Viscount bicycles!!

[busaste]

Finally got the frame bands from Busaste, so now my Viscount resto is officially finished.





b

C'est magnifique!

[Bendo]

Finally got the frame bands from Busaste, so now my Viscount resto is officially finished.

b

C'est magnifique!

Thanks mate! Couldn't have done it without ya. (Oh and I resized the pics on page 50 to fit the screen proper).

Quick skite about the specs coz I haven't done that for several pages of this thread (:P)

Frame - VA Sport (owned and ridden since 1985)
Forks - refurbished chromoly
Hubs, cluster, centre-pull brakes, levers, cables, cable clips, front and rear mech, headset, seat pin, BB, and grease - all Dura Ace (everything except the grease is 1st gen)
Saddle - Ideale 70 (I like 'em better than Brooks)
Rims - Sun Cr18 ISO630 (the old 27") yep, I kept the faith
Mudguards - Honjo aluminium
Pedals - MKS Sylvan quill
Toe clips and straps - MKS (aluminium alloy clips)
Stem - Viscount
Bars - Nitto Dove (flipped and shortened)
Tape - shellacked cloth tape
Tyres - Panaracer Pasela 27 x 1"

You can see by the grubby sidewalls that this bike has been ridden in the rain. It might never look this good again! But it's a real world bike, not a museum piece. That said, I do like to keep it (especially the dreivetrain) fairly clean.

b

[Cliff Wilkins]

Hi Busaste,
Was good meeting you last month I do hope we were of some help.
You did seem rather impressed at my old grand prix that has been in the shed for well over 30 years.
It was a daily rider when younger to work. I pumped the tyres up for your visit and there still up.
I will get around to giving it a good clean even though you were shocked of the condition concidering all that time in the shed
unlike dads pampered bike thats never been out of a spare bedroom.
Hope you can get as much info as possible.
Cheers.
Cliff.

[Sooper8]

Hello Viscount fans!
Just had to share this with you all.
Bustaste very kindly pointed me in the direction of this when I was looking for a set of wheels to get a 1978 Aerospace Sport up and running.
The seller only posted one fairly small picture with no real explanation of condition, but I didn't care so long as the wheels were road worthy.
As it turns out it is in great condition and the wheel rims are Birmalux alloy, so great result. I am loving the touring mud guards and flap!
The unintended outcome however is that my wife took one look at it and made it her own....
So, I am still on the hunt for wheels for the Sport...but I am in no rush

IMG_2598 by Sooper 8, on Flickr

IMG_2606 by Sooper 8, on Flickr

IMG_2601 by Sooper 8, on Flickr

[Whippet]

Nice original looking bike.

[Bendo]

Score! b

[Sooper8]

Just realised that the other ladies Sebring on here has got the exact same seat. Therefore presume they are original.
Just heard from the seller of this bike that it was his mum's and she rode it maybe 10 times in the last 30 years.She had it from new. His dad had the matching men's bike but that was stolen 10 years ago.

[busaste]

Hi Busaste,
Was good meeting you last month I do hope we were of some help.
You did seem rather impressed at my old grand prix that has been in the shed for well over 30 years.
It was a daily rider when younger to work. I pumped the tyres up for your visit and there still up.
I will get around to giving it a good clean even though you were shocked of the condition concidering all that time in the shed
unlike dads pampered bike thats never been out of a spare bedroom.
Hope you can get as much info as possible.
Cheers.
Cliff.

Hi Cliff
I had a great day thanks, really enjoyed meeting you all and learned lots. MUCH appreciated!
Your dad's bike is something else! I love the Grand Prix too - what's not to like?
Cheers
Steve

[busaste]

Hello Viscount fans!
Just had to share this with you all.
Bustaste very kindly pointed me in the direction of this when I was looking for a set of wheels to get a 1978 Aerospace Sport up and running.
The seller only posted one fairly small picture with no real explanation of condition, but I didn't care so long as the wheels were road worthy.
As it turns out it is in great condition and the wheel rims are Birmalux alloy, so great result. I am loving the touring mud guards and flap!
The unintended outcome however is that my wife took one look at it and made it her own....
So, I am still on the hunt for wheels for the Sport...but I am in no rush

IMG_2598 by Sooper 8, on Flickr

IMG_2606 by Sooper 8, on Flickr

IMG_2601 by Sooper 8, on Flickr

This VERY, VERY nice Sebring is a first for me because it has alloy Birmalux wheel rims . Back in the day, the Sebring came with German made steel rims. Only the Aerospace bikes came with Birmalux rims. Still, if the production line is running and only Birmalux rims are in stock what else can you do but use them? That's one of the features of Viscount bicycles - seldom were two of the same models alike as specifications were constantly changing. It was all down to recurring problems with parts supply. Things improved greatly in the 1980s.

