sykerocker 

I, too, have memories of the Lambert. While I was working at A.R. Adams Cycle in Erie, PA during '70-74, one of my buddies in the Presque Isle Bicycle Club decided to open a bicycle shop, thus giving Erie it's third, and at the very beginning of the Bike Boom no less. Daddy was a very well-off surgeon in town, so he had some financial backing as daddy was happy that his wastrel kid was finally trying to do something with his life. John hit the trade shows and managed to come up with the Fuji and Atala franchises . . . . . . . and Lambert. At that point, Lambert was the "miracle bike", a chance for someone to own the equivalent of a Paramount ($400.00 with a waiting list) for $150.00. This was the bicycle that was going to make everything else out there obsolete. Or so we wanted to believe.

How badly did we want to believe? Badly enough that John paid for his entire Lambert order in advance as demanded, whereas Fuji and Atala were happy to give him the usual terms they'd give any dealer. Getting the shop together, Merle was kind enough to give me a six months leave of absence from A.R. Adams so I could help John get his service department started. And on that glorious day, we opened . . . . with no Lamberts. They hadn't been delivered yet. For that matter, we weren't getting a firm date as to when they were going to be delivered. And John had every bike in the first order sold, including the two gold-plated ones.

I think we finally saw three of the base models, which were delivered to the first three customers on the list, and were all back in the shop by the first weekend with rear derailleur failure. To be replaced with Sun Tours at the shop expense. For that matter, I remember one of them coming back within the hour. The customer took it out for a test ride before loading it into his car, and the rear derailleur failed right then and there. And after getting those three bikes, we find out the company has failed. Good-bye seed cash.

John's shop (damn, I cannot remember the name of it, it's frustrating) struggled on thru the Bike Boom, selling ok, but constantly being cashflow short thanks to paying that Lambert order in advance. And as soon as the Bike Boom turned into the Bike Bust of '74, he was dead in the water. I think he managed to survive one more season, closing down sometime in early '75. In the meantime, I'd returned to Merle's shop, done a bit of work on the side for a local hobby shop retailing Batavus and Flandria (he was the last shop to try and catch the Bike Boom), and ended up as a steelworker at Erie Malleable Iron once the Bike Bust hit and Merle couldn't justify keeping me on full time anymore. And finished my Master's Degree.

Yep, I've had lots of feelings for Lamberts all these years, most of them not terribly good. Finally got my own about ten years ago (early frame with English threaded bottom bracket and nice lugwork) that had been built up with a mish-mash of really good parts. Been slowly putting it back to original Lambert . . . . . . . and watching the performance deteriorate with every bit that I replaced with original.

Does anyone out there still have an original Lambert rear derailleur? And does it work?

noglider 

Someone did a study of musicians and looked at what music they were listening to at age 14. Apparently that is, for some, the most impressionable age. I was 14 when Viscount bikes splashed into the US market, and besides girls, they were some of the things I lusted after. I had eaten up all the marketing and saw them as fine machines worthy of envy. At age 15, my friend and I took an unguided bike tour of Massachusetts, and we met a guided teen tour where one of the boys had a Viscount. We saw him as a spoiled kid because we thought the Viscount was expensive. He acted like a boastful, spoiled kid, too.

A couple of years later, I bought an unused pair of Viscount wheels with the sealed bearing hubs and tubular rims. This was an upgrade to my Raleigh Gran Sport. I liked the wheels but I could tell the quality of the hubs was not top notch.

A few years ago, I finally bought a Viscount from Frank the Welder of bicycle fame. He shipped it to me by greyhound from Vermont to New Jersey. It was the model below the Aerospace Pro. I took the derailleurs and rear brake off and made a fixie out of it. At first, I used a Sturmey-Archer S3X hub (3-speed fixed gear). Then I switched to a regular one-speed fixed hub. It's a cheap but light bike. As it is, the bike is now about 23 pounds. The rear triangle is tight, so I can't fit a wide tire. I can't remember the limit now but it's either 28mm or 32mm.

