Cycling UK Forum

All I can recall is lusting after a blue Viscount Aerospace Sport in my mum's Kays catalogue in the late 70s (76-79 period). I didn't know much about bikes then, but I did know that this was very desirable indeed. I showed the catalogue to my new roadie mate at the time and asked him what he thought of it. "Hmmm. looks OK, but the gears look a bit odd". The 5 (or six) speed block had quite a wide range, such that the biggest cog had a reduced tooth count, i.e. if it was a 32t, it only had 16 actual teeth on a 32t pcd. I'd missed this entirely.

The bike looked 110% better than the other 'racers' in the catalogue and I ordered it - I'd guess equivalent today's price of around £400. When I arrived home from uni one day and found the big box sitting in the hall, I was over the moon. I hacked it open to find ... a red Viscount Sebring . The Aerospace Sport was out of stock. Despite my relative naivity, I could easily see that this was a very poor cousin to the Aerospace Sport. I sent it back and therefore never owned a Viscount.

In the (many) years since, I have only ever owned one 'new' bike. Everything I now own is pre-owned. I wouldn't have it any other way, but I sometimes wonder what life would have been like if the Aerospace Sport had been sitting in our hallway that day in 1976 (or whenever).

Sigh ...