Lambert of England?
 

I was at my uncle's house the other day, and in his basement, he has this old bike that says it is from "lambert of England". it was in pretty good shape, but the tires looked old, the cables were stiff, and the chain was covered in goop. The headset and hubs also probably need to be repacked and the seat post greased. He asked me if I wanted to fix it up, and being the curious lad that I am, I said sure.

It looked pretty nice, and was fairly light, probably 20-21 pounds. On the downtube, it said it was a "grand prix" model. My uncle said it was a 1974 model that he bought for $200. I did some research, and the only sites I found information on it were at sheldon brown's and classic rendezvous.

Anyway, I was wondering what sort of troubles I might run into if I tried to fix it up. it has an old simplex rear derailleur, and a double crank. I had heard that the lambert company made a lot of their own components, were these more or less just copies of suntour simplex, huret, and other manufacturers?

heres a pic I found on classic rendezvous. it looks a lot like this, but it is not a viscount, i think that this might be the year after. the crank looks similar, though.

Very interesting bike, my first real bike was a
Viscount Aerospace Pro.
First question what kind of Fork does it have? if it is a
solid cast Alu fork you may have the original "death fork"
which should be replaced. If it is a lugged fork you're fine. Yes Lambert did build alot of its own bits, one of
the few companies that did. Very innovative but be careful of the Bottom Bracket, has a pressed in set of bearings which will be rather difficult to find replacements for.
Nice Bike, I wish I still had mine, death fork and all.
Marty

I bought one new about 30 years ago, had some problems with it remember a bad hub, parts falling off, etc. I remember that at the time Lambert made a big splash because the bikes were very light for the day and a bargain (and were heavily advertised), but the brand disapeared fairly quickly due to poor quality. I think I remember also hearing something about defective forks, but am not sure...but if correct, that would be really dangerous. Anyway, IMHO it would not be worth restoring, converting to fixed gear, etc...

hes got the cast alum fork. it seems to be in ok shape though. he said that he rode it quite a bit back in the day, and later used it to commute around the army base where he lived and worked. It seems like if it hasn't broken yet, it'll be alright for a bit longer.

That cast fork was recalled years ago. The steerer tube was simply press fitted into the fork. A very bad, dangerous design. You really don't want to ride with it.

Phatman,

DON'T ride that Fork, it isn't called "THE DEATH FORK" for
nothing. . . :D
seriously, mine never failed, but I had it replaced back in
the day.
Mine had all Suntour derailleurs, lambert HS,BB,Crankset
and Brakes, was 1st year Viscount (1974).
Contrary to popular belief, they are somewhat collectable, someone was looking for one on CR recently.
What size is yours?
You can take it over to Larry Black at Mt. Airy Cycles (I think thats his
shop) really into classics.

Marty

hehe, I'm kinda excited now...a collectable!

so, about that fork...I wouldn't be able to get is replaced now would I? yamaha is still alive, and that was who bought lambert, right?

I will have to go back to his house later this week and take some real pics. the paint, etc. is good shape, it's just dirty.

as for the size, I'm not sure. My uncle bought it back in the the day and he is probably 5'9" or 5'10".

I just realized that my pic didn't show up. this is from the classic rendezvous site. it is a lot like his, but it is a lambert. the paint looks similar, and the crankset is exactly like his. man, that is a hefty chainring. probably 2mm thick.

A friend I rode with in the later 1970s was really "into" Viscounts (Lambert's later name). He worked his way up the line as he got the $ to do so. They did make a splash in their day. They weighed the same as a top line Raleigh, Motobecane and similar makes and were pretty darn close to the real toney Italian stuff for a 1/3 or so of the price.

I too would recommend chaging the fork though the only Lambert/Viscount I ever saw with a damaged fork was after it was hit by a car.

Bottom Bracket
 

Phatman,

I just happened to find this on e-buy this morning:
Lambert BB cups
The seller (Hillary Stone) is VERY reputable and well known in the
classic bike circles.
The Chainring is surprizingly light but yeah, it does look a monster.
I had the "Pro" model, top of the line with silver and black paint job
weighed 20 lbs when I bought it (complete with Lambert copy of Brooks
saddle), lightened it up some got it down to just a tad under 19.
The saddle was really uncomfortable, hard, didn't break in at all. Replaced it
with an Avocet Racing (II?).
You can check with Yamaha on the forks, but remember this was replaced
about 25 years ago (I'm thinking that I got my replacement in 78?).
The replacement was a Tange semi sloping crown, full chrome fork, you
should be able to find these (also on e-buy).
Post pics please.
(I'm kind of looking for a 21in Pro to recapture some of my mispent youth!).

Marty

heres one on our E-auctions ,'71 starting bid NZ$80 = US$40 .