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Post by simonb on Sept 13, 2014 21:00:47 GMT
Hello... Was lucky enough to receive a Viscount for my 14th birthday, 31 years ago next month. 12 speed, centre pull brakes.
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Post by simonb on Sept 13, 2014 21:07:18 GMT
My Viscount. Had it from new in 1984. Attachments:
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Jem
Viscount
?
Posts: 3,418 
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Post by Jem on Sept 14, 2014 5:58:58 GMT
Wow, you certainly looked after that one! Great condition. Thanks for posting up the photo.
I think a few of us on here are around your age and had one 'back in the day', but not many can claim to still have the same one.
I trashed mine, some had them stolen, but yours is looking tremendous!
What model is it? Have you kept it pretty much original?
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Post by simonb on Sept 14, 2014 7:23:56 GMT
I have never really known the model. 12-speed, centre-pull brakes. Original paint, saddle, wheels, bars, rack. Gears replaced at the back twice along with the chain.
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Post by simonb on Sept 14, 2014 16:35:38 GMT
Would be interested to hear if anyone has any model information.
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Jem
Viscount
?
Posts: 3,418
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Post by Jem on Sept 14, 2014 16:57:33 GMT
Hi Simon - Do you have any more photo's? Some others might get it just from that photo, but I can't see enough to say what it is.(if all components are original, maybe list them too?)
I can see the 3 brazed on cable guides on the top tube and that is has lugged joints, and see it has the '81 Triple British Champions sticker on it.
The other clue is the 12 speed....(is it Sakae SA crank/chainring?) I had an 18Ax that should have been 18 gears but was only 12 as the front chainring was only a double but the original owner swore that it came from the shop like that.
So it's not out on the question that it is an 18Ax....but to be honest I'm only having a guess.
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Post by simonb on Sept 14, 2014 18:37:54 GMT
Hi, I will take a load more in the week!
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Post by simonb on Sept 16, 2014 7:12:27 GMT
A few more shots of the old Viscount. |
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Post by simonb on Sept 16, 2014 7:13:42 GMT
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Post by cusqueno on Sept 16, 2014 13:23:51 GMT
Some nice components there - the SA stem, Showa rack and Mavic rims. The fluted seat stay makes it a later Aerospace frame - and you got it in 1983. If I read the date code on the chain ring correctly - GB (?) - that was made in 1982 (G) - in February (B); so that fits. I think the 18ax came with a Showa rack; but it had Deore cranks. Perhaps they randomly decided to fit Adamas ax to this one (or it was what they had to hand). This is the second generation of the short-lived Adamas ax chain set and was marketed apparently as a touring component. Quite nice but, as we have seen in another thread on this forum, they can be a pain to up-date or replace because of the special bottom bracket needed. The frame looks a lot like my 'Corsair Wayfarer' one. But yours doesn't have any model ID at all? I see you have an Altus front derailleur. What's the RD? and the hubs?
Best wishes
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Post by simonb on Sept 16, 2014 17:17:19 GMT
Wheels are 28in. Use 700c but they are hard to get on and off. Rack is original. Used to have plastic mudguards but the mounts corroded.
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Post by simonb on Sept 16, 2014 17:19:34 GMT
Rear derailleur is non original, replaced 15 years ago along with chain and cassette.
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Jem
Viscount
?
Posts: 3,418
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Post by Jem on Sept 16, 2014 17:39:01 GMT
I am going to put a small amount of money on it being an 18Ax . The SA stem, the Showa rack, the lug shapes,and the brazed cable guides are what I'm going on. (my 18ax deore has Mavic rims too) I think the 12 gears rather than 18 can be explained by reference to my other 18ax that had a double ring as yours from new. Maybe it was just another quite drastic parts shortage during the final death throes of Viscount? However, it does remind me of Foss's 'Biscuit' that I ,for a time, thought to be a Corsair Wayfairer. If you put this and Biscuit side by side, there would be a good few similarities. Ideally this is a job for Bustaste , he'd make short work of an identification. Sorry I can't give much more info Simon. here's my flickr set for comparison www.flickr.com/photos/21449750@N00/sets/72157633120344828/Note that mine is the 18ax Deore, so the whole component set would have been different to yours, but the frame and few extra like rack etc would have been the same |
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Post by simonb on Sept 16, 2014 18:23:34 GMT
That's great, thanks! Bike looks good, did you restore it yourself?
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Jem
Viscount
?
