My primary experience shifting with an Allvit was on a 1970 Raleigh Sprite 5-speed, and I don't know how that model would compare to the 1st style. I found it was a pretty lousy performer though that model does have its fans on this list.

I checked the Ebay stock and found this one for £15



Can't really go wrong for that price so it's in the post.
It may be terrible but it's got a wolf tooth and will do for the moment

My take would be that if you're going to the trouble to restore and ride a Holdsworth Whirlwind, it's really for the aesthetic value of the bike. So you might as well get the nicest looking components you can afford. A 1958-edition Allvit and a similar era Campagnolo Gran Sport might have similar shifting performance, but I think the Gran Sport just looks a lot prettier and only costs around $60.

A nice thing about the Whirlwind, is that it was always highly customized to the rider's specifications, as the Holdsworth catalogue makes clear. Mine has a CO2 inflator braze-on and little wheels for the derailleur cables--but no braze-ons for the brake cable! So I think that you can pretty much choose any parts that were available in the (very extensive) Holdsworth catalogue at the time, and it would be 'authentic'. Great bike, really love riding mine.

I considered an Allvit for a French bike I was building for a friend several years back. It wound up with a Huret Luxe, similar mechanism though higher end. It would have gotten an Allvit if I had found a long cage version like this one first, but she was happy so it all worked out.

I did cosider the Gran Sport but my issue is the lack of chain wrap.

I currently ride 52/36 + 13-32 so quite a wide range - wrap 35.
I can drop the top gear a bit but the Gran Sport has a wrap of 18ish I think.
The Cyclo Tourist has 35 wrap.

And I've now got the front shifter
It's in quite good condition too.



I've also managed to match the paint colour: Flamboyant Magenta
I'm currently painting the forks to check the painting process all works.

So now I can strip the frame, but it turns out the original paint is stuck on really well - where there's no rust.
I'd say it's like Imron from what I hear, only 20 years earlier. I think Imron was 1972 ish.
So I've got perfect paint + paint over rusty chrome + paint over flaking chrome + rust.
Using 180 grit emery cloth at the moment so I may be a whille.

Amazon will do 5L of Methylene Chloride for £66 but thats about 4.5L and £60 too much.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Methylene-c.../dp/B0DL48TP8M
There's also no guarantee it would work.

You might try Loctite SF 790 if you can get it there. It has methylene chloride. Can is a bit confusing because it looks like it's for gaskets removal but a few retailers sell it as paint stripper including Zoro and Sky Geek. I stumbled across it and just purchased a can to test, but I haven't had a chance to try it out yet. I was planning to post on that after my next project - whatever I can get to that one.

Loctite SF 790

https://www.henkel-adhesives.com/sv/...e_sf_7900.html
..
Looks like it would be worth trying.

But £52.54 for an 18oz can in the UK: https://www.conro.com/cleaning-mater...z-Aerosol-Can/
Or $21.60 from the US

Yowch! Yeah I got my can for around 25 usd, that's quite the price delta for the UK.

with M C…not in California.
a problem as that is a chem warfare way to lift powdercoat

Woot, bolt arrived from France and we have Simplex Retrofriction.
Not totally period (1973) but it fits the braze-on and it will do until I decide to fit something more period (that doesn't work as well).

The shifter braze-on was probably for a Cyclo shifter.
But Cyclo was trying to nick the Simplex trade in the UK so used the same thread (5mm x 1.0mm pitch) so punters could use Cyclo gear on frames fitted for Simplex.

Simplex SLJ Retro Friction shifters are available in M5 (5mm x 0.8mm) and Simplex (5mm x 1.0mm) thread but the only difference is the central bolt.
And you can buy NOS Simplex bolts from France: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284409224376

You actually have the second generation of retrofriction shifter there, which was introduced around 1981. The original 1973 pattern looks much more like it would fit into the era of the bicycle you're building up and I might recommend trying to find one of those instead:

Cheers, I just bought the cheap one to check the thread.
Then of course it turned up with the Campy compatable (M5) bolt.

I might well look for the earlier version, probably takes the same bolt too.
It's possible the only difference is the lever, I'll have to check the diagrams.

I've almost finished painting the forks - just some clear to do.
It was a test of the painting method and the new colour.
And the new colour is damn fine
I'm pretty certain it qualifies as flamboyant.