I still love the chainrings with the round cutouts. Why has no one else made something like them? I got around the low BB problem by fitting genuine TA cranks that are 155mm long. That was an experiment that went better than expected. You would think cranks so short would be uncomfortable, but they're not for me.

I used the bike recently in my first try at bicycle polo. The drivetrain is 52x19, giving me a 74-inch gear. I might end up playing more polo, and I'd prefer a lower gear, so I may end up replacing the cranks. Oh well!

I also commute on this bike occasionally. Of all the bikes I have, this one has the lowest monetary value, so I can lock it up without much fear.

I'm riding version 2 (I think) of the "death fork" without much fear. Frank the Welder says it's safe because of the dowel in the crown.

desconhecido 

It would be a shame, in my opinion, to abandon your TA cranks, especially if the short length suits you. The five bolt TA outer chainrings for those cranks are available as small as 42t. Maybe smaller, IDK.

crank_addict

Neato- and if Frank the Welder says its good, its GOOD!

For one thing, the company(s) may be gone but this old thread seemingly can't be killed and there's many Lambert and Viscount yet alive and more 'resurrected' from the dead. Lol

Think to have done a thread on this 1976 Viscount. By then they had the quirks worked out, but as we all seem to conclude the company (and following company) were doomed from the start.

Type 3 fork, era Suntour shift group, etc.. I love this bike and no way would consider removing key features of it. It oozes British character and I really enjoy riding it.

The sealed bearings for the hubs (front and rear are different) including bottom bracket bearings were easily replaced without special tools, cost under $20 for all! Classic and attractive uniqueness, they work and propel along without any concerns.

Kool Stop salmon brake pads rule. With these overbuilt beefy centerpulls, they work nice as any other, modulate well including in wet conditions.

To make this Viscount more interesting, I laced a pair of Super Champion Mixte 700c rims that accept wire bead clinchers OR tubulars. Currently using tubulars.

Even by 1976 and with improvements, these bikes were way underpriced. Ironically and today, nothing has changed! Really doesn't take much to find a decent complete original as I've found a few for other enthusiast and for near pittance. Fun C&V project's that comes with great controversy. What more can one ask for?

noglider 

Very nice, crank_addict. Why did you change the derailleurs? Those Shimanos are pretty good, or at least the rear is. I haven't used the front. I put the rear Titlist on my daughter's bike. It's impressively overbuilt. And yes, the Lambert/Viscount brakes are very good. I'm using the original on the front. I'm thinking of converting the bike to a single-speed freewheel, so I'll put the rear back on.

crank_addict

^ Rear / V-luxe with ally cool lightweight, parallelogram action, aesthetics.

Front / Comp V has funky neat reverse action, feels most natural. Aesthetics (again); just look on how the cage matched the chainring.

Shifters / for style points and note the Suntour '888' or perhaps chain around the outer.

Also using a Suntour 888 freewheel.


V for Viscount!



Below is the original equipped Shimano 500 rear and front Thunderbird.



Thinking back to the Lambert years, they were bold to build not only frames, forks but also components. Very few attempted, such as Zeus.

I've seen a few original Lamberts with their own derailleurs. Rather crude stuff.

Garbage product or not, imagine the associated cost - R/D, tooling, manufacturing etc..



