Kabuki12

I have lucked out in the past . My donor frames are way too small for me . That one may be a keeper , looks to be a 63cm?

SwimmerMike 

It's closer to a 60 (according to the seller) which would be a perfect fit for me. We'll see when I get it how it looks and the exact size. I'm thinking there is a very high probability this one is going to be a keeper. Luckily, the second parts bike I'm looking at in the UK is too small.

SwimmerMike 

I'm thinking this will be Jimmie's first international flight. He previously made it across the country from Liverpool and was hanging out in a house near the eastern coast of the UK outside of Leeds. I did see a picture of a friend of his hanging out at the same house that he might have met in Leeds as he was passing through. Some people would call his friend Bob, but the friend was from a time that he was more formal and went by Robert, or his initials of JRJ.

bikingshearer 

"James Fothergill." Names don't get much more English that that. Sounds like something out of Dickens.

nlerner

@rhm has an ancient Fothergill.

styggno1

I have the same experience and I believe something changed within me when I did my late 60ies Bianchi Specialissima. Normally I would have repainted it but I fought it out (in my head) and just cleaned the frame and then built it up with parts. And I am super satisfied with the result. This has got me to regret stripping and re-chroming my early/mid 60ies Specialissima. This was something I did quite some years ago and at the time I thought it to be the only way to go. Today I would not do it.

Old and bad pic - but when I look at it now - I should not have done the deed...

rhm

This is true.

SwimmerMike 

The James Fothergill showed up and looks great. The Fothergill is most likely from the 1940's. It at one time was owned by forum member @stevevw and documented in @rhm thread on his 1940's Fothergill (picture above). In doing further research, the frame was repainted by Mario Vaz in England in 2015. It looks like it has been built up, but barely ridden before it was stripped and then made it's way across the pond to me.

When I pulled the trigger on the Fothergill I also pulled the trigger on two 1" Headclips (as opposed to the 31/32" or, of course, the 1 1/8") since I wanted to build up the Fothergill also. I had the seller double check that they fit on a 1" steerer but I wasn't going to count on them being right until they came in the door. They showed up today and I had a chance to confirm they fit on a 1" steerer. So now I have three 1" head clips and two frames. Much better than no head clips and one frame.

I've been focusing on the rust on the Hetchins. I have all the rust neutralized and am now starting to address the worst spots. I'm still planning on doing a full build before I decide how mach patina is too much.

Lastly, I found out the Hetchins is a 1950's model year, but was sold on Dec 23th, 1949 so potentially a Christmas present. It is officially a Nulli Secundus and was manufactured as a full chrome.

SwimmerMike 

The head clips showed up and I've had to do some clean up on the inside of the clip to get them to fit on the Hetchins. Just got that completed so I should be able to start making some progress over the next few weeks.

I picked up a early 60's Atala that had a damaged frame and fork to pull some parts and I have a number of parts slowly working their way across the pond.

I'm not sure which frame will get which build yet, but I'm thinking two different 3 speeds.

First one: Sturmey Archer ASC with a Chater Lea crankset/chain ring
Second one: 3 speed freewheel on Campy No Record high flange hubs, a Gran Sport RD, and an unbranded cotter crank

I also have a set of Deep North handlebars on a stem that is designed for a head clip coming. This will probably be paired with the SA ASC and Chater Lea. While the bars/stem/brakes from the Atala will go on the other one.

juvela

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thread on an example dated MCMLII in residence here:

​​​​​​https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/i-...t-1952.153347/



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SwimmerMike 

Thanks @juvela, I hadn't seen that one yet. Every time I see another Hetchin's from this time period it reinforces that picking this up and building it as close to period correct is the right move.

I'm hoping to get both bikes mocked up this weekend while I wait for the next batch of parts to come in.

SwimmerMike 

Headclips……. Are a challenge. Not that they are complicated, but it took 3 tries with different combinations of the random 1” headclip parts to get the Hetchins set up.

Final assembly

All these parts I thought were interchangeable. They weren’t and i don’t know why.

SwimmerMike 

For the drive train I went for a 3 speed fixed. Tracked down almost all the SA ASC parts required. Plus a Chater Lea crankset

The ASC hub. 1950 date code. Note the adjuster/pull chain is different. The only part I’m missing is the piece that connects to the little square on one side and the shifter cable on the other

With the CL chainset

The shifter.

SwimmerMike 

I chose some handle bars and a stem meant for a head clip

SwimmerMike 

I still need to add pedals, tape the tires, and set up the shifting.

juvela

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are the head parts you ended up with CL or are they Brampton or other?

my experience of the Brampton sets with the floating U-races is that they all take 1/8" ball



have never had occasion to work on a clip style headset

briefly owned a Drysdale with a CL example but did not have need to service it...

great to see you are moving along forward with it!


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SwimmerMike 

my limited knowledge is that they all take 1/8” bearings. These parts are all for the 1” headclips, some of the races were supposed to be CL. The clips definitely weren’t. I rebuilt the Fothergill headclip first so I knew what to expect. I picked the best looking parts to build the Hetchins up. Crazy loose, couldn’t get rid of the play, even though everything was in good contact. So I just kept trying different combinations until
it worked.

SwimmerMike 

This is a preliminary build with a mix of 40’s to 60’s parts. Went with a Gran Sport RD with a 3 speed freewheel. The bulk of the parts came off a donor Atala. The wheels are 700c with “no record” hubs.

juvela

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headsets -

new Dawes cycles as late as the early seventies came through with Brampton sets of the floating u-race design (non-integral)

have found that these sets when well set up have a different "feel" than do cup and cone design sets

best term i have to describe it is "skating"


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obrentharris 

Good to see this thread back to the top. I'm definitely getting an education here.
The bikes look great!
Brent

Big Block

an option is to contact Colwood Wheel Works to see what he suggests

Manny66 

Looking Good !

Glad to see those parts went to good use on a a fantastic British Bike .

cinelliguy 

Very cool build Mike, really like it. Bravo buddy!

Guy

Kekec1965

[QUOTE=SwimmerMike;23161603]I still need to add pedals, tape the tires, and set up the shifting.

And bell

SwimmerMike 

I wasn't sure which bike and which ones would be used, but these bikes were the target when I bought the parts.