The crown was fairly rusty and I thought the chrome was dead but I polished a lot and it's actually usable.
It has pits but I've varnished the crown so hopefully the pits won't get filled with muck and water.




And if anybody wants the details here they are:

I've now got the frame unpainted: 4 days of 180 grit emery cloth and a wire brush on a dremel.
But it was worth it, this frame must have been really special back in 1953.

Fully chromed and a lot of it still there


Hand crafted fancy lugs



Some chrome missing but no real rust damage


Now I have to remove any flaking chrome, I'm thinking my oxalic acid window box might help.

Thanks for the info, very interestring.

Yep, the fork lugs are only getting clear.
I think they were unpainted originally, or I just couldn't see any traces of old paint on them.
Fork lugs are a bit 'worn' but that's life, they should be proud of it. They're actually quite shiney after polishing.
The head tube lugs would be ok with no varnish, but they do have some rust in places so I think they're getting varnish too.

I was looking at bottom brackets and discovered the one it had - Bayliss Wiley no 23 - was "single ring with derailleur".
On the same page it had Bayliss Wiley no 14 "Williams etc doubles".
And reading around it turns out Williams C34 was original spec for this bike, with Chater Lea as an upgrade.

So I've now got.
The alternative was Stronglight but I figure the Bayliss Wiley / Willliams combination is going to be "standard spacing" for 1953 so the Cyclo shifter will probably be happier.

Here's the one item I don't know what to do with yet: headset.

Original is a rusty Brampton Alatet
I don't think any amount of polishing is going to save it.


Apparently stack height is around 35mm - I measured max stack on the forks as 35.6mm.

Anybody got any ideas on an alternative headset ?
Or should I just wait for an Alatet on Ebay.

Edit: To be clear - JIS (27mm crown race) and 35ish stack height.

I got the spindle specs from.
First says 129mm, Sutherland's says 127mm.
edit: My micrometer says 128.5mm.


I'm aware TDC produced Alatet clones.
The closest I think was "Continental S", but I'm not sure of the full range.
They are more common on Ebay thought, I'll do some more reasearch.


In fact I should probably just look in Sutherland's

Edit: The Continental S has the Alatet toothed ring, the Continental J doesn't.

Found a reference I was looking for earlier:.
BW Spindles:.
Headsets:.
I'm guessing that is saying the Alatet is a copy of the Stronglight P3 ?

And Sutherland's v6 doesn't list Brampton or TDC headsets as far as I can see.

I decided to measure my rusty Alatet headset last night in the pub.
Started this morning, then I needed a locknut to assemble it dry with bearings.
Looked throught the parts stash - bingo TDC Continental S in almost NOS condition
The Continental S is the TDC with a serated ring, so I'm thinking it's supposed to be the Alatet clone.

I bought a £20 1952 Bertin a couple of years back to practise painting on and it had a headset that I put in the stash.
It's got a couple of spanner marks but no rust anywhere.

Here's what I measured

So that makes the stack heights.
But most of the difference is in the taller top nut on the Coninental S.
So looks like I can just use this.

That’s a terrific frameset! I will keep an eye on your project. Very nice, great job so far

I've found a 1955 Holdsworth catalogue: https://threespeedhub.com/wp-content...es-1955-UK.pdf
That does show prices for chrome plating, but doesn't mention cromovelato although that could be "mirror flamboyant on polished base".

It also says 'first class Continental "Stronglight" fittings'.
While searching my stash I did find the original headset for my 61 Cyclone which is a Stronglight.
I may well have to clean it up and try to identify it.

And today's stupid question is ...
..
I'm asking because the Cyclo Benelux RDs seem to be "5-speed 3/32" or 4-speed 1/8" or similar
See https://www.disraeligears.co.uk/site...erailleur.html

There's a mk8 Tourist (3rd gen) on Ebay atm and it's described as "3/4" speed.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/286196763420

And the answer is yes: CB83 (3/4 speed) and CB84 (4/5 speed).
From the 1960 price list at https://www.disraeligears.co.uk/site...ices_0691.html

So, if one happened to be holding a Mk-8 in his hand (which I am), how could he determine if it was a CB83 or CB84?