sykerocker 

Syke's Cyclery has been a madhouse over the past 60 days. I've pulled in eight bikes in that time, getting stock together for Westminster (so far I'm talking three bicycles and four framesets - nothing particularly collectible). And this guy shows up with a truckload of bikes, including one that his brother-in-law raced thirty years ago, still complete:



The original game plan was to pull the sew-up wheels for one of my other bikes, clean up the rest, and lace together a set of 700C clinchers for resale. The bike cleaned up easily enough (dirty, but stored reasonably well). And just for the heck of it, I put the original wheels back on and rode it last weekend with Poguemahone.

The only place this bike is going is in the garage with the rest of the collection. I like the way it rides way too much to sell it off. And it's another bit of my college days finally in the collection.



The only thing Lambert about it (at present) is the frame. Fork is Tange. Bottom bracket and crank are Sugino Maxi. Derailleurs are SunTour Luxe-V/Sprit, and the brakes are DiaCompe. Wheels are Mavic rims on Pelessier hubs, and the rear is another one of those damned 14-19 corncobs.

The long term game plan is to start picking up Lambert parts and begin putting the bike back to original spec, or at least close to it. In the interim, I'm just going to ride its ass off!

The scorecard for 2012 - the year in which I wasn't going to be adding anything more to the collection. By 20 January, I've already added two (this one and a Nishiki Cascade that'll be shortly appearing in the vintage mountain bike thread). Plus that long term nutsball GT. And the Kolbe has been hanging in the garden shed since last July, waiting it's turn. And there's that St. Etienne frame . . . . . . . . . .

SteveSGP

Very pretty bike, I'd love to find one.

I picked up an all original Viscount last fall though and it'll be my sons this spring.

Giacomo 1 

Really pretty and it fits you to! What more could you ask for?

I'm certainly no expert in frame geometry, and I could be very wrong here, but to me the frame on your bike looks abit relaxed for racing. Looks like it would be more comfortable on a long ride than in a race....

BobHufford

Very nice! Could you post some close-up pics of the lugs and dropouts? I'm pretty sure my Mystery Bike is a Lambert frame, but that would help to confirm it.

https://home.mchsi.com/~shufford/bike.html

Thanks,

Bob

sykerocker 

Let me get past this weekend (rain, rain, rain, rain, and cold) and I'll get the camera out. The shop's kinda crowded with four bikes in process at the moment - I'm in pre-Westminster production mode.

I'm pretty certain that, given the lugs and paint pattern, this is one of the pre-bankruptcy frames. Of which there don't seem to be all that many as Lambert seemed to implode very shortly after they appeared at the American dealer shows and signed the dealers up. Ghod, that was a wonderful half-decade for the British transportation industry: Rootes, British Leyland, Norton-Villiers-Triumph, and Lambert.

toosahn

Nice bike! They pop up every now and then on my local Craigslist.

realestvin7

I have a whole bunch of Viscount parts if that will do.

auchencrow

+1
That is a very beautiful machine, Syke - and one that must be famously suited to a long leisurely ride!

TugaDude

I've seen some Lamberts also on my local CL, but never one that beautiful. I'm envious! That is a gorgeous color scheme. The bike just has a special look about it. I can take or leave chrome forks, depends upon the frame, but that combination is pretty cool.

Realestvin7 has some Viscount parts. I think that would be appropriate. Some of the Lamberts I've seen had parts of their own manufacture and used the Viscount brand name. I guess they had bikes labeled as Lambert and Viscount over their history.

Maybe Realestvin7 can send you some pics of the components. I wouldn't mind seeing them either. I can tell you that I will be looking more closely at Lambert postings from now on!

Enjoy your beautiful ride!

sykerocker 

I'll drop you a PM regarding them. It'll be interesting to see what you've got and how they're branded.

realestvin7

They're all "V" branded.

sykerocker 

Unfortunately, ain't gonna work. I'll be looking for the "Lambert" branded parts.

rhm

I can give you a Lambert branded 52Tchainring. I think that's all I have, other than what's on my own Lambert, much of which is V-labeled, and none of it original to that bike.

realestvin7

Personally, I think V-labeled Viscount parts are better than nothing. Seeing as Viscount and Lambert were one in the same. I'll take some pics of the stuff anyway. Need to get rid of it.

sykerocker 

Go ahead, I'll take a look.

mkeller234

I understand why you would want only the Lambert branded parts. This is how I see it, it's functional now and you can set up the parts according to comfort and taste. Once you start collecting Lambert bits, it might make things less comfortable (gearing wise)... so why settle for Viscount stuff?

Plus the Lambert bits that I have seen are blue, which is better on your bike.