Classic & Vintage - Lambert Competition?

I picked up this frame and fork at a yard sale this morning. From what the owner told me, he was part of an ownership group of Lambert and it went under. He got several frames out of the failure: this one and a few frames designed for 3 speeds. He said it was painted and decaled by Joe Bell who was also part of the business venture. He said the frame was set up for modern components. It has a 135 OLD.

Anyone venture a guess about this frame? My google searches yield nada.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm26/mparker326/IMG_0023.jpg
http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm26/mparker326/IMG_0025.jpg
http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm26/mparker326/IMG_0024.jpg
http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm26/mparker326/IMG_0026.jpg

Great color, did the seller have any more?

Beautiful frameset! Is this the same Lambert that was Viscount?

Cheers,
Chris

I love the color. Eyelets imply there's clearance for fenders? Looks like a fun fast rainy day bike.

im in love!

Thats not a Viscount/Lambert. Wraparound seat stays say yes but lugs say no and fork is completely different.

That's nothing in the way of a Lambert that I've ever seen, although the bike is just beautiful. Now, I know very little about what happened in between Lambert going under and Yamaha taking them over and rebadging them Viscount. Knowing British industry (there are parallels to this in the motorcycle field during the same period), there's a chance that some frames were built up in a short lived reorganization attempt before Viscount. Anybody know any of the fine details about Lambert during the bankruptcy?

Something about this find sounds to me like... ...an April Fools joke. Methinks possibly the OP is so busted! I'm expecting the "real" story any moment now. Something tells me this one also might be exactly the OP's size(?).

But wait, there appears to be some genuine patina dirt about the bb shell, so could this frame have been done up this way for a dealer's convention????

Nice work of JB's there, rivals my Richard Moon! Fantastic (& in more ways than one)!

Something about this find sounds to me like... ...an April Fools joke. Methinks possibly the OP is so busted! I'm expecting the "real" story any moment now. Something tells me this one also might be exactly the OP's size(?).

But wait, there appears to be some genuine patina dirt about the bb shell, so could this frame have been done up this way for a dealer's convention????

Nice work of JB's there, rivals my Richard Moon! Fantastic (& in more ways than one)!

No it is not a joke and the bike is not my size. Look at the appraisals sub forum and see all the stuff I got from this guy. Very nice stuff. He also had an Italian made Mini, a Velosolex Moped, a very nice Ciocc, and much more. He had a stack of tee shirts that said Lambert cycles on them (I have one under the BB in my picture).

Based on the posts above, It seems plausible that this is a name only Lambert business venture that didn't work out. Is Joe Bell approachable? Would he remember something like this? He had painted the three other "Lamberts" that the guy had.

There's a little (very little) in the CR archives about this "Mark 2" attempt to resurrect the Lambert marque:
"2003 Lambert MK2 Competition bicycle frame. Built for the 2003 Interbike
Trade Show held in Las Vegas Nevada. >>

I missed seeing this bike frame at the show.. Did anyone else who went to
Interbike see it?

<< ..... As with all Lambert MK2 bicycle frames this frame is constructed in
England with Reynolds 531 double butted tubes and fork stays. "

This tidbit is a quote from somebody who saw a F&F on eBay in 2006 (asking price was something outrageous, maybe $3000.) and response was from Dale (the CR boss) who remembered the attempted debut at around 2003...apparently it wasn't successful.
Dale thought the Americans who were in on this venture had a HQ office in Atlanta, but they didn't respond to Dale's invite to show up at his annual event in NC (Cirque), so he concluded they were overwhelmed with business troubles and/or under-financed.
I've never seen or heard of one of these till now, but looks like really nice finishing, if not really nice in general...but wouldn't have paid $3K for one!

There's a little (very little) in the CR archives about this "Mark 2" attempt to resurrect the Lambert marque:
"2003 Lambert MK2 Competition bicycle frame. Built for the 2003 Interbike
Trade Show held in Las Vegas Nevada. >>

I missed seeing this bike frame at the show.. Did anyone else who went to
Interbike see it?

