some longer rides recently and found that my normal saddle bag was just a little too small.

I normally carry one of the middle sized Topeak saddlebags that are well designed and very good, but they only carry the bare basics.....being a couple of spare tubes, a small multi tool, tyre levers, a rear light, and some cash.

I wanted a saddle bag that would carry a little bit more without being too ugly or too big. Apart from the basics I wanted a saddlebag that would also fit a foldable spare 700C tyre, a small first aid kit, and some snacks.

After looking in bike shops and on the internet I spyed the Carradice range of saddlebags. They are made from a waterproofed heavy cotton duck fabric that is very durable. In particular I saw the "Carradice Zipped Roll" saddlebag pictured below. This saddlebag was the perfect size for my needs!

  



The black version with white leather straps.







The green version with honey leather straps.



These saddlebags are fantastic for many reasons:

They fit to saddles or handlebars with 3 sumptuous leather straps - two for the saddle loops or  handlebar and one to go around the seatpost or stem.

2 litre capacity.

The main enclosure is zipped - very secure - with a pre-stud flap over the top to keep out the rain.

They are made from bulletproof heavy cotton duck fabric which is waterproof.

Has a reflective logo for extra visibility in the dark.

14cm cm diameter x 30cm wide

Weight 310g

Carradice have been making cycle bags for 70 years so they've had plenty of time to get this bag right....

I bought a black version that fitted the colour schemes of the bikes I have, although the green version is just as nice. I got mine from a bicycle store in the UK and had it shipped to my front door for about AU$50....so it was really good value too!

The leather strapping is very nice, the leather is very thick and will last for ever! The thick cotton waterproofed fabric is very robust and will also last a lifetime. The metal Carradice badge on the top of the bag is a really good finish to a great product.

Here are some images of the Carradice Zipped Roll on my road bike.

Having ridden with the bag on a couple of longer rides I've found that the bag is perfect. It's a little bit bigger, so I can carry the extra items I mentioned with ease. It's a durable bag that is easy to open, and looks great.

The only drawback with the saddlebag is that the saddle must have saddlebag loops. This is OK for me because I have Brooks saddles on my bikes, and all of the Brooks saddles have the loops that are needed. But don't despair......Carradice have got this covered!

For a little extra you can buy a pair of Cyclo saddlebag loops that simply bolt onto the seat rail on the underside of any saddle. Here is a pic below...

The loops are lightweight, look good, and are easy to fit to any saddle.

I'm very happy with the Carradice Zipped Roll....a little bit bigger, a little bit better, easy to use and very stylish! The perfect choice for your vintage bike or your modern road bike. There is more info at http://www.carradice.co.uk/ where you can see the large range of Carradice products for sale.

Until next time....safe riding.

James

My 1972 Raleigh Super Course - Part 2

I've finally finished building my 1972 Raleigh Super Course!! It's taken a while but it's all together now and is running like clockwork.

After looking at the factory specs from a 1972 Raleigh catalogue I obtained most of the manufacturers original equipment as NOS (new old stock) parts through eBay. I did, however, make a slight deviation from the original specs when it came to the gearing system. I wanted something more reliable than the original Simplex 10 speed system that is clunky at best. 

Although not original, I chose to use another Shimano 600 'Arabesque' groupset for this bike. It's a fantastic early 1980's groupset that I've had success with on other builds. Although it's a 30 year old groupset it's smooth, reliable, stylish, and the parts are still relatively easy to obtain. It's easy to fit and adjust and compliments any build with it's good looks. 

To be true to the original specs I tried retaining the original chromed steel Stronglight cranks and chainwheels. I paired them with the Shimano Arabesque front and rear derailleurs but the chromed cranks and chainrings did not drive the chain accurately enough. The 52T chainwheel moved about a fair bit (laterally) and was not ideally suited to the Arabesque front derailleur so I had to remove the original Stronglight cranks and replaced them with an Arabesque equivalent. 

Here are some pics of the build....  



Drive side view.



Weinmann Vainqueur 750 centre pull front brake.

Carlton chromed fork lugs and original Carlton decal.

A 1970's Brooks B17 Champion Narrow saddle.

Weinmann Vainqueur 750 centre pull rear brake.



Nervex lugs and Carlton seat bolt.

