Final tweaks to bikes took place on Sunday the 14th of August, and a test ride into town confirmed that all seemed to be working smoothly as it should. Importantly, Gav felt that the Aero was running the best it had to date - reassured by a swap to a NOS Philco front brake caliper and flashy Velo Orange steel stem - finally giving him some much-needed reach, without looking outlandish.
Craig also seemed calm and satisfied after some front brake cable tweaking, while my timber wheels got their first real road airing. These little specials caused quite a stir the night before as Gav held each completed bike on the scales and found that the Malvern Star had turned from Tank ( with a capital T ) to svelte swan at the lightest mark of 12.2 Kg's. The Whatley measured in at 12.8 and the Aero 13.8 much to Gav's good-natured dismay - the extra heft explainable by about 20cm of extra steel seat post, heavy tyres, bigger light unit and a much longer steel stem.
Together and rolling...
Allow me a moment here to recap the detail ;
1939 Sturmey Archer rear hub in the Malvern Star. Timber rims from CBItalia ( excellent value at a shade over $200/pair landed in Tas after a 10 day wait ) and Challenge Parigi Roubaix tyres - 27mm of lightweight hand-made and sturdy feeling tubular tyre glued to each rim carefully with layers of Continental rim/tyre cement. The Challenge tyres are the modern incarnation of Clement - in another age the last word in racing singles. The appropriately named Parigi's had, by chance, removable valves allowing the insertion of liquid latex to give some self-sealing capability ( thanks Mick ).
The best available option for brake pads turned out to be relatively inexpensive BBB carbon pads in a campag cartridge shape, pad holders squeezed gently to snugly fit the new items. Lovely period brake levers came from Warren Meade ( thanks Warren ) and finished off the bike's aesthetic beautifully. Warren also came up with a NOS nickel plated top race clamp for the headset and a packet of new ball bearings - which transformed the handling and took a lot of worry away from the preparation, as the original item had been suffering visible stress after pervious rides.
The Gear ratio was knocked down a touch to 46x18, or 69 gear inches - a little lower than Oppy's 72 single. Low gear and high offering the legs some alternative. Wing nuts on the front hub only - period English Hub Company low flange item at 32 spokes. Brand spanking Roselli 18 tooth track cog screwed onto the SA hub ( after quite a wrestle to remove the worn 30's original, an operation completed using a paint stripper for warmth and a claw hammer for leverage ). NOS TDC bottom bracket cups, new ball bearings, NOS Bayliss Wiley #15 spindle and a battered but true pair of 'Utility' crank arms ( about 167.5mm in metric ).
Handlebars are Velo Orange items - the closest we could get to the original swooping steel shape - new bars swapped in to remove any concerns with metal fatigue. I wrapped a strip of Specialized bar phat tape ( 3mm ) under some leatherette from Fizik for extra cushioning. I contine to use ( and really recommend ) the Selle Anatomica Titanico 'leather' saddle - something like a Brooks but with significant cutouts, a synthetic leather that does stretch but doesn't need care, and offering total adjustability with a 6mm allen key- you can alter the entire feel of the saddle quickly while out riding, which is fantastic after a day out when a different pressure point is needed to ease a sore posterior.
Gav and Craig's spec remained largely as previously described. Both changed to a very bling and lovely Velo Orange steel stem. Gav's Aero received a NOS 'Utility' brand crank set and never-previously-used 46 chain ring, to match his NOS bottom bracket and 1/8 ball bearings and NOS Bayliss Wiley #23 spindle which solved the crank hitting the chain stay mystery. Craig made do with his slightly longer 172.5mm Solida cranks but with a 46 ring also mounted to a NOS TDC #4 spindle, and mated to NOS bearing cups and bearings. In both cases the result was of the oiled glass variety, despite Mick ( from The Bike Shop in Derwent Park Road ) and I failing miserably to dislodge the right hand cups from each of these frames. Each bike has its original 80+ year old item. I still feel a bit guilty about your B/B tool Mick - I couldn't believe that the cups could withstand the force being applied.Both Craig and Gav swapped their tyres to Vittoria Randonneurs, Craig opting for the Ultimo version with a folding bead at 32mm and Schwalbe tubes with removable valves. I did manage to piece together a nicer front brake lever for Craig, and adjusted Gav's front lever for reach after getting better stopping results with his new Philco. Sorry Grand Bois, we loved your tyres until we came away from 3 flats in one session on wet roads.
Both Gav and Craig used a Brooks Professional saddle. Craig's was a new item, contorted by use to suit his anatomy. Gav used a 1950's item from my treasured items box and found it acceptable even on the longer days. Aluminium bottles complete the aesthetic - but proved so annoying in practice that we gave them away at Loudeac and bummed some plastic ones to use to stop the rattling.
The following day, Gav assisted to pack the bikes into our swanky hard case travel boxes, and whisked them away for transfer to the airport in the back of the trusty Commodore. All that remained was to triple check the piles of gear spread all over the lounge room floor before cramming it into a travel pack, suitecase and two day packs.
France, here we come.
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