<< ..... As with all Lambert MK2 bicycle frames this frame is constructed in
England with Reynolds 531 double butted tubes and fork stays. "

This tidbit is a quote from somebody who saw a F&F on eBay in 2006 (asking price was something outrageous, maybe $3000.) and response was from Dale (the CR boss) who remembered the attempted debut at around 2003...apparently it wasn't successful.
Dale thought the Americans who were in on this venture had a HQ office in Atlanta, but they didn't respond to Dale's invite to show up at his annual event in NC (Cirque), so he concluded they were overwhelmed with business troubles and/or under-financed.
I've never seen or heard of one of these till now, but looks like really nice finishing, if not really nice in general...but wouldn't have paid $3K for one!

That pieces it all together.

The man told me he lived in Atlanta for years until he moved to Knoxville to take care of his aging father. He told me that the business didn't make it and he wound up with this frame plus 3 three speed frames (which were gorgeous 531 frames as well).

I paid considerably less than 3K for it so I am quite pleased. Thanks for the info. I looked over on CR but didn't search the archives.

It's pretty ballin.

I dug up the bikelist question about one of these bikes:


The eBay ad states:
----------------------------------------------------------
2005 NOS Lambert Tourist Trophy MK2 3 Speed Bicycle. HANDMADE IN
ENGLAND. Reynolds 531 Butted tubing, Lambert Pop Art Purple, TA Crank,
Nitto handle bars/stem/seatpost, Brooks saddle, Mavic rims, Tubus rear
rack, Shimano brakes, SKS fenders, MKS pedals. This bike will arrive
completly assembled, all you need to do is insert the seatpost with
saddle. This is probably the finest 3 speed bicycle ever produced and
it's still in production today! A new Tourist Trophy is now over
$3000.00 and there's a 8 month waiting list.

I wound up with a lot of the stuff that was on these bikes. At the same sale, I got a NOS: Brooks, Nitto Stem & Bars, SKS fenders, & Tubus rear rack. Glad I waited on the yard sale instead of the ebay sale.

Somebody has either bought the rights to the brand name, is using it illegally (assuming someone still has ownership of the brand), or there's a frame builder with the surname of Lambert turning out bikes. Definitely something new to me.

Apologies to the OP, but I checked my suspicion with the possibility of a show bike (I had no idea it was a 2000's frame tho).

Since I was at the 2003 show, and the ones before and after that one, I have to say that if I saw this brand I remember nothing of it.

Interbike kind of overwhelms one's memory, since there are so many new and special bikes and frames on display.

Surely Joe Bell would remember this, and is still in business. He is really respected by the k.o.f. crowd, btw.

That paint job alone looks like a grand. What a crazy sale to find while looking at garage sales! Did you wet your pants?

While Googling around I stumbled across this website with a couple pics of a Lambert MK2 frame. Joe Bell was apparently selling them at a San Diego swap meet.

http://howtostretch.com/bikegalleryforsale.html

Bike Frames from the one, the only Joe Bell: OK, saw my buddy Joe Bell at the San Diego swap meet, and like usual, he had some cool frames for sale. The Lambert was built by Bob Jackson, and takes a 3 speed rear hub! the orange one is kinda an all rounder, but has a long top tube (56 cm) so it would work best with portuer bars or drop bars, if you are built like a gorilla. I am posting these for him, he has more, btw, stuff that just takes up stuff in his shop but he does not market them. So, call him at (XXX) XXX-XXXX, and ask him about the bikes on Mark's web page. There were a whole table full of steel bobish bikes, some without paint, ready for your color! I get nothing out of this besides helping a friend out, btw.

http://howtostretch.com/bike%20stuff/joebell3.jpg

http://howtostretch.com/bike%20stuff/joebell2.jpg

well hey: Built by Bob Jackson, painted by Joe Bell...not too shabby!

The long-point lug running up the underside of the downtube is nothing like I can recall seeing before.

Well damn, that is really nice! To bad it doesn't fit you.

