Viscount bicycles!!

[busaste]

Thanks for the kind words Bendo. No rusted bolts or grease to deal with on this Viscount project! What I like about doing it with Zazzle is that you the consumer have all the color choices so you can match apparel with your bike!

http://www.zazzle.co.uk/viscountshirts
http://www.zazzle.com/viscountshirts

Love the T shirts. Just bought 2.

[busaste]

The leather on my Viscount Aerospace Middlemores saddles goes mouldy after a while (not helped by the fact that I can't bear to ride the bikes - too precious!!!). I keep wiping the stuff off but obviously this does not stop the problem.

Any tips on how to stop the mould for good would be much appreciated.

Thanks

[triitout]

The mold doctor is in. How about some household bleach? Don't know if it will kill the saddle/patient but will for sure kill the mold!

Hope you enjoy the shirts! I just ordered a hoodie, hat, long and short sleeve at 50% off for Cyber Monday.
Guys, tell your wives/significant others they'd make nice holiday presents!

[Bendo]

Leather + moist air + warmth = mould. When I lived in Japan, leather things would be covered in mould in summer. Can't imagine Blighty being that humid: wet yes, but warm..?

I treat my saddles with Dubbin, which in its Aussie incarnation seems to be mostly a mixture of citronella, parrafin and tallow. Helps to proof the leather against the rare occasions I get caught out in the rain. Never had a mould problem. Seems also to stop the mould. But then I'm riding them all the time so probably sitting on them helps do the job too. b

http://www.josephlyddy.com.au/dubbin.htm

[PW]

Rare but I have had it with a spare B17 stashed in the shed for a year or so. Boot polish and a good buffing cured it. Incidentally I've never had a frame rust in my shed.

[Bendo]

I had some exciting news today:
the Sport will be ready to bring home on the weekend! d(^-^)b

Had to say that quietly lest I put the mozz on it. b

[Whippet]

My dad bought me and my twin brother a pair of viscounts in 1975 ( we were 12 ). Mine had Shimano gears and my brothers had Simplex. Most school mates bikes had Huret or Simplex in those days and I thought my Shimano's shifted gear smoother than most. I gained credibility when a friends clubman father was interested in my bike. Some m***er f****r stole it in 1981.

[busaste]

My dad bought me and my twin brother a pair of viscounts in 1975 ( we were 12 ). Mine had Shimano gears and my brothers had Simplex. Most school mates bikes had Huret or Simplex in those days and I thought my Shimano's shifted gear smoother than most. I gained credibility when a friends clubman father was interested in my bike. Some m***er f****r stole it in 1981.

My first Viscount was stolen in 1981 too. It still annoys me even now. I LOVED that bike.

[busaste]

I have had another go at sorting out the Aerospace frame sealed bearing bottom bracket.

THIS TIME I'VE REALLY CRACKED IT I hope all Viscount fans get to read this.

Okay, first off I did not use the OEM Viscount bottom bracket spindle choosing instead to use a 125mm long (please note that dimension) Klein bottom bracket spindle. Klein used (or was it copied?) the Lambert/Viscount spindle idea. The diameter of the spindle at 17mm is the same as Viscounts and exactly the same sealed bearings are used. Here is one Klein made earlier...

The Klein spindle is 4mm longer than the one made by Viscount and as you can see it has no grooves for circlips (don't worry!). The quality of machining is excellent and way better than Viscounts (much as I hate to admit it). The spindle has a JIS taper which will just about take the original Viscount (TA copy) cranks. The taper is perfect for Suntour, SR Apex, Sugino and Shimano cranks. The spindle is lighter than Viscounts, hollow, made of stronger steel too and has a standard metric thread for standard crank bolts. Since there are no grooves for circlips you can place the spindle anywhere in the BB shell. What more could you want?

With the Klein spindle being 4mm longer than Viscounts that gives you enough length to centre it within the BB shell and still get a good chainline. The cranks also nicely clear the chainstays. I have never been entirely happy with the standard Viscount spindle as it puts the right pedal further away from the frame than the left. Who knows what this asymmetrical spacing does for the knees, hips, etc? Probably makes no difference but I do have an iffy right knee...

The absence of circlips on the Klein spindle is not a problem. A special 'glue' is applied to the spindle and outer face of the inner race of the sealed cartridge bearings whilst it is being driven (or preferably pulled) through the bearings. After about 24 hours the glue 'circlips' have fully cured and the bike is ready to ride. Klein recommended Loctite RC680 at the time for their spindles but this is no longer available. I used Bondloc 638 simply because it was available from my local bearing factors. Hear is some information on it: http://www.bearingshopuk.co.uk/bondloc- ... 9025-p.asp

I have put SR Apex cranks on my Klein spindle and they have seated perfectly square on it even though the spindle is second hand (sourced via ebay). There is virtually no sideways chainring movement visible when the cranks are turned. I have NEVER seen that on a Viscount Aerospace bike e.g. Pro, GP, Grand Prix and Sport.

New old stock Klein BB spindles are still out there for sale. Such is the bomb proof build quality of the spindles that second hand ones are well worth searching out too. I have heard that the spindles are good for over 100,000 miles. Can't say that I will be able to proove that one...

Now, my next job is to assemble a bottom bracket spindle puller tool. I don't like knocking these things in or out!!

