Aerospace International 'Special' | Viscount & Lambert Bikes

sprockit
Viscount

Posts: 366

Aerospace International 'Special' Mar 23, 2015 0:45:38 GMT

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Post by sprockit on Mar 23, 2015 0:45:38 GMT

Eagle-eyed Whippet saw this bike on Gumtree just after DFR1 and flagged it up.

It looks very similar to these frames over on the CTC Forum (top of page 44):

forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=21010&sid=de0e835b61cdf2ea736ced4a793cf81e&start=645

Drive side

Non Drive Side

The milestone is a canal-related one (and one of only four known) on the Rochdale Canal, and indicates Sowerby Bridge 10 miles, Manchester 22 miles.

Front Derailleur

Note the V stamped before Lambert - indicating Viscount-Lambert?

Rear Derailleur

A budget Simplex mechanism.

Front Hub by Lambert

Note the series of V stamps around the hub.

Front hub is quick release with a 100mm dropout.

Rear hub is non-quick release and has a 120mm dropout - but the rear hub and rim are not original, they are 'Made in Germany'.

Some Viscount models had QR for the front hub only, so it's anybody's guess whether the configuration on this bike is original, although the pictures that Busaste posted on the CTC Forum show a QR rear hub on that machine.

Fork Crown

It looks as though the V has been specially machined into the crown top.

Downtube Transfer (Decal)

Originality and patina by the bucketload!

Top Tube right hand side

Note lettering is black with silver outline.

Top Tube left hand side

Note lettering on left is silver with black outline.

Frame size is 23 1/2 inches.

This is the bike I'm hoping to ride at Eroica - if I can sneak the QR front hub past the Eroica police!!

Last Edit: Jul 20, 2015 21:57:18 GMT by sprockit

Jem
Viscount

?

Posts: 3,389

Aerospace International 'Special' Mar 26, 2015 6:34:40 GMT

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Post by Jem on Mar 26, 2015 6:34:40 GMT

It's an unusual one, this - it's historically interesting and a bit like a 'missing link' in the Lambert/Trusty Viscount line? Not common either...

The decals/fonts give it a feeling of not quite being sure what it is...partly 70's big bold in your face upper case font and then that hark back to earlier times with the 'hand writing' font for the 'special'. Both really nice in their own right.

These are great photo's for others to reference. I might have asked before but what camera do you use?

sprockit
Viscount

Posts: 366

Aerospace International 'Special' Mar 27, 2015 0:47:17 GMT

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Post by sprockit on Mar 27, 2015 0:47:17 GMT

Camera is a Nikon L28. (It's a replacement for a similar L26 that I lost as I set off to DFR1!)

It's a compact point and shoot, and has more adjustments on it than I'll ever use.

Having used Pentax Spotmatic and K1000 for many years I thought I'd try a Nikon. Overall I'm very happy with the results I get, although there are one or two little niggles - usual scenario of not being able to see the screen image in bright sunlight, and the autofocus has a mind of it's own! I just take loads of images and then delete the fuzzy ones.

Biggest advantage for me though, and the main reason I chose it, is that it uses two AA batteries - so instead of being unable to use the camera for the rest of the day and until the battery has had an overnight charge, I can instantly slip in another couple of batteries and resume snapping when the batteries die.

20 megapixies of an image is handy as well.

Most of the pictures above show the bike a deeper red than it really is because I used the exposure compensation feature to stop the highlight areas whiting out in the bright sunlight. The true colour of the bike is shown in the downtube and fork crown shots, although it does vary slightly from one part of the bike to another, probably due to pigment fade, partial re-spraying, or a combination of both.

I was lucky to get the bike. Kev flagged it up - but he lives ten times the distance away compared to me, so after due consultation with him I went to see it. Something about the bike felt very right as soon as I set off on the test ride, so even though the FD cable slipped out, I had no hesitation in handing over the cash.

It came as a bit of a surprise a couple of weeks ago when idly browsing the CTC Forum that I found Timbertron's posts and Busaste's replies - and only Steve can give any sort of fully-informed opinion as to the likely origin of the bike.

I love the originality of this bike, and over 40-odd years it has acquired that certain age-related patina that a restoration would destroy, so I'll keep the bike just as it is. I'll take advice about the back wheel, which I don't think is original, with a view to eventually replacing it with one which has a Birmalux rim laced up to a Q/R Lambert hub.

Whenever I think about going out for a ride, this is the bike that is at the top of the 'preferred' list, and is my most-used leisure-riding (as opposed to commuting) bike since I bought it.

The Sprint and the Sport haven't had much of a look in over the winter months, but if this bike has the provenance that the Timbertron/Busaste exchanges suggest it might have, maybe I should use it more sparingly.