Conloy tubular wood filled rims?

[jhea57]

HI
I purchased a lovely old track wheelset from the early 50's.
The previous owner raced them in the early 50's on tracks around Victoria Australia.
He said they were Conloy Track Rims (27/700c tubular wood filled aluminium rims) with Harden bacon slicer track hubs.
While I can find information on the hubs I can not find much information on the rims.
I have seen information on the ASP rims but not the track variety...
Does anyone know of these rims and how rare they might be...

thanks
John

[rjb]

Haven't come across aluminium with wood filling but this thread has some information hidden in it.
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=120750&p=1218003&hilit=Bamboo+Rims#p1218003
And bit more here - http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/de ... onloy.html.

[ebor62]

From my 1963 Bike riders aids is the following entry under Rims - Sprint
Constrictor Conloy 12.5 ozs. Probably the strongest hollow sprint rim made. Has a very deep well, so that most tubulars need a rim tape to lift them from the edge, or the walls are liable to chafe. 54 shillings per pair.
No mention of wood filled, but the previous entry on the page is for Weinman Hollow Alloy wood filled rims and states that the flat section is made more rigid by the wood lining which allows the spoles to seat themselves into the rims.

[9494arnold]

Can't directly answer the question but I am aware that 40's (I think) Track Sprint Rims were wood (Bamboo I believe) so not beyond the realms of possibility.
Earlier Alloy Components weren't particularly robust due to the formulation of the Alloy ,the science is much better now.
That's not to say they don't last. I have a couple of pairs of Connoly High Pressure Rims that occasionally get an airing on a couple of older machines with no issues.

[PJ520]

I remember as a kid in the early 50s seeing peletons on the Keighley-Kendal road with some cyclists carrying what I thought were two spare wheels attached to the drops. I found out years later that these "spares" were in fact cane (presumably bamboo) racing wheels. Riders would ride sometimes hundreds of miles to a race, use the cane wheels in the race and then ride back hundreds of miles. Men were men in them days.

[9494arnold]

Yes you could buy special Brackets to hook over the end of the front spindle, held in place by the Track Nuts, your best wheels went in the brackets , and a toe strap around the rim at the top and up to the bars to steady it all.

[thirdcrank]

Sprint carriers

http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/co ... riers.html

For some reason I have a single Cyclo one as pictured. Cheapo flat spanners will do the job. Remember to fasten the top of each sprint to the lower part of your handlebars. T-o-e . s-t-r-a-p-s are ideal for that

[PJ520]

The article mentions 20-30 miles to a race. A mate of mine told me his dad used to ride as far as Nottingham from Keighley to compete! My mate said his dad used to suck on a pebble so he didn't need water. Sounds horrible.

[Grandad]

A photo from the club archive - late 1930s

Most time trials started at 06.00 or even earlier in the height of summer so after a local race we met the clubrun and stayed out with them for the rest of the day.

[thirdcrank]

Note the "alpaca" jacket, compulsory for time trialling for many years (AIUI, part of a cunning plan to avoid being considered to be racing.)

[Grandad]

I don't think the jacket in the photo is a racing one. At that time all race clothing had to be black in order to maintain the low profile of racing on the public highway. This was also the reason for the very early starting times.