[busaste]

Without wishing to sound like Victor Meldrew, I don't believe it! This bike did not sell again :
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Mens-Vi ... 7675.l2557
Condition is of museum standard. All original parts are present and correct - and I mean ALL parts! Check out the red Lambert toe straps (how did they survive so long?) and Lambert toe clips, 'V' branded - but always missing - pedal dust caps, the official recall chrome Tange replacement forks, perfect condition paint, 'V' branded wheel quick releases, shiny chrome, etc, etc. Oh, lordy it's good...
The last time I saw an Aerospace Pro like this was back in the 70s.
Please, someone buy it (I can't SADLY ) - apart from NOS, this is as good an Aerospace Pro as you will ever find.
Shipping from USA to the UK is around £300. The seller wants $350 for it which is around £220. So, that's £520 for a remarkable museum quality bike which, specification wise would in today's money be around £2000 (you try and find a bike built around a hand made British frame which has high quality tubing for under £2k). But who wants a 'modern' £2k bike anyway? Not me. Wonkey frame angles, dead, lifeless and very unforgiving alloy frame and carbon - soon to be - 'death forks', excrutiating uncomfortable riding position, ZERO character, no heritage, gawky looks, go faster stripes graphics, eye watering razor blade saddle, etc, etc. You are even expected to dress like a Power Ranger to ride one for pity's sake...
Right, I need to go and have a lie down, it's all too much for me to take!

[Sooper8]

Been out this afternoon on the ladies Sebring.

IMG_2603 by Sooper 8, on Flickr
I have got to tell you , that bike is a bloody joy to ride. The handling is everything you could ever want in a bike. It feels so responsive that you just point it into a corner and have total trust and faith that it will do exactly what you want it to.
I could honestly ride it all day. Something about the weight distribution of that style frame makes it feel very stable.
Bit of a contrast to the '82 vintage Koga-Miyata Roadwinner-luxe that I also took out...it's a bit nippy but took a while to get used to the handling. It's a bit flighty like a young horse.Needs your full attention.

[Indeboat]

Busaste .
Now that does make you think
As you say it would still be a cheap, very good quality bike,you can't think why it has not sold in the states,other Pro's in the US on the net are up at about $700.and in no way as good a condition.
Very tempted

Hello Sooper8
Me thinks your collection is getting a bit big now
I saw the bike for sale and thought that it looked rather nice.


I've done a bit of adjustment on my Pro recently,i noticed that the front tyre when inflated started to roll on the rim so that there was more sidewall visable on one side more than the other.I hd used Tub tape to fit the Tubs but did not use any glue.(Never had Tubs before)
A couple of coats of cement on rim and tyre then tape sorted that out.
Also the spokes on the front wheel were very low tension,they went donk not ping.
I downloaded a copy of WheelPro from the net,and set about the job.about an hour later i had a nice taught and true front wheel.
Then i turned my attenion to the rear wheel, i found the dish of the wheel was about 1/8" out,so set about that as well.
Now the wheels are true,correct dish for the rear ,and central front hub.
The spokes on both wheels are double butted stainless .

I bought a second hand Viscount seat from ebay a couple of weeks ago and it has cleaned up nice.The adjuster had not been used so i think it had not done alot of miles.

More pictures to come soon.

p.s. that seat is not that cumfy

[busaste]

p.s. that seat is not that cumfy

You are not kidding!!!! Brooks B17 for me!

[Sooper8]

p.s. that seat is not that cumfy

You are not kidding!!!! Brooks B17 for me!

One of these? Jeez, I did about on a mile on one and then found it more comfortable standing on the peddles for return journey...


IMG_1430 by Sooper 8, on Flickr

IMG_1431 by Sooper 8, on Flickr

IMG_1432 by Sooper 8, on Flickr

[busaste]

As Viscount fans we all know about 'death forks' and the scorn/derision it attracts.

But now its Specialized's turn! Check out this link:

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/12-000- ... sinessmain

Wonder if Specialized will go down in history as the maker of a death fork? And see their reputation mullered on the internet?

Somehow, I don't think so...