Pause in the proceedings.....

Well, it's all got a bit much for me... Been struggling to keep up with content for both the Red Devil Motors blog and Vintage Bicycling since moving all bicycle content over to VB. I had thought that a cycle-centric blog would mean that I posted more treader content but in reality it has suffered.

So... for now bicycles move back to Red Devil Motors and Vintage Bicycling will experience a temporary pause in service.

In the meantime thanks for visiting Vintage Bicycling and please take a look at Red Devil Motors. If it is strictly bicycles only you are interested in just follow the bicycle tag on the RDM blog.

GT ZR4000 update

The problem with several projects on the go at once is that they all seem to take so long to finish. Never been much good on focussing on one at once...

Anyway, here's the GT ZR4000 shopping bike. All that is left is cable stops and toggle chain for the Sturmey five speed. I like the way it has worked out though now I look at it I fear it is a bit too small for me; rideable but the position is a bit more dropped than I was hoping for. Oh well, it'll be a good excuse for another project.

GT ZR4000, just some final tweaking left.

Front wheel looks strangely larger than the rear. It isn't.

New school Sturmey trigger and Dia-Compe levers.

Campagnolo Centaur dual pivot brakeset.

Chinese chain tensioner. Looks nice enough, weighs like it is
made from cast iron.

Nice pattern on the Shimano chain ring.

BSA Gold Vase project update

All parts to finish off the Beesa Gold Vase are now assembled. Having a spot of bother with a couple of components - the ebay buy chainset is warped and needs straightening, but it was cheap and came with a pair of pedals so I will forgive it. The Cyclo gear set appears to be largely knackered but hopefully there is nothing I can't overcome. The gear lever is well and truly seized up and the jockey wheels are very very wobbly.

There's definitely stuff needs tweaking and sorting, the mudguard line is pretty awful and cables need making up. Getting there though, hopefully back on the road in the next few weeks.  

Pedals and steam

Took my twenties girder frame out for a spin along the local trailway with the family just recently and came across these two beasts at the Shillingstone Railway Project. They're new arrivals and originally from Slovenia. Apparently the plan is to have at least one running soon with help from volunteers and there is some three miles of track to be laid. To find out more about the locomotives themselves visit the Project 62 site.

Girder frame bicycle and Class 62 USA type
tank locomotive from the former Yugoslavia
and now in Dorset.

The girder frame shows off alone.

Here's the second loco. A bit more of a project
than it's brother this one.

Tweaking the path racer

Can't help myself - been tweaking the 'mystery path racer' as featured a month or so back. The cycle was fitted with a homemade front brake lever. Idling time away browsing through the bay of E I came across rather a nice new old stock brake lever that would look far more the part. A fair price coughed up and a few days later it arrives. Needless to say not a straightforward easy fit - the diameter of the operating rod on the new lever was greater so the old anchor bolt and shaft on the stirrup had to be carefully bored out. It's on there now though and it does indeed look a treat.

I stumbled upon a nice early lightweight battery lamp in a local junk shop which is a 'Mandaw' brand item. I'd never heard of the brand before or seen a lamp like it but it is nicely complimentary to the cycle.

Finally there was the minor issue of a puncture. An easy fix and with inflated tyres I took it a spin. Where I live it is hilly. The path racer is a nice ride but it's got to be said there's not a lot of joy to be had trying to stamp around a high geared single speed track bike on hilly terrain charming as the cycle may look...

The path racer, still not sure of the brand.

Nice new old stock front brake lever.

'Mandaw' brand junk shop find early battery light.

And aforementioned light's new home.

And here it is from a different angle.

Shiny new ladies machine

Snap from a family album of someone's nice new ladies sports roadster. Good skills if you can recognise the make or model.

Shiny new fifties ladies frame sports roadster.

BSA Ladies All Weather project

At first look it might seem to be in a bit of a state but this mid twenties BSA All Weather Ladies model is in reality rather nice. The Beesa came my way just recently and the original intention was to break it down for parts as it has a rather desirable Sturmey Tri-Coaster hub and bar mounted barrel type changer. Now it is in my hands I realise that it would be rather criminal to bust it up for spares and the cycle shall be sympathetically restored.

The All Weather ladies and gents cycles were the top of the BSA range for a number of years. They were available with an Eadie coaster single speed hub or BSA three speed with rod rear brake. This machine has no rear brake lever fitted so would have been originally fitted with a coaster hub, the Tri-Coaster it now sports is a later addition but is quite complimentary. 

I cannot work out if the olive green colour is original paint or not. On a couple of components there is a trace of black underneath. I wonder if the colour was an option and if components weren't available in stock in bare metal or green then they would be over painted at the factory?

The BSA is a lovely quality mount with deeply valanced mudguards and steering lock. I have the original rims and it came with new spokes to rebuild. Once back together and with a new string skirt guard it will look lovely. The only part missing is the saddle.

BSA Ladies All Weather model. Looks a bit forlorn but all
there barring the saddle and ripe for a sypathetic resurrection.

Supplied with a coaster brake so just the one brake lever.

The reflector is a nice period accessory. The skirt guard needs
re-stringing!

Olive green in colour, the original finish? Note steering lock.

B55163. BSA cycles of the era are notoriously troublesome to
date by number. This one is mid twenties. The All Weather
models had a very long production run.