 

Weinmann brake levers with white rubber hoods.





GB stem and Sakae Royal (England) handlebars - 42 cm width.



Shimano 600 "Arabesque' rear derailleur.

Shimano 600 "Arabesque" front derailleur.





Brooks saddle with a Brooks 'Made in England' saddle clamp.

Panasonic Panaracer Pasela tan wall tyres.



Weinmann Vainqueur brakes - as smooth as silk!



The coffee coloured paint work in the winter sun.

The bike has 27 x 1 1/4 Velocity aluminium boxed rims that are laced to Shimano 600 hubs, both front and rear. I've fitted those fantastic Panasonic Panaracer Pasela tan walled tyres.....althought they are hard to source in Australia they are very nice tyres and well worth the effort no matter where you live.

After initial adjustments to the brakes and gearing systems the bike now runs beautifully. I have taken it on a couple of group rides already and had no problems keeping up with the other riders. Although the bike is quite heavy it is still a pleasure to ride. The Reynolds 531 tubing is very smooth and absorbs most of the impact from uneven road surfaces. 

I am very surprised with the efficiency of the Weinmann Vainqueur 999 centre pull brakes. It was a bit difficult adjusting them correctly at first, but once adjusted they work really well. Their braking capabilities are very sure and predictable. When softer rubber pads are fitted they also stop well in the wet.....very impressive!!

I have some holidays now and so I am looking forward to clocking up a few miles on the Super Course.

Until next time, ride safe.

James

Bikeville.com - the art of losing customers.

- BIKEVILLE.COM -

- BUYER  BEWARE -

The following is my review of an internet vintage bicycle parts store called Bikeville.com.

It appears that the site is run by "Ralph" from the Via Bicycle shop which is located in South Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

I am going to share with you my personal experience with the Via Bicycle shop and will let you judge for yourself whether or not they deserve your custom. Before I start this post I'll quickly grab a coffee to calm my nerves! 

Coffee to calm the nerves!

I recently acquired a 1972 Raleigh Super Course frame and set about collecting the parts to build the bike. Nice frame, nice bike - great project. I had a look at the original Raleigh specs from the 1972 Raleigh catalogue and tried to collect original parts for the build where I could.

When it came to the braking system I learnt that the original 1972 Super Course was equipped with a set of Weinmann Vainqueur 999 centre-pull brakes....so off I went searching for a set. I could get NOS (new old stock) sets on eBay but generally the sets did not come complete with hangers or original Weinmann brake lever hoods.

So I set about exploring other vintage bike part stores on-line and came across Bikeville.com (Via Bicycle store). I searched their vintage bicycle parts and located the set I was after. The set pictured on the site had the hangers and the brake levers had Weinmann hoods, all was good!

The advertised Weinmann Vainqueur 999 brake set.

The advertised price was US125.00, which was fairly expensive.........but the hoods looked good and all the bits and pieces were there, so I was happy to pay this amount to get all of the items in one package. 

....so on Feb 15, 2012, I emailed Bikeville.com via the link on their web page and asked to purchase the Weinmann brake set and inquired what the cost of shipping to Perth, Western Australia, would be.

On Feb 16, 2012, I received invoice number 201227 from Ralph at Via Bicycle. Great service I thought, very efficient - a reply within 24 hours!

The invoice indicated that they had a set and that shipping would be US25.00, so I paid the invoice for a total of US150.00 by Paypal for the items to be sent to Perth.

Paying by Paypal is great, very easy, very safe, and the merchant does not receive your credit card details, etc, etc......and after any transaction, all involved in the transaction receive an email indicating the transaction is complete, so I was happy that Via Bicycle had received the money and was aware that payment had been made.

On March 6, 2012 (after three weeks of making payment) I had not received advice from Via Bicycle that the item had been posted (shipped) so I emailed them to confirm if they had received my payment of US150.00.

....and so in response, good old Ralph from Via Bicycle replied:

          Hi there,
          I must have missed that it was paid for, sorry. I will get it out today.
          Sorry again for the delay.
          Ralph

No problems, I thought....Ralph was busy doing other bike things, it slipped his mind but he's on to it now.

So I waited for the package to arrive, and waited, and waited!! Nothing received.

