Sun Manxman finished

The last few parts finally arrived for the Sun Manxman and it was time for the finishing touches.

I'm very pleased with the way it has turned out, not 100% period correct but fairly close. Everything works as it should and the ride is comfortable with a nice direct lively feeling. The gear change is somewhat wanting but with the long route of the cable run via the Campagnolo bar end levers to the sixties changers this shouldn't be a surprise. The 'matchbox' type front changer lives up to its reputation of being particularly woeful.

The drive train threw up a couple of last minute surprises; the cages of the Raleigh branded pedals clashed with the crank arms. Strange. Solved by adding a packing washer on each side. The inner chainwheel is a very tight clearance to the frame. Careful fitting ensured it doesn't rub but possibly I need to source a packing washer to fit beneath the right hand bracket cup to push it out slightly.

A couple of recommendations for a vintage build. The chain is a Clarks Anti-Rust, cheap as chips and ideal for an older cycle. The mudguards are unbranded plain black from ebay. £20 the pair and they look period. 

The Sun will be a summer ride, the chrome work on the stays and forks is delicate. So 'till next year it is destined to be wall art. 

Sun Manxman project

The Sun Manxman is slowly progressing. A few finishing touches and it will be ready for the road. (Previous update on the Red Devil Motors blog).

Nearly there.... It took a while to find a suitable double
cottered chainset.

A new old stock Brooks B17 has been found.

Love the engraving on the GB bars.

Campag bar end levers took a while to find at a reasonable
price. These ones came over from the US. Brooks bar tape
is quite pricey but really finishes off a build nicely.

New Campag downtube cable stops aren't period correct but
are unobtrusive. A bit disappointed to find out when they
arrived that they are plastic.

GB Sport brake set

The regular fleabay trawl has turned up a nice period set of GB brakes for the Sun Manxman project. The calipers are 'Sport' and the levers are 'Arret' models. The set is ideal for the Manxman, correct period, quality, functional and long reach. A curiosity about the levers is that instead of the usual small circular GB logo they have an image of a Lincoln Imp. I wonder if these levers were originally from an Elswick Lincoln Imp? The logo is identical, if anyone out there knows please comment.

Purely coincidentally the last project completed in the shed was an Elswick Lincoln Imp.

GB Sport front brake on Sun Manxman.

GB Arret brake lever with Lincoln Imp logo.

Compare with the Elswick Lincoln Imp logo. Identical?