What a crazy sale to find while looking at garage sales! Did you wet your pants?

I responded to a CL ad that had something like this in the title: High end vintage English 531 frames for sale. He wouldn't say what they were and would only send directions to his yard sale on the upcoming Saturday. I responded on Monday and never heard back. I responded again when I saw the ad again on Wednesday. He sent out directions Friday evening. Not knowing what to expect, I told myself it would probably be some beat up Super Courses. The yard sale turned out to be in a self-storage facility. He showed me the frames - 1 Competition, & 3 of the 3 Speed frames. He asked me if I knew who Joe Bell was and that he had painted 3 of the 4 frames. The 4th frame is primed and not painted. Since they were too small for me, I passed. I asked about if he had other bike parts and he kept bringing out boxes with the goodies pictured in my appraisal thread. I was really trying to be cool about the whole thing but was "about to wet my pants" about the possibilities. I figured I couldn't afford it as it was really nice stuff. I piled stuff up that I was interested in and asked him what he wanted for it. He said make me an offer. I made him go first and said we'd work on it from there. He made me a "I want this stuff gone" offer and I took him up on it. I could afford more, so I looked through more stuff and made him an offer on more components. I asked him what he wanted for the frames and he gave me a nice offer as well. I passed as I didn't know if the frames were really legit and they were too small for me.

He gave me a tour of all his other cool stuff in other buildings there.

I left but was already regretting not buying a frame. I figured it was probably legit because the guy didn't seem shady at all. The frame was nice and light and looked the part although I knew Lambert was long gone. There was an ATM nearby, so I got the cash out for a frame and went back. I then bought the Competition because it was the biggest and had a Stronglight headset in it. I figured the Joe Bell paint job was worth a lot (although at that time, I didn't see the JB on the paint and was taking him at his word).

He didn't sell any of the 3 speed frames at the sale because I saw an ad later in the day. I emailed him back saying that if he doesn't sell everything in a few days, to give me a call and we can work out something. He got back to me and said he would let me know as he needed the storage bin clean by 9/1. We'll see if I wind up with more frames. I don't need them, but maybe I can build them up for my wife and kids.

If anyone is interested a 3 speed frame, PM me and I can facilitate. They look identical to the one that Joe Bell is holding in the photo above. I asked if what made them 3 speed frames was the lack of derailleur hanger and he said that and the pulley braze on on the top tube.

The long-point lug running up the underside of the downtube is nothing like I can recall seeing before.

then check out some olde stuff from British marques like Mercian:
http://www.classicrendezvous.com/British_isles/Mercian/Mercian_catalog.htm
and I'm sure there were others who liked the super-long-spearpoint treatment on the BB

Wow. I wish they were bigger!

Do you know what size the three speed frames are?

Looks like it was a very short lived company - not much left of the site other than the frame specs -

http://web.archive.org/web/20040609222826/http://lambertbicycles.com/

Looks like it was a very short lived company - not much left of the site other than the frame specs -

http://web.archive.org/web/20040609222826/http://lambertbicycles.com/

Hah! '...built in a small village North of London."
A small village like Leeds, maybe? :)

I wonder if that lifetime warranty still applies?

Oh yeah, that's the stuff, gorgeous frame.

I'm going to out myself as one of the buyers of the 3-speed frames, I'm expecting mine to arrive in the next few days and am really excited about building it up as a gift for my wife. mparker326 has been amazing in offering these to the BF community, it's a privilege to work with him! Here are a couple of the photos I've been obsessing over for the last few days:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-AXR29G5w6L8/UD-NWD6dZvI/AAAAAAAAC9Y/I8XPuUL9IiU/s800/lambert_01.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Os2FrGxrBfU/UD-NWpT483I/AAAAAAAAC9g/6vYYlB2vJz0/s800/lambert_02.jpg

Got my Lambert today and it's even more lovely in person! The paint is a bit more purple than it appears in the photos - a gorgeous color and very nicely done by Mr. Bell. I haven't fitted it up with wheels yet, but I'm curious to see if 650a will fit. I hope the others who bought these frames are as pleased as I am.

