Post by nev65 on Jun 23, 2020 12:23:30 GMT
Good Afternoon Everybody, I signed up to the Forum a couple of weeks ago and i wanted to introduce myself. Congratulations on amassing such an impressive wealth of information on these bikes. I have spent the last couple of weeks reading about your knowledge and experience and it has been very useful indeed.
My name is Nev, i am based in Southampton in the UK and my interest in Viscount Bicycles started as a child when i was bought a 5 speed Viscount Nevada as a birthday present. I loved that bike, and still have many fond memories of long summer days spent in the saddle. Sadly i outgrew the bike and i think it was given away at that point.
However, some years ago i came across the exact same bike ( with a larger frame) in the same colour on Ebay. I bought it with every good intent to get it back on the road and it has languished in my shed until now.
The Covid 19 situation has given me the opportunity to dust off this bike and try to put it back on the road. Over the next couple of months i want to try and sympathetically restore the Nevada, and show you photos as i get it back to a roadworthy condition. I have not refurbished a bike for many years, and so the information contained within this forum is very well received indeed.
The bike still retains its original Suntour Love rear derailleur from 1978 and it's in remarkably good condition for a 42 year old component. The derailleur itself is tiny and can be held in the palm of the hand. I understand that it was one of Suntour's lower end derailleurs and was primarily designed for 4 or 5 speed gears on children's bikes.
That said, the Nevada had a 14-28 tooth rear freewheel and from memory the derailleur always gave flawless shifting. Perhaps it is testimony to the manufacturer that the component itself still remains in such good condition. Certainly I am going to retain this with the Suntour Perfect freewheel ( also in remarkably good condition) and put them back onto the bike.
When i was a child, i was not interested so much in the provenance of the bike or of its components. However, having taken everything off the bike over the last week, it is unashamedly Taiwanese. The Steel wheels are Femco ( Taiwanese) the crankset is JJS ( Taiwanese) and the caliper brakes are Star. The seatpost, stem and handlebars are all steel and unbranded - but they all appear to be original and the components still work pretty much as they were meant to - although they are very old and tired.
The Hi-tensile frame and forks are a bright orange - same as my original bike in 1978, but it looks at though the frame has been chipped in many places. It would probably merit a complete respray to be honest. However, i would struggle to get replacement decals for this less popular model and i will try and make do with touch-up paint for the time being.
Have i understood correctly that as far as frame colours were concerned, Viscount tended to use standard RAL number colours for their frames? if so there is some hope, otherwise i may have to go see a custom paint blender.
Anyhow i am grateful to know that there is such a wealth of information out there amongst the other forum members. I look forward to sharing with you my pictures when it starts to come together and to putting this bike back on the road - where it belongs.
I will use this restoration as a practice run. I have another Viscount bike which will need restoring after that. All i know is that it is an Aerospace Frame with a chrome steel fork. However the bike has a tourney GS rear derailleur ( date to be determined) and a Shimano 50 front derailleur. Reading deep into past posts on here, i see that the same combination has been previously identified on some members Aerospace models, but i am not sure if it was built this way or has been a later modification.
However i shall post some pictures of the Aerospace framed bike when i've worked out how to do that, and let more knowledgeable members of the forum suggest what it might be.
Best Wishes,
Nev
My name is Nev, i am based in Southampton in the UK and my interest in Viscount Bicycles started as a child when i was bought a 5 speed Viscount Nevada as a birthday present. I loved that bike, and still have many fond memories of long summer days spent in the saddle. Sadly i outgrew the bike and i think it was given away at that point.
However, some years ago i came across the exact same bike ( with a larger frame) in the same colour on Ebay. I bought it with every good intent to get it back on the road and it has languished in my shed until now.
The Covid 19 situation has given me the opportunity to dust off this bike and try to put it back on the road. Over the next couple of months i want to try and sympathetically restore the Nevada, and show you photos as i get it back to a roadworthy condition. I have not refurbished a bike for many years, and so the information contained within this forum is very well received indeed.
The bike still retains its original Suntour Love rear derailleur from 1978 and it's in remarkably good condition for a 42 year old component. The derailleur itself is tiny and can be held in the palm of the hand. I understand that it was one of Suntour's lower end derailleurs and was primarily designed for 4 or 5 speed gears on children's bikes.
That said, the Nevada had a 14-28 tooth rear freewheel and from memory the derailleur always gave flawless shifting. Perhaps it is testimony to the manufacturer that the component itself still remains in such good condition. Certainly I am going to retain this with the Suntour Perfect freewheel ( also in remarkably good condition) and put them back onto the bike.
When i was a child, i was not interested so much in the provenance of the bike or of its components. However, having taken everything off the bike over the last week, it is unashamedly Taiwanese. The Steel wheels are Femco ( Taiwanese) the crankset is JJS ( Taiwanese) and the caliper brakes are Star. The seatpost, stem and handlebars are all steel and unbranded - but they all appear to be original and the components still work pretty much as they were meant to - although they are very old and tired.
The Hi-tensile frame and forks are a bright orange - same as my original bike in 1978, but it looks at though the frame has been chipped in many places. It would probably merit a complete respray to be honest. However, i would struggle to get replacement decals for this less popular model and i will try and make do with touch-up paint for the time being.
Have i understood correctly that as far as frame colours were concerned, Viscount tended to use standard RAL number colours for their frames? if so there is some hope, otherwise i may have to go see a custom paint blender.
Anyhow i am grateful to know that there is such a wealth of information out there amongst the other forum members. I look forward to sharing with you my pictures when it starts to come together and to putting this bike back on the road - where it belongs.
I will use this restoration as a practice run. I have another Viscount bike which will need restoring after that. All i know is that it is an Aerospace Frame with a chrome steel fork. However the bike has a tourney GS rear derailleur ( date to be determined) and a Shimano 50 front derailleur. Reading deep into past posts on here, i see that the same combination has been previously identified on some members Aerospace models, but i am not sure if it was built this way or has been a later modification.
However i shall post some pictures of the Aerospace framed bike when i've worked out how to do that, and let more knowledgeable members of the forum suggest what it might be.
Best Wishes,
Nev
