Classic & Vintage - My old Viscount

Hi Y'all. First post here.
I bought this old bike about ten years ago for cheap. Been riding off and on for those ten years. Never really thought much about who made it or anything, all I knew was it was a nice ride. Recently I was talking to another cyclist on a local trail who commented about my Viscount. He mentioned it might be somewhat collectable. So I did a little research on it and read about the infamous aluminum fork. So I looked at mine and it has a steel fork.
So my questions are: Did Viscount, in the later years, put steel forks on them, or were all of them retrofit?
And, Did Viscount use Shimano derailers, or are they also retrofit.
I was thinking about upgrading some components, but hesitant to, until I find out if it might be worth something to someone in its present (original?) state.

Don,

I rode a Viscount aerospace pro back in the 70's. I really liked it.
Here's ther story.
Originally they were Lambert cycles. British bike with unusual componentry,
much of it made by Lambert or branded as lambert.
At some point in time they were bought by Yamaha who rebranded them Viscount.
The original "death fork" was an cast aluminium sloping crown fork, that reportedly
failed (I commuted on mine and had no problems). There are pics of the fork on
Classic Rendezvous, and when taken apart they were dicey at best. Yamaha recalled
all the forks and sent replacement chromed steel forks (Tange? not sure).
They came with an assortment of componentry, based on the model
I believe most Derailleurs were Suntour VGT, and VGT Lux (on the ones I've seen).
Mine came with Cyclone but that was an upgrade done by LBS.
Yes they are somewhat collectable, especially if you still have the original
Lambert parts.
As stated at CR site on Lambert/Viscount:


What are they worth? To be seen as "collectable", people need to know about a maker, and care about it....That puts the Lambert in trouble. Maybe someday they will be discovered, but right now you would have trouble finding an informed buyer at all.

Marty

Thanks Lotek. I guess with the Shimano stuff and the gel seat, it wouldn't qualify as "original". I think I'll just leave it alone and enjoy riding it the way it is.
Thanks again.

Don,

The shimano might be original, the seat probably isn't. Mine came with
a Viscount branded copy of a Brooks B17, rock hard and heavy as hell.
But then so is a B17, the only difference is the B17 is comfortable. The Viscount
saddle almost put me off Brooks saddles for life.
what derailleurs does your bike have? I have heard of Viscounts coming
with Shimano Crane as standard.
Yeah I'd ride it and enjoy it. every once in a while I think I should find me
one of the old viscounts to recapture some of my mispent youth. . .

Marty

Lotek, they are Shimano deraillurs, and the gel seat I put on there myself. Couldn't handle the original for too long. It was brutal. I don't even know if I still have the original.
Cool. I've put hundreds of miles on that bike and I've always enjoyed it. I guess I'll enjoy it even more now, knowing it's not just some ol' bike I picked up for thirty bucks at a garage sale.

Hi I have a 70s 10 speed, Yamaha 'Viscount - Denver' in black with gold pinstriping.

Just got the frame without a seat or wheels. Everyhing else looks original. Brakes and handle lever bases are copper plated with a antiqued look. Has a badge and those chromey decals on the seat post tube. Viscount is in upper case italics in gold, while the denver is on the top rail in the same format. Stem is extended forward, quite long.
I will try to post some pics if html is allowed here?//?/
Have since put some wheels on it from a Healing. Most parts look original and the derailleur at the back appears to be early shimano.

<a href="http://tinypic.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i39.tinypic.com/mcc1ax.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>
http://i39.tinypic.com/mcc1ax.jpg

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http://i44.tinypic.com/2qu64n4.jpg

The Aerospace Pro I'm working on at the moment came with Shimano Crane RD and Tiltist FD, Shimano friction DT band mount shifters.
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