I purchased the unpainted frame and took a chance contacting Joe Bell for information. What do you know - he not only remembered, but graciously gave me a few minutes of his time to talk about them.

The guy who started the company bought the Lambert name, contracted Bob Jackson to build the frames and Joe Bell to paint them. As far as he knows, the company didn't get off the ground and his guess is there are maybe a handful of these frames in existence. JB estimates he painted 10 frames in all. Looks like you guys have an extremely rare Bob Jackson/Joe Bell frame.

I passed along to him the link to this thread also. We'll see if he pops his head in here. I know this isn't the for sale forum, but he mentioned he has one last small 3 speed frame and he is willing to sell it. I don't want to post his contact info here, but his number is easily found on the web if you are interested or PM me and I'll give it to you.

mparker326 - if you didn't know it already, you made a great find!

mparker326 is good in my book, too. ;)

I purchased the unpainted frame and took a chance contacting Joe Bell for information. What do you know - he not only remembered, but graciously gave me a few minutes of his time to talk about them.

The guy who started the company bought the Lambert name, contracted Bob Jackson to build the frames and Joe Bell to paint them. As far as he knows, the company didn't get off the ground and his guess is there are maybe a handful of these frames in existence. JB estimates he painted 10 frames in all. Looks like you guys have an extremely rare Bob Jackson/Joe Bell frame.

I passed along to him the link to this thread also. We'll see if he pops his head in here. I know this isn't the for sale forum, but he mentioned he has one last small 3 speed frame and he is willing to sell it. I don't want to post his contact info here, but his number is easily found on the web if you are interested or PM me and I'll give it to you.

mparker326 - if you didn't know it already, you made a great find!

Thanks for the additional info. From what I've read already, I figured we were in an exclusive club. If someone starts a "show off your Lambert Mk.II" thread, it will be pretty lonely :)

I've played around with the frame this afternoon and determined that I'd need very long reach brakes to use 650a wheels (though I think it could work,) so it will get 700c with as large a tire as I can fit. What are your plans for the unpainted frame?

Of all the marques to buy. This one is like taking a Jaguar and replacing all the trim and paint to be a Dodge Neon.

I purchased the unpainted frame and took a chance contacting Joe Bell for information. What do you know - he not only remembered, but graciously gave me a few minutes of his time to talk about them.

The guy who started the company bought the Lambert name, contracted Bob Jackson to build the frames and Joe Bell to paint them. As far as he knows, the company didn't get off the ground and his guess is there are maybe a handful of these frames in existence. JB estimates he painted 10 frames in all. Looks like you guys have an extremely rare Bob Jackson/Joe Bell frame.

I passed along to him the link to this thread also. We'll see if he pops his head in here. I know this isn't the for sale forum, but he mentioned he has one last small 3 speed frame and he is willing to sell it. I don't want to post his contact info here, but his number is easily found on the web if you are interested or PM me and I'll give it to you.

mparker326 - if you didn't know it already, you made a great find!

Thanks for the info. I love it when folks like Joe Bell are approachable and can remember details after years have passed.

I moved the Competition on to another forum member. I kept the smallest 3speed frame for my daughter. Keep us posted on the paint job and build up on your frame.

Of all the marques to buy. This one is like taking a Jaguar and replacing all the trim and paint to be a Dodge Neon.

I'd say more like taking a Jaguar and re-branding it as a Tucker.

I should chime in too...I'm the one here tasked with doing the Competition justice. +2 props for Mark for this. We are both in the same town, so that worked out nicely. Right now the frame is hanging in my workshop (actually forcing myself to not do anything with it until I finish a road bike project I have for a 16 year old family friend). I have all the pieces to build it in any number of directions, but not sure what direction I'll go...I haven't gathered from the pieces of info folks have found how the Competition was originally built (if any were?). Oh, and yes, the photos don't do justice to the beauty of these frames.