On April 19, 2012, (eight weeks after making payment) I emailed Ralph at Via Bicyle to see how things were going. He forgot once, maybe he had forgotten again! It was a polite email asking how the item was sent so I could gauge how much longer it might take to get to Perth.

....but by this stage I was really thinking.......was it posted via airmail, surface mail, via the moon, or squeezed into a bottle and thrown into the nearest ocean! By the way the nearest ocean to Philadelphia is the North Atlantic Ocean which is about a 100km drive, so I quickly discounted this option! 

After emailing Ralph on April 19, 2012, I did not get a response.

....so I emailed a Ralph again on May 2, May 7, May 11, May 14, May 17, and May 23, 2012. All emails were polite as I thought I would give Ralph a fair chance to respond. I could see that the website was still active as there had been products updated on May 3, 2012, however, I did not receive any response.

So there you have it, it's now May 31, 2012, (14 weeks after making payment) and I haven't had any response from Ralph at all, and I certainly haven't received my brakeset!

Firstly, I hope that Ralph and his family are all in good health. If this is the problem I accept the delay and have no complaints. I will also be understanding if Ralph has closed his store or if ownership or management has changed.

So now you've learnt of my experience.....would you purchase vintage bicycle parts from Ralph at Bikeville.com??

This is a typical internet purchase gone wrong. The buyer is genuine, but the seller is not so genuine. The seller knows that the buyer is too far away to take any action and so pockets the cash without fear of reprisal. Emails from the buyer to resolve the issue are ignored and so......the problem goes away.

Thanks for your help Ralph!

Until next time, ride safe.

James

 

UPDATE: February 2013.

On February 15, 2013, I was lucky enough to receive an email from Ralph who apologised for overlooking the sale. Ralph kindly refunded the outstanding amount to my Paypal account. Thanks Ralph, all is forgiven.

Regards,

James.

Rene Herse vintage bicycles.

Rene Herse was a French bicycle builder who was born in Paris in 1913. Herse constructed his own hand-built bicycles in France prior to the second world war and beyond.

Known as "constructeurs", French bicycle manufacturers hand-built their own beautifully crafted frames and bicycle components. Their bicycles were magnificent - each a work of art in itself. Each component was lovingly designed and hand crafted with magnificent French engineering and styling.

Herse was one of the outstanding French "constructeurs" and was always associated with the pinnacle of French cycling from the 1940's until his death in 1976. 

I recently rode in the Fremantle Tweed Run and spotted a Rene Herse bicycle. Although it wasn't a show piece, the owner was very proud to have such a bicycle. I would have loved to own it too!!

He told me that he had bought the frame in France whilst on holidays some years ago and on his return to Perth, Western Australia, lovingly assembled the bike with Rene Herse and other French components over an extended period of time.

Here is his build:



The Rene Herse bicycle with randonneur touring handlebars.



A beautifully crafted French stem, typical insertion size of 22.0mm.

 



An "Ideale" brand derallium saddle.

  

Beautiful high flange hubs with brass wing nuts.

 

Very neat front derailleur with chain guard.

He has definitely captured the Rene Herse feel!! From my study of the components I think that this bike is possibly from the 1950's - but I'd like to be corrected on this if need be. The bike is fantastic - and even better in the flesh.

Vintage French bicycles are unusual. This is mainly because the many threaded components used to construct the bicycles have different thread ratios (tpi - threads per inch) to those of vintage English bicycles. Some of the French sizings are also awkward. For instance.....the Britsh standard for the diameter of a quilled stem (insertion measurement) is 22.2mm, however the French went with a 22.0mm insertion size as standard. Pedal thread ratios are also quite different. 

Old Australian bicycle components tended to carry British thread ratios, so locating French threaded bicycle components in Australia was, until recently, very difficult. 

Amazingly, vintage French threaded bicycle components are now easily accessible through internet auction sites - eBay, etc, so finding the parts for such a build in Australia is now not so difficult.

Coincidentally, after spying the Rene Herse bike I came across a fantastic book called "The Golden Age of Handbuilt Bicycles". The book is brilliant and records the history of French hand-built bicycles from 1910 to modern times. The photography in this book is amazing and features several outstanding Rene Herse bicycles.

The book is well worth buying if you can get hold of a copy! I've taken the liberty of showing images of the book below....



Magnifique!!



Until next time, safe riding.

James