ascherer 

47Ronin This is work of the heart. Thank you for sharing this journey with us, I hope it brings you as much satisfaction working with your father's gear is it does for us following along.

merziac

47Ronin

Again, fantastic!

Tx for sharing, we live for this stuff.

Please do not rule anything out or dispatch any parts or frames till you get a good foothold.

We will get you going and help as much as we can, especially in the enabling department.

I believe Ted Pritchard's niece? chimed in here a while back, I would encourage you to try and reach out to her for more info.

Maybe someone better than me can pull up the thread?

My Dad was not a cyclist but he did make sure I had bikes and seemed to get the quality aspect somewhat so I am grateful for that and the fact that he was a pretty good wrench, cars mostly but many other things as well so I had it in my DNA and started with bikes then cars professionally, drag racing motorcycles and plenty else.

northbend 

What a great collection. Your dad had very good taste in bicycles. Another person who you could contact if you want an expert opinion on how to restore that Pritchard is Kevin Sayles in Leeds via Woodrup Cycles.

Big Block

Wonderful to see you want to work with the bikes, and not just wanting to be rid of them.
I have sent you a Private Message with a number of links which you may find useful.
They should keep you self isolated for months!

Philip

Chombi1 

You might reconsider using those Fiamme rimmed wheels for daily riders. The lightest versions of those Italian made rims are know to be quite soft and should be reserved for just racing and lighter riders. They don't catastrophically fall apart, but they just don't stay true for many miles for most people. I think it mostly has to do with the soft aluminum alloys used back then by Fiamme = "Chocolate" rims.

Eric F 

Wow!! What a wonderful collection!

I recently finished re-building my dad's bike. I hope you get an much enjoyment and satisfaction out of your project(s) as I did out of mine.

47Ronin

Hi all
thanks for your helpful info and messages.
I’m currently deciding which one to start first but in the meantime I’ve identified that I have 6 Brampton B8 pedals and I would like to get them bright and shiny. Any hints or tips on fluid I can soak them in or cleaners I can use before elbow grease is required?
Cheers all and stay safe.

merziac

Being as they likely need overhauled as well and you have what you need to disassemble them, you could strip them down and soak in Evap-o-rust or oaxalic acid, if not, Turtle wax chrome polish and cleaner will get a lot of it off and can get most corrosion off many things when applied with enough elbow grease.

wawine

What a great story. Not only the wonderful collection, but the fantastic connection to your dad, especially in this difficult time.

I am a big fan of not repainting bikes, unless they have already been repainted before, or there is such catastrophic damage that there is no option. There are lots of perfect, shiny and pristine restorations out there, but to my eye, I prefer nicks and scrapes from use, as they tell me more of a story than a restoration. This would be especially true for me if I were in your situation.

every time you take one of these bikes out to ride in dinged and scraped condition, or just to admire it, you will think of your dad. If this same bike were now a perfect restoration, would you think of it the same way? Maybe you would, maybe you wouldn’t.

Eventually, you may decide that you need to sell some of these. If that happens, most collectors want to do the work themselves, so ‘original’ will sell easier and when you factor in the cost of restoration, ‘original’ will also provide a better return.

I ride glue on (tubular) tires almost exclusively. The ride of good sew up tires is something special, especially if you are putting them on an early bike like these. However, a word of caution. Many of the rims you have are probably track rims, as most of the frames are. Try to get help sorting them first, especially the rims for the track tandem. Tandem rims likely have more spokes, so should be easy to spot. Older track rims generally do not have a sidewall which works well with rim brakes, so using them on a road bike can be very dangerous, if braking is used.

47Ronin

Hi all
continued thanks to everyone.
Good news, following a lead from Big Block to a Hobbs site I’ve heard back from Bruce Robbins and the Tandem
appears to date from January 1951.

Tomorrow I will try to identify the tandem wheels if possible and begin cleaning some of the B8 pedals.
I’m torn whether to remove the added braze ons, derailleur etc to return it as close as possible to the original
or use as is. With multiple gears it’s more useable but it would likely look better without the added clutter.

Maybe I should start a separate thread for each bike.

Thanks again

kenhawkeye

I live in Swanage. Not sure where you are, but when this lockdown is over contact me and I'll try my best to help you.

