dddd

Great restorative efforts on display there!

I picked up one of the blue ones recently and am now motivated! My earlier Viscounts were Sport models and rode well.

top506

Yeah, that can happen......
Also a fan of the Panaracer Practice sew-ups.

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noglider 

Are those tires still available? A hundred years ago when I rode tubulars, I only bought cheap ones, and they didn't last long. Then I discovered those Panaracers, under a different name, and they were a lot truer and durabler.

I think it's high time I got back onto my Viscount which I converted to fixed gear with flat bars. My commute is mostly flat and only 6-1/2 miles. With only one brake and one gear, it's pretty light for an inexpensive bike. I think it's about 23 pounds.

fietsbob

Ex.. had one in the 70's, was stolen of course.. maybe the killer fork broke on them for kharma.

top506

They are. If you can't source them from an on-line vendor any bike shop can order them from J&B. Ordered a pair for the Alan a few weeks ago.

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thumpism 

This one just turned up on the local CL. Good price and looks mostly original.

https://richmond.craigslist.org/bik/...591759339.html

vintage viscount aerospace road bike - $199 (chester)

Great shape leather saddle 58 cm

Kdogbikes

top506

If you have both pedal dust caps you'r a lucky man indeed. Looks nice and complete.

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Kdogbikes

top506

I can't tell from the pictures, clincher or tubular rims?
I'm sure you've covered the trouble spots (BB spindle, fork, bearings, ect). I like mine quite a bit, rode it 180 miles in the pouring rain on a charity ride a decade ago.

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crank_addict

Excellent find that looks complete. That is the stock Middlemore saddle and Birmalux clincher rims. I'm curious what brand seatpost - appears Campy 2 bolt style that was also copied by many others.

Also note the dropout adjuster screws. Lucky you! I've yet to see these on the Aerospace Pro. Without, the rear axle with rather lacking skewer design were prone to shifting. (I improvised for mine and made adjustable stops.)

Regardless the bad rap often thrown to this brand, I find it a fascinating slice of history for lightweight bike collectors. The company storyline has enough drama, its attempt to be both a component and frame maker, the challenge to go after the giant English maker Raleigh, etc..

The Aerospace Pro model is impressive for what they offered and LOW retail price. I had fun learning and building mine, its a blast to ride.

Only did one Sat. AM group ride with it and it was great to show up the B group carbon snobs. I had a sense that a few thought it gave off a virus -kept their distance from me. These were fellows I've usually ridden with in a tighter group. Too funny~

SteveSGP

Here's the Aerospace Pro I found and built for my son. As found and finished. I also ran into problems with the bottom bracket because one bolt was gone and the last owner had tried to force a random bolt into it. Located a spindle and bolts here on the forum. Had to replace one bottom bracket bearing as well which I got through my LBS. I also got a modern cro-mo fork from them to replace the third gen death fork this bike came with. And yes the bike was complete with its Middlemore saddle, running budget sew ups from Yellow Jersey as well. I replaced the original drive sprockets with a Stronglight set shortly after taking these pics because the original was so worn it could barely be ridden.

Y

Kdogbikes

noglider 

@SteveSGP, that's the best looking replacement fork I've ever seen, and I would consider putting one on my Viscount. What is it, and where can I get it? Thanks.

top506

Too bad about the chain ring. I like the way they look and put one on the otherwise Nervar crankset on my hot-rodded Super Sport:



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sykerocker 

I've had this one for about six years now, it's one of my favorite riders and is going absolutely nowhere. These pictures are from 20 Jan 12 and is how the bike was when I got it, rebuilt it, and had already changed the clincher wheels to sew ups.

The bike as purchased is one of the early frames, as it has a threaded bottom bracket not the (in?)famous sealed bearing version. Over the years I've been slowly putting the bike back to original. At present, the bars, stem, brakes, levers, front derailleur, shift levers, pedals, and quick releases have been replaced with original Lambert parts. Plus the previous rear derailleur was replaced with a Sun Tour - which is what we did at the shop when the original Lambert rears failed. The performance of the bike has slightly degraded with each replacement. And I still call them upgrades? Never the less, the bike is still enjoyable as all get out to ride. I'm just a little more understanding on things like braking and shifting. The previous owner was using it for a bit of amateur racing

Currently, I've got two Lambert cranks sitting in the shop. A three geared one (the downtube label claims the bike is a fifteen speed) ready to go, as soon as I find a longer spindle, and a two geared one needing only the bolts and spacers to put the chainwheels together. Probably going to go with the double, and I can always switch over when I feel like it.

Will post another set of photos when I get the crankset mounted - probably April or so. My dream is to find a set of Lambert hubs and build another set of sew up wheels for it, at which point I'll consider it finished. If I can find a surviving original Lambert derailleur, it'll be mounted in a glass case - there's no way in hell I'd consider trying to ride of them, given my remembrances of how pathetic they were.

sykerocker 

Very nicely done. Next in line after I've finished the Lambert 'upgrades' is to take my Super Sport and replace the Ashtabula crank with the Nervar I've had for years (came off a Sport Tourer, I believe), and finally get rid of that Huret Allvit with something Huret that's a bit better. Unfortunately, that Nervar comes with a 54t big ring, and I normally ride a 48-49t. Going to have to do some shopping, which is why I haven't done the conversion previously.

triitout

For the first time ever, I heard some very nice words on Viscount Aerospace bikes from Mike Wolfe of American Pickers. For those who are unfamiliar with Mike, he is a long time, very knowledgable bike collector. His show is a long running series on the History Channel. He recently did a podcast for Bike Karma that I hope you all find interesting. He finishes up with a very nice story of his own experiences with Viscount. Scroll down to episode 34.

https://bikekarma.podbean.com/

2cam16

Yup, I love American Pickers. Have been watching them since the beginning and Mike is very well versed with bikes.

squarenoise 

Here's something fun... I had a fairly beat up Viscount Lambert at one point, way too rough to justify tracking down all the proper pieces, but I held onto the crankset because I absolutely loved the outer chainring design. Since it was so heavily worn, I removed the teeth to created a cool chainring guard for my 1950s Ward Hawthorne.

Hudson308 

Nice klunker! Whose tires are those?

cb400bill

Thank you for the link. I'd not heard of this podcast before. While I knew Mike knew a bunch about bikes I had no clue he'd raced, owned bike shops, or worked as a factory rep.

Hudson308 

I listened to that clip, and I guess I'll have to disagree with him. He speculated that Lamberts would become collector's items, unlike old Treks. I would speculate just the opposite.
Don't get me wrong, I personally like the light weight and some of the quirky features of the Lambert/Viscount, but they tend to languish locally on CL unless priced at a deep discount.
Although most vintage steel bikes are suffering from comparatively low demand these days, I believe vintage Treks have a brighter future ahead. They punch way above their weight in quality vs. price.

squarenoise 

Thanks! Tires are from Fenix Cycles, Wanda Brick Tread: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GBPR32S

cb400bill

I think that Mike said that about a Trek 720 hybrid.