Cycling UK Forum

I am keen to talk to people who used to work for and/or sell Trusty Viscount/Lambert/Viscount bicycles.
I am a BIG fan (don't laugh!) of these bikes and am just hungry for information, old sales brochures, old road tests, etc.
Hope someone can help!
There must be someone out there?
Thanks!!!!!!!!!!

I used to have a Viscount in the early 80's. It was very light but the bottom bracket snapped off and you couldn't get replacements for them (they were press fitted). Had to have a new BB shell welded onto the frame and then the seat tube cracked.

A friend had a Lambert and the head tube parted company with the rest of the frame one day. He had to have it welded back together at a local garage in order to get home, then he binned it.

Thanks for your reply!
Looks like you and your friend did not have much luck!
Which Viscount model did you have? What spec. was it? Any old parts still in the shed?

We've still got one - I think it's a Viscount Indy II. It's my wife's that she had before we were married.

I can't remember the model. It was Sky Blue with chrome forks and chainstays. It was a good bike. I did a 2 week tour of Scotland on it.

I might still have the original chainset, but the rest of it is long gone. I transferred most of the bits onto a Falcon Black Diamond frame, which then got stolen!

My friend's Lambert was a rich red/maroon colour.

I remember chatting to my LBS mechanic about them after bringing a frame I got given for free. "Every bloody crook in the business was involved with that company at some point or other" was the response!

Big T
it was probably an aerospace grand sport.

the areospace series came in three models, all had essentially the same frame.

sport - the basic version came in royal blue met and ruby met
grand sport - came in sky blue met and another colour (cant remember, poss brown.). spec was a bit better than sport
pro - silver and essentially a racing bike with racing wheels/gears

were a very light, lugless frame and good value for the price except they had a one-piece fork which was 1/2 chromed and was thought suspect, a press-fit BB which was awkward to replace and the frame had a reputation for tubes breaking, several of which i remember. But viscount always replaced broken frames quibble free.

I had the model under the aerospace series - the sebring, in blue met, which was specced as the aerosp. sport, but had a conventional lugged frame. Unfortunately, the seat tube on mine snapped too, but by that time viscount were out of business.

quick edit - were talking late 70's

Ah yes, Classics. A mate of mine had one with the "death fork" - a one-piece casting prone to fatigue. It was replaced rapidly.

Also see this link at the Temple of Cycling:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/lambert.html

And there's plenty of piccies if you google "Viscount Aerospace", but you already know that.

Great bikes at the time

As an ex mechanic my opinion of these is similar to the quoted local LBS mech.There were also the alloy forks used on some models for which the :barge pole: phrase springs to mind although you probably won,t have a problem with them nowadays as I very much doubt if any of them survived their early stringent test of ten yards steady riding.

I have two Viscount death forks that are 30+ years old. They haven't broke.
Ditto for bottom bracket spindles.
The problem with Viscount especially in their early days was quality control although it was nowhere near as bad as Lamberts. Just as they had really got their act together the company went bust due to a sales collapse in the US market.
Please keep the replies coming - negative or not they make great reading!
Thanks!

Some more pics!

busaste wrote:I have two Viscount death forks that are 30+ years old. They haven't broke.
Ditto for bottom bracket spindles.

Not so lucky with the chain?

The chain hadn't been fitted. Or the gear levers.

Mine was an Aerospace, come to think of it. I bought it in 1979 for the princely sum of £89, to use as a winter/training/touring bike. It lasted about 3 years before the frame broke and I transferred the bits onto a Falcon frame.

there's this

http://www.classicrendezvous.com/Britis ... _bikes.htm