Funny~ While out on it last Summer, a dizzy woman walked up and took a close look. Complimented of the 'pretty bike' and incorrectly pronounced Viscount, asking "where is there a Viscount (like discount) store?!"

uncle uncle

I like your aesthetic choices Crank, and being a Suntour fanboy, might steal them from you when I get to updating my Viscount Aerospace. BTW, I pronounce it like "discount" too, even after hearing the Britt's pronounce it with a long "I" vowel sound. I can't seem to break my habit there.

noglider 

I bet most people pronounce it to rhyme with "discount," but for what it's worth, it's VYE-count, as the 's' is silent.

retiredguru

I believe this was the same ad I purchased mine from. Around $190 when finally shipped.

retiredguru

I thought the lugless frame was gorgeous. Pedals and BB creaked in use--I eventually had the BB Italian threaded for a Campy BB set I had.

steve sumner

our shop BITD was a Lambert and later Viscout dealer. I remember hand filing 1/2 inch washers to fit behind
the crank arms when the crank bolt bottomed out. no taper to the spindle (they didn't do any homework)
the seatpost binder bolt was Whitworth for no good reason just to be quirky

noglider 

The handlebar clamp bolt on the stem was also Whitworth. I suspect the reason for the Whitworth bolts was old stock hanging around. They were probably plentiful enough in the factory that the folks there didn't think of them as quirky.

Worst was the crank fixing bolts, also Whitworth, or at least not metric. I was lucky that @top506 sent me a pair when I lost mine. What else could I have done?

79pmooney

crank_addict, my fork broke when I did a completely routine bunny hop over a construction ditch that I had jumped probably 100 times (on my regular training route.) I knew it so well I could jump it clean on my fix gear. The temporary pavement was about an inch below road surface. The hop was just to spare my sewups. Downhill so I was going ~30 and no big hop was needed to clear easily. Came down and guess what - no fork, no front wheel, just a brake cable that wasn't up to the job.

Ben

steve sumner

to noglider: at least by that era the Brits had moved past the times when they had different bolts for different applications
ie: bicycle thread, automobile thread, airplane thread with no interchangeability ( it's hard to grasp their way of thinking)

noglider 

Wow, I hadn't heard about that.

Wulf

I bought one in 72 lugged frame, threaded bottom bracket. I attempted a U-turn on a backed road and miscalculated my speed, hitting the 4 inch curb and going down a 15 foot embankment. Clips and straps kept me in the saddle and I stayed upright and peddled back up to the road. Fork undamaged. I rode it for another5 years.
I replaced the rear derailer within 2 weeks of buying the bike. I had it delivered with Berthet pedals so I didn't have pedal issues.

Kdogbikes

Out on the Viscount this morning. Don’t ride it much and sometimes think of passing it along. Thing is, the bike rides and stops better than most of my mid range 10 speeds.

billnuke1 

As found...I am inspired to take short, brisk ride on this tomorrow! Well maybe, absolutely!

billnuke1 

Gotta really wanna ride it! Sew ups still holding air! Actually not as hard to get to as it probably looks...

SurferRosa

Maybe they ran out of bolts.

JohnDThompson 

The profusion of bolts is actually one of the things the Viscount designers did right, IMO. The Cyclotouriste rings on which the crank was based have a reputation for flexing. By adding an additional ring of bolts, the Viscount crank minimizes that isssue.

Kdogbikes

A good amount of bolts for sure. Took forever to polish up. As for the non flexing... it does makes sense because the bike does feel responsive on the hills.

billnuke1 

fishyfishy123

So how does a Viscount Trusty (1976 I think) compare to a Univega Viva Sport?

I have a Viscount w/ Trusty sticker on it, and it wasn't something I aimed to get. I took my old Univega Viva Sport w/ updated brakes to a bike shop for a tune up. They tuned it up, did a crummy job w/ the brakes (brake pad fell off in middle of ride!), so I took it back and they apologized and said they'd have their head mechanic look at it and do a safety check all over. He said they shouldn't have accepted it because the year triangle was out of alignment. He said I could have a refund, or he'd rebuild the bike with the Viscount frame no extra charge. I took the rebuild and voila. Not sure how they compare. I hadn't measured my Univega, but I have practically zero clearance for the tires. He was sure to point out that he used my Univega fork, but he just said it was "better" than the original. To say the least!

TPL

The Lambert cranks used had a 'perfect' square = NO TAPER ....really poor design that would lead to cranks that would not stay tight on the spindle