Restored Viscount
 

I recently finished my summer restoration project, a 1977 Viscount Areospace Pro. This is my original first "racing" bike bought in 1977. It was hanging in the garage since about 1984, and after a lot of waffling, finally decided to go for it. Thanks to Sam for extra parts and Nick at Lloyds for decals. After all of these years of carbon and aluminum, steel feels real smooth, although it could be the leather saddle. I highly recommend going old school once and a while. Comments

SFF

Thank you !
I have a new background for my desktop.

If you ever want to unburden yourself of this bike,
PM me. Really.

*sNiFfLe*

I had the same bike only black downtube decal.

Very nice work.

Marty

Old luggless 531 frames are really sleek!---sam

OOps! Viscount used a rare tube supplier nor 531.But they were cr-mo and light.Welds were nicely done,lots of parts that people complained about back in the day are now standard for bikes.---sam

Wow! That is exactly my first real bike, same color, decals, everything. But yours is in perfect shape. I still have mine in a box at home. I won a few cat 3 and 4 races on that bike. You've inspired me to at least get it out and road worthy. How do I get the sealed bearing out of the bottom bracket?

with a punch and hammer! Not kidding. them take originals to a Bearing place and have them measure them for new ones---sam

The bottom bracket axle finally broke on my old viscount. I'd just been dripping oil into it for years not knowing what to make of it. Does anyone know of a complete replacement option? Hopefully not too expensive. It looks like a very nicely made frame, feels light, has the same paint job and crankset but no aerospace pro, says handmade by trusty of england. Are the bearings just pressed into the bbshell?

The correct bearing for the original bottom bracket axle is a 6003, as seen here: http://www.biketoolsetc.com/index.cg...em_id=US-B6003

Don't forget to remove the c-clips from the axle before taking the hammer + punch to it.

Phil Wood makes an axle that will work as a replacement -- its a little pricey. The bearings on most are just press fit. (I've heard early Lambert's have threaded bb's) With a liberal amount of grease, the bearings slide in without too much difficulty.

You can tap the BB shell for Italian threads, but that doesn't leave much shell thickness. On the other hand, the original spindles did tend to break at the circlip groove...

If you do find a fully original model, do not ride with the forged aluminum fork! SFF's bike has a replacement fork, probably the one supplied by the manufacturer when they recalled the aluminum unit.

Go for making it road worthy, but I must admit I spent a whole lot of time getting it into shape, the majority of it polishing the parts with a cloth wheel and white polishing compound. Oddly enought the original derailuers shift really well, and the brakes still have good stopping power. I had a heck of a time finding a 5 speed cluster, eventually I worked up a 5 speed Mallard from a old 6 speed Malliard. If your BB is still in good shape, you are lucky. I broke 2 axles and had to replace bearings when I rode this bike, but I was able to get a new (used) axle from this forum and that seems to work fine. The fork is the replacement Tange fork. I pent a lot of time in the basement of the LBS to find odds and ends, I am still looking for cello bar wrap. The other thing thats not easy to find is a pair of shoes that and cleats that fit the pedals and cages. I have an old pair of specialized that orginally were fitted for Looks that are not with cleats. All I need is a leather racing helmet............. Good luck on the resto.

SFF

The phil wood axle is pricey. The yst threadless bb is cheap and might be a possibility but it looks kind of thick in the middle considreing the intrusion of the seat and down tubes into the bb shell.
I wonder how common 17mm diameter spindles are.
Had the frame stripped so I weighed it at 1920 grams, or just under 4 1/4 pounds for a 56cm. (longish top tube and chainstays though),

I'm copying you, I've decided. My friend's dad's Aerospace G.P. is coming out of the garage VERY soon!

A couple of other vendors used 17mm press fit bearing/spindle combos. Klein, Fischer, Specialized, Merlin. Probably a couple others. Might be worth calling/writing to some of their customer support departments to see if they have any in stock, or what they recommend for replacement -- although they probably stopped using them in the late 80's or early 90's. You could also ask around in some MTB forums, to see if anyone has any spares or parts. No idea on the length of these axles, so while they may fit, who knows what sort of chainline/q-factor you'll end up with.

Just from some quick google'ing around, it looks like Klein held on to this idea in to the mid-90's. They'd be the first people I'd contact, or maybe a shop thats been a Klein vendor for the last 10+ years.

It appears from your photo that you did replace the original fork on the bike. FYI there was a major recall on the original aluminum made forks because they were snapping off at the steerer tube. Bike looks great. Tubing was welded aluminum. These bikes were quite the rage when they appeared because they were way ahead of their time, were superlight, and reasonably priced. However, they disappeared very quickly. I think that Phil is the only maker of a replacement bottom bracket .

As Frameteam says, tubing was brazed "aerospace" cro mo.

The bikes were imported to the US by Yamaha. The story I heard was that Yamaha sold these bikes in the US in exchange for permission to sell motorcycles in the UK, and this agreement was not permanent.

The "ahead of their time" features like the aluminum fork and BB spindle that tended to break were also ahead of good design, another reason they did not survive in the US.

Other unique features of these bikes included sealed hubs and needle-bearing pedals. Anyone still running these? I saw some problems with the hubs back in the day, but the pedals seemed to be pretty much bulletproof. It looks like SFF has the original Viscount center pull brakes, which worked well, but the pivots were sometimes sloppy, and the finish was crude.

Please do not think I am running down these bikes or SFF's project. Viscounts were light and rode very well. A little caution with (not) staying strictly original will yield a bike that is better than the original and provides a sweet ride. And the colorful history makes them more interesting.

SFF.......

Do you ride a motorcycle too ???
:D