Obviously this post supercedes information that I gave on the Klein spindle in an earlier post on this thread. When I previously tried the Klein spindle I wasn't thinking too laterally.

[Bendo]

Some pics of the Sport in the workshop and close ups. More to come...

http://feelofsteel.blogspot.com/2011/12 ... -home.html

b

[Bendo]

I have had another go at sorting out the Aerospace frame sealed bearing bottom bracket.

THIS TIME I'VE REALLY CRACKED IT I hope all Viscount fans get to read this...

[lots of very useful info here]

..Obviously this post supercedes information that I gave on the Klein spindle in an earlier post on this thread. When I previously tried the Klein spindle I wasn't thinking too laterally.

Hey Busaste, maybe with winter closing in you should go through this thread and collect all the interesting and useful info into one (preferably searchable) place. Even better, you and Cusqueno collaborate on a Viscount technical handbook. You can get amazing stuff printed online through blurb.com and others.

And I will buy the first copy! b

[Bendo]

Some more pics of the Sport, unbuilt, in daylight.

















This bike was most definitely built by the internet. No way I could have assembled all these parts 20 years ago. From all the NOS stuff to the Viscount headstem that Busaste saw at a swap meet in England on Saturday, I emailed the stallholder on Monday and had bought the stem before the week was up. Still boggles my mind when I think about it. b

[busaste]

Some more pics of the Sport, unbuilt, in daylight.

















This bike was most definitely built by the internet. No way I could have assembled all these parts 20 years ago. From all the NOS stuff to the Viscount headstem that Busaste saw at a swap meet in England on Saturday, I emailed the stallholder on Monday and had bought the stem before the week was up. Still boggles my mind when I think about it. b

Isn't your bike beautiful!!! The Shimano DA stuff looks so good. What more could you want? Hats off to the internet. I love it! By the way, who are the forks made by? The feature cut box crown looks good.

The frame on your bike is interesting as at some point in the past a bit of work has been done to the top of the seat tube. Occasionally Aerospace frames can crack in this region. I have two Aerospace frames with this problem (BUT I DID NOT DAMAGE THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!). I don't think it is due to any inherent problem with the Phoenix frame tubing. The likely culpit is over zealous use of a spanner and a seat post of too small a diameter. Perhaps one of the former owners of your frame experienced problems and had to have some work done to the top of the seat tube? There is also a bit of bracing on the head tube. Your frame has certainly had an interesting life which for me adds to its value.

By pure coincidence I have been putting a Viscount Aerospace Sport together. I have had to dismantle one of my Aerospace Pros and transfer the parts off it onto a 24.5" Aerospace frame. Sadly my chronic back problem is preventing me from riding a 23.5" or less framed bike. I'll post some pictures here soon.

My 3 year (so far) painstaking and relentless research into the Lambert/Viscount history continues (it's not easy because many of the former employees are no longer with us). Something big will come out of it - don't expect me to gloss over anything as it will be a true 'warts and all' account of the history, company politics, model range, parts problems, etc. Hang in there Bendo! I hope it will be worth the wait!

I was hoping to be further ahead than I am now but I have been delayed by the demands of family life (which I don't mind) and the costs involved, especially those from travelling around to meet people. Everyone I want to speak to lives miles away.

[Bendo]

So glad you're actually writing something up about the company. Very exciting.

Well spotted with those frame mods. Both of those were made by my mechanic. The seat tube collar is, as you guessed, a repair from a split that happened when the tube became fatigued. Years of riding on seat pin that was slightly too small (thanks lbs!).

When we came to start the resto, the base of the head tube showed some stretch as the old headset came out a little too easily. As you know this part of the bike gets a lot of stress from the leverage of forces acting on the handlebars and forks together. Jesse did a superb job with that little detail as well.

One thing that has me puzzled though: the 1st gen DA sidepull brake calipers are a little too short to reach. Or rather, the rear can (just) reach the rim, but the front is shy of the rim even with the brake pads in their lowest position. I have checked against a Viscount aluminium fork and the same thing would happen were I to use them. The new forks are exactly the same size as the old ones, and though I've never mounted these brakes before on my bike, I know they were on the "Supabike" and I can't see there's much if any difference in frame geometry to my Sport.

Puzzling... b

[Bendo]

So glad you're actually writing something up about the company. Very exciting.

Well spotted with those frame mods. Both of those were made by my mechanic. The seat tube collar is, as you guessed, a repair from a split that happened when the tube became fatigued. Years of riding on seat pin that was slightly too small (thanks lbs!).

When we came to start the resto, the base of the head tube showed some stretch as the old headset came out a little too easily. As you know this part of the bike gets a lot of stress from the leverage of forces acting on the handlebars and forks together. Jesse did a superb job with that little detail as well.

One thing that has me puzzled though: the 1st gen DA sidepull brake calipers are a little too short to reach. Or rather, the rear can (just) reach the rim, but the front is shy of the rim even with the brake pads in their lowest position. I have checked against a Viscount aluminium fork and the same thing would happen were I to use them. The new forks are exactly the same size as the old ones, and though I've never mounted these brakes before on my bike, I know they were on the "Supabike" and I can't see there's much if any difference in frame geometry to my Sport.

Puzzling... b