abiller

Right, apologies to Wieyone, I'm getting my forums mixed up. The TJQ history and link to an early frame in an e-bay auction are on Retrobike:

Oh, apparently not allowed to post links yet

Obvious prefix plus .retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=206881&start=10

And the e-bay auction link is here:

Obvious prefix plus .ebay.co.uk/itm/T-J-QUICK-CYCLES-VINTAGE-REYNOLDS-531-DOUBLE-BUTTED-ROAD-FRAME-1960s-MINT-/351326170623?rmvSB=true&hash=item51ccabedff&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&clk_rvr_id=1306446384172&nma=true& si=g2RWZEr7DzyXZe0E9poUKGp3RPc%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557


I know that frame looks too good to be true ... but it's just like my Dad's, except that my Dad's had been ridden for 15 years!

My apologies once again! Long weekend and a bit tired, though also excited at the prospect of sorting the bike after so many years.

RandolphCarter

That is beautiful.

Big Block

ebay link
from that listing there are a few useful photos
(I have cropped these)




as for the gears, it may have been set up as a single speed freewheel, or fixed, or fixed/free. Hubs are not a problem, given your location.
have a look through the Readers bikes at Classic Lightweights, concentrating on the year you think the frame was built to see what others were using.
For my late 1940s to mid 1950s frames I have an Osgear, Simplex TDF, Cyclo Benelux, Campagnolo Gran Sport gears and I have a less common Sturmey Archer ASC (three speed fixed) to go onto the nearly finished Blue Riband. So plenty of options. Hubs are Airlites (large flange), Chater Lea (small flange), (and obviously Sturmey Archer).

Hugo's database on the bikes presented is very helpful when you apply the filters. I have used it many times.

You should decide on the gearing before you get it resprayed, as respacing the rear dropouts is best done before the paint goes on, but you should be able to accommodate the period 3, 4 or 5 speed freewheel.

What are the components you are going to use, and are any thought to be original to the frame?

DMC707

Wow! Cool bikes !

abiller

as for the gears, it may have been set up as a single speed freewheel, or fixed, or fixed/free.

=================

Absolutely spot on! When I inherited it it had a fixed/free. I squeezed a 4 speed onto it when in my teens and the last wheel on it that I still have (non-descript provenance, but a 110mm hub) has a 5 speed freewheel.

I have a problem with the re-spacing ... I want to be able to ride and enjoy the bike (it's been an unused museum piece for far too long) ... so re-spacing is very tempting, I've grown to used to the modern ways, but also I want to mess with the frame as little as possible ... and that curved fork spacer at the rear isn't an off-the-shelf part (though I have some thoughts).

Ideal I'd have a set of vintage wheels etc (just because) and a reasonably interchangeable set of reasonably modern bits to ride on regular basis (Saturday morning keeping fit ... no marathon endurance rides here).


Anyway, thanks for links to possible sources of suitable hubs ... I'm not ruling out a 4/5 speed with friction shifter if that maintainable. Would the community forgive me a double chain ring I wonder??

Original bits ... fewer than I'd like. GB 'Coureur' brakes and a GB alloy bars. Wish I still had the original GB large flange hubs, they could probably be re-axled and coned, but I think that they've gone.

Big Block

If it is a early to mid-1950s, then a front changer is period-correct, either a rod type or pull chain.
But there wasn't a large difference in the teeth.
so a 5 speed freewheel and a double chainring is most suitable. I have that on my 1952 EA Boult. It would have been cutting edge at the time.
1954 Holdsworth Aids has the chainsets at p14-15, freewheels at p16-17, front and rear changers at p16-19 (note the price of the Campagnolo!)
Hubs are on p23.
I have my bikes set up period correct, but they get ridden, yesterday was 50km for the 5 speed Cyclo Benelux.
For hills rides, I bring out my carbon fibre bike as I like its weight, gearing and brakes.
GB Coureur brakes are nice, I have a few sets in use (together with the earlier GB Hiduminium 'Standard') as well as GB alloy bars in the Maes bend. GB didn't make hubs, they were probably Airlite 'Continental' and these come up frequently on the UK ebay. I have two sets in use. Blumfield, Chater Lea and Harden sell for a premium.
Have a read of Wheels for 1945-60s classic lightweights

abiller

Wow, you're good at this. In my Dad's box of bike bits was a strange looking chain tensioner; a single sprocket on the end of a long arm that would fix to the chain stay. I'm pretty sure that there was also something recognisable as a front derailleur ... but i never, ever found a double chain ring. I don't think I've ever seen one of these things assembled and working, but I always assumed that it was a 'front, 2-speed' ... presumably only ever working with the fixed/free wheel put on the 'free' way round ... I'd hate to think what might happen if you tried to use the front derailleur with a fixed rear.

There were a few other mysterious bits in that box too!

Sadly the box of bits, along with the large flange hubs (and levers but they were pretty floppy by the 70's already) is/are long gone. I apologies, but things were different in the 70's. Cycling, along with other now top Olympic sports like rowing and sailing were very untrendy minority sports. We had to wait for the MTB revolution to change all that.

Big Block

If it wasn't an ordinary tensioner, it could have been an Osgear (or the other variants) tensioner.
Have a look at Constrictor Osgear
If you go to near the bottom of the page there is a comment from Dave Orr. I have Dave's bike (the EA Boult) and I have one of his Osgears on a Hobbs of Barbican (last ridden two weeks ago).

I had my father's 1948 lightweight updated in the early 1970s. All the original fittings were replaced, all the original highly decorated paint removed and fresh paint applied.
In 2009 I started to restore the frame and return period components.
I thought I was finished, but then the GB brake cable lubricators came up for sale...

Bad Lag

Wow!, those are two seriously excellent bikes. That is the nicest straight fork I have ever seen and the only one I actually like.


Personally, I like the cantilevered brakes. Set up properly and with fresh pads, they stop as well as anything out there. Although a simple mechanism, they also have a degree of visual complexity to them I like as well.

abiller

OK. I've been away for a while, but went up to Mercian in Derby today to collect the restored frame. I'm a happy bunny. Hope my Dad would be too. The purists may frwon, but I actually wamnt to ride this frame and enjoy it, so I've had the rear forks re-spaced for a 130mm 700C wheel, which meant putting a new bridge in the rear forks, but they've had a darned good go at maintaining the beautiful curve of the original. Forks are filed out slightly for modern axles. Dowtube shifter mounts for modern shifters (if 'modern downtube shifter' isn't a paradox) and some bottle cage mounts ... yep, I intend to ride and enjoy this.

So here's a picture ... and thank you for everyone who helped me get there. Huge thanks to everyone at Mercian for a fantastic job and H Lloyd for coming up with brilliant recreations of the original decals. So the next job is to find parts that are silver/alloy not grey or black. Again, apologies to the purists, but I don't think Dad would have ridden a frame with 60 year old tech on it either .... but I'll do my best to keep it looking 'close enough'.

non-fixie 

That looks really great! Not sure what I'll think once you've got your SRAM Red mounted, but I'll keep an open mind.

TenGrainBread 

Beautiful.

abiller

Ha! After paying for all that (though worth every penny) it will be a long time before I can afford a SRAM Red. Might have to go Campy to get a silver alloy rear mech ... would you forgive me that?

non-fixie 

It's your bike and of course you can do anything you want with it. I'd keep it silver, but I'd be tempted by an early 9-speed Record group.