Saturday 22 November 2014

Share your story!

Not too long ago, a reader sent me an e-mail, eager to share a picture of his Viscount Sebring commuter, which found its way to him by law of fate. As every Viscount owner I know, he's properly smitten by those bicycles and I asked him to tell me the story of the bike and him 'getting together'. That e-mail inspired me to post a call for submissions for pictures and, if possible, a write-up about people's love affair with their Viscounts or Lamberts and I'll put them on this blog. Let's spread the word; there's really nothing like a ride on those bikes.

Here's John's story:

A rather wonderful pub bike
My local Craigslist bicycle listing showed this Viscount, resplendent in it's 'bright' blue paint pictured in a grassy back yard in somewhat blurry mobile phone pics. The owner was keen to point out it 'Was from the midwest and still had it's stickers to prove it!' I considered his asking price-$60 and thought to myself: I've got one Aerospace G.B. in pieces and one Aerospace Pro frame & fork in my size waiting to become a 'special' project in the near future, what am I going to do with another Viscount/old 10-speed anyways? I emailed the seller and asked for his best availability to see the bike but never followed through on setting a date and time, so I let it 'ride', pardon the pun. About two months passed and I saw the Sebring listed again but thought to myself, 'What am I going to do with another...' you get the point. A week or more went by and something told me to at least take a look at the bike, so I arranged to visit the seller who was about a half hour away from home. I loved the look of the bike and it's blue frame, so it was love at first sight. The seller rambled on about his 'junk picking' of bikes that he was repairing and selling, although 10-speed road bikes weren't really his thing. He pointed out that the bars and stem were swapped out as the originals were missing some pieces, although he had them. Besides one shift cable, and the seat, the rest of bike was original so I struck a deal for $40 and the bike came home with me, no test ride needed. Upon getting it home, I filled the tyres with air and took it for a spin...ah, the Viscount 'Affect' was upon me! It was immediately apparent why I love old road bikes-svelt racers or 'heavy' tourers, they just have a way of 'gliding' along without much upset-so refined! I spent time cleaning off the old grease, swapping out the fossilized brake pads for new, exchanging the seat, and converting the drop bars to flat with lovely oldish DiaCompe brake levers and moto-grips.
What's in the works for the Sebring 'Pub Bike'? I set of 'vintage' Bluemel fenders (proper UK made!). A longer, one-piece alloy seatpost. Alloy rims laced to the original Shimano hubs. New tyres (as you spell the word). A Pletscher rear rack. Maybe one day new transfers over a glossy new coat of paint but we'll see... ;)

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