67tony 

Awesome collection, and great replies from the vintage experts.
I'm sure there was some significant drool on more than a few keyboards...

The only thing I might add is to maybe start off with a two-wheeled bike.
Especially if you are new to the trade, tackling the tandem adds a bit of extra complexity to the rebuild.

Naturally, that's just an opinion, and you know what they say about opinions and a$$holes?
Yup...everybody's got one!

merziac

Separate threads would be good.

While the tandem is a bit oddusual, it absolutely was done by one of the very few that could/should/would have taken this on and is now in a state befitting its history, though convoluted it may be.

Your Dad with the skill of Roberts made this a one of a kind, no way I would change that.

47Ronin

Thanks Merziac,
the tandem is so close to rideable I’ve decided to leave it as it is, add period pedals and bars and get it out for this summer. It’s easily more useable for unfit legs with the derailleur as well although that 58t chainring is
going to be fun.

merziac

Atta boy.

Just changing the chainring wouldn't change the landscape but it would change the access to the landscape.

Kabuki12

Very nice collection of some rare stuff. I especially like the Hetchins , but all is nice. Hopefully you will pick up the torch and carry on with this and maybe get a couple back on the road. Keep the spirit going.

Tinkel

Yes the Hetchins is very nice esspecially the paint scheme

kenhawkeye

Nice Photo and a great bike collection. You came to the right place here; plenty of knowledgeable riders always willing to give advice. As for any possible repaint, we are very fortunate in the UK to still have some great frame builders who do very good repaints. As well as the ones already mentioned, there's Argos in Bristol and Bob Jackson in Leeds. Argos may just have the edge in quality but are a bit more expensive, I just had my Bob Jackson re-finished by Bob Jackson's and it looks great. I don't repaint unless the damage is way beyond patina, but it'd been hanging in a shed for 25 years. They blast and treat for rust before the repaint. They used to make the curly stay Hetchins in the 1970's and have owned the Hetchins brand for a long time, so if you need to pick brains about Hetchins, they should be the first stop. Have fun and take care

kenhawkeye

The Brampton B88 pedals are 40's 50's

47Ronin

Hi all
as well as buying the bikes off Dad (because I couldn’t face him letting them go for virtually nothing which was offered by someone) we’ve now emptied his house as it’s just sold. I now have around 850 cycling weekly magazines spanning from 1932 to 1936 (wife not impressed &#128514. Some years complete with other years much less so.
Some show copies included in the years plus a bound book spanning May 52 to Dec 53 including 2 show copies.

Much as I love looking at them and have found Dad’s name in several, if I can sell them the money will help with his care. He is 90 next year.
Any idea what value they might have gratefully received. Are some particularly sought after?
Age related condition such as rusted staples and brown page discolouration however all readable.

Cheers all.
PS. The Hetchins is now on the road. Toe clips yet to be fitted.
Still struggling to decide what wheels go on the tandem. 3 or 4 of the 20 odd wheels do have 40 spokes, is it likely to be those?

noobinsf 

Wow, what an interesting lot of bikes, and with family history to boot. A treasure trove.

Since Cycling Weekly is still being published, you may want to get a valuation from an auction house for your collection, especially since you're have a specific purpose in mind for the funds raised. I don't have the first clue how one would assign value to this collection, but in general, I know that collections are usually more valuable than individual issues, condition is a huge factor, and I would assume popularity of the current magazine factors into it as well. You may want to start by calling a bookseller who specializes in rare prints. Just a couple of ideas.

steve sumner

you should be able to get any small parts you might need along with expert advise
in the UK from Hillary Stone. also, once you start riding that Hobbs tandem you'll
find that a 58 tooth large ring is about right (not too big)

SJX426 

Yes very likely. My tandem of 1997 has 48 spoke wheels.
Carols Tandem, on Flickr
Fewer spokes, less weight!

robertorolfo

I think this thread hits home for some of us that have wondered what will happen to our bikes (and other stuff) if/when something happens to us. Mind you, I'm not even at mid-life yet, but the thoughts have occurred. A family member taking an interest seems like one of the best outcomes, so good for you.

steve sumner

the pink bikes seatstay caps (top eyes) look to be Holdsworth