Posts: 3,418
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Post by Jem on Sept 16, 2014 19:58:38 GMT
That's great, thanks! Bike looks good, did you restore it yourself? Thanks It's 2 separate bikes in that photo album. I bought one, that lacked a few original parts and was a bit rough. Then not long after, another one appeared that had done virtually no miles. It was owned by a vicar. So I bought that one too, and it only needed a clean up and new tyres on it. The 'reserve' I have is in the process of becoming a 'town bike' , but due to lack of funds, has ground to a halt over the summer. |
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Post by simonb on Sept 16, 2014 21:51:32 GMT
The Vicar bike was a lucky find!
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Post by simonb on Sept 17, 2014 17:31:48 GMT
Frame detail with tubing sticker and the hubs are Schimano. Attachments:
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Post by simonb on Sept 17, 2014 17:32:24 GMT
Hub... Attachments:
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Post by simonb on Sept 17, 2014 17:43:11 GMT
Hub Attachments:
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Jem
Viscount
?
Posts: 3,418
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Post by Jem on Sept 18, 2014 5:49:16 GMT
I'm edging even more toward the 18ax now Simon.
Cusqueno might have the spec sheet/advert for it somewhere on this forum or on his Flickr set.
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Post by simonb on Sept 18, 2014 6:05:02 GMT
Nice one, thanks.
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Post by dracco on Sept 18, 2014 12:33:13 GMT
Hi Simonb, Snap! This looks exactly like mine (see the photos in the "lurkers" thread in the Welcome section). Same colour, same stickers, same centre-pull brakes, same crankset (Shimano Adamas, mounted on a Selecta bottom bracket) but a different front derailleur (Shimano 600, but the rear derailleur is Shimano Altus), same Sturmey-Archer stem, and also a 12-speed, with the cassette mounted on this - a Shimano Uniglide freehub (a bit of a pain when it comes to servicing the bearings, as it contains an asymmetric pair of bearing cones - one short and one long):  |
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Post by simonb on Sept 18, 2014 14:23:08 GMT
Wow, have never seen an identical Viscount. Do you have a shot of the bike?
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Post by simonb on Sept 18, 2014 14:24:42 GMT
Will check out the lurker pics!
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Jem
Viscount
?
Posts: 3,418
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Post by Jem on Sept 18, 2014 20:27:31 GMT
Here they are , side by side. Looks like they are the same model. So, did Viscount never make a 'Corsair Wayfairer' decal? Or was it just so long a name, it peeled off easily and blew away?   |
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Post by simonb on Sept 18, 2014 21:04:24 GMT
The decal on the downtube is at a different angle. Mine is more forward facing. Funny that they never had a model name decal.
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Post by dracco on Sept 19, 2014 11:52:18 GMT
I doubt if the model name peeled off. I've been removing the decals from mine, prior to sending it off for powder coating (after which it will no longer be a twin of simonb's). This has left a particularly recalcitrant adhesive residue behind, so I don't see these things simply blowing away in the wind! The Decal on my seat tube is forward facing: it's just that it is a "double-decal" with "VISCOUNT" on either side of "MADE IN ENGLAND"  |
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Post by dracco on Sept 19, 2014 12:15:19 GMT
I doubt if the model name peeled off. I've been removing the decals from mine, prior to sending it off for powder coating (after which it will no longer be a twin of simonb's). This has left a particularly recalcitrant adhesive residue behind, so I don't see these things simply blowing away in the wind!  Incidentally, in dismantling everything, I was able to take a closer look at the badge stuck directly underneath the saddle.  This identifies the shop that originally sold this bike to its first owner. It was pretty difficult to decipher, but it appears to be that of Partingtons Cycles – a bike shop in Bolton that may no longer be in existence (but maybe one of our Lancastrian members knows differently). This shop was a sponsor of the Horwich Cycle Club – a large race club in the North-West - and specialised in building and prepping race bikes. One of their former mechanics – Mark Ingham – subsequently became one of the GB cycle team mechanics, preparing the bikes for Chris Hoy and Jason Kenny at the Beijing Olympics. There's a link to a story in the local newspaper here . I took a Google streetview stroll down Great Moor Street - Partington's last registered address - to find a rather down-at-heel neighbourhood withd a number of charity shops and boarded up premises, so I can only assume that they are no longer trading. Edit: Apologies for the double-post: my computer gave me an erroneous error message! |
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Post by simonb on Sept 19, 2014 14:22:19 GMT
Actually, I think my downtube is the same. Mine was new from a shop in Broadstairs.
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Post by simonb on Sept 19, 2014 14:32:15 GMT
There was never any model name decal.
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