Coventry Eagle 1959

Here's the front page from the 1959 Coventry Eagle brochure. The way it folds out makes it hard to scan but the cover is worth posting for the cheesey fifties celebrity endorsement!

1990 Alan frame

My cycle projects to date have been machines from before my time. This one though is a big nostalgia trip. A cycle that was too exotic for my teenage pocket but which I now don't really have the fitness to do justice to!

As purchased the Alan was a bare frame with Campag bottom bracket and headset. The plan is to build it up fully Campaged out with Cinelli bars and stem and Rolls saddle, all representing the best of what was around at the time. I'm hoping for some delta brakes but am currently baulking at the price, perhaps Monoplaners will do.

The late eighties / early nineties componentry represents for me Campagnolo at the peak of their powers. The manufacture and finish of each piece is exquisite, anyone who takes any interest in engineering cannot fail but to be moved by their beauty. The period was a time when metallurgy was highly advanced but price was not squeezed so heavily by the competition of mass production techniques. Components are polished to a mirror finish rather than annodized and the logo is etched rather than printed. Poetry!

So far I've sourced a pair of wheels with Croce D'Aune hubs and Graphite rims, a front mech and new old stock levers. This build is going to take a while, gonna have to spread the cost to take the pain away! 

1990 Alan frameset. Hard to photograph, so very shiny!

Sheer beauty. Campagnolo Triomphe new old stock friction
levers.

Croce D'Aune hubs.

Triomphe braze on front mech.

The Alan aero top tube. Not too sure why they did this. Looks
good though.

Blandford Cycling Club

Here's an ebay find that I paid too much for. Couldn't resist as Blandford Forum in Dorset is my home town and I had never heard of the Cycle Club before. Had a search on google and I can't find anything out. Is there anyone reading who can elaborate? I guess it was just one of the thousands of small town clubs that existed back in the day.

Blandford Cycling Club enamel badge. 1920s?

VAR Depose third hand brake tool

I used to use one of these every day back when I worked with Jack Hearne Cycles. Brilliant tool, so much better than the more recent dodgy sprung wire ones. Thus I was pretty stoked when I saw this one come up on ebay and picked it up for a song. One of the most useful cycle workshop tools, do yourself a favour and seek one out for yourself.

VAR Depose third hand brake tool.

The VAR Depose in action.

Butchers bike

Great old photo of a butchers bike. Chap looks happy with his job!

Butcher bicycle period photo.
Probably 1930s.

1934 F W Evans project finished

The Evans is finally back together. A couple of small parts held up the project but are now sourced and I'm pleased with the finished result. I didn't want to do anything to it cosmetically as the patina is so fine, just assemble it from the box of bits it was and make sure everything works. As the frame is too small for me and it's going to be a display piece for the time being I decided to leave the Parker White Knight tyres on there even if they are not rideable. There didn't seem a lot of point in replacing the tyres and it can be done any time in the future should I or the next keeper change minds.

The Evans came to me with mudguard brackets, the only trace of the original guards was around the rivets on the brackets. The guards had been white so I sourced a period pair of Bluemels Populars to fit. Unfortunately the Bluemels blades couldn't be matched to the Evans brackets so they have gone on the shelf and the complete Bluemels are fitted. The other missing part was the Lucas mileometer which sits on the fork bottom. The bracket was there so I found a replacement head only and fitted it.

The build quality on the Evans is very high and it's a lovely original cycle with a number of unusual features. The only deviation I have made from how it was last used is in omitting the Midlands rear carrier which just looked clumsy and out of place fitted.

1935 Evans near-side view.

1935 Evans off-side view.

Lucas Mileometer with unusual fork bottom mounting clip.

Very grand Lucas headlight, part of a dynamo set.

The small oiler clip is a lovely detail on the headset.

Sturmey rear hub brake.

Sturmey handlebar mounted changer. Note also the very long
headlight bracket with supporting clip to stop flex.

Bicycle wall mount idea

I saw a photo of a cafe with a cycle hanging from the wall by a pair of handlebars, the details weren't clear but it looked good. I had a pair of unloved bars hanging around, a wall that needed a bicycle and the urge to make something so this is what I came up with. It was a fairly easy job: just measure up the distance you want the cycle to hang from the wall (doesn't have to be too accurate as it's adjustable anyway by the angle of the bars), find a scrap piece of heavy guage plate and a tube with the correct internal diameter for the stem.

I cut the plate in to a shield shape as it kind of suits the house, picked a good looking angle for the tube and welded it on. Four screw holes (countersunk) to hold the bracket to the wall seemed like an appropriate amount. Some white bar tape and a couple of Brooks end plugs that were kicking around finish it all off.

Overall I'm very pleased with the result. It's probably not anything like an original idea but I hadn't seen a bike hung like this before. The bonus is that it is really easy to lift the cycle on and off.