Hey gang! I picked up two Viscount Aerospace bikes today both with the "death" fork. Both bikes are in great, if dirty condition. One has tubulars, the other clinchers. One has a very interesting Ideal saddle that looks like a copy of a Brooks B-52. Both are very light for their time, about 20-21 lbs. It was dark when I got home, and so no photos until tomorrow. Any info?

I hate to accused of stating the obvious but.... you need two forks *giggle*

Why would you need two "death" bikes...what will you do with the second one after you fatally crash the first??

Chombi

You got the not threaded BB shell to cope with too?
Thin wall tubeset fillet brazed.

The warrantee replacement forks were a fully sloping crown type with a plug inside the blades,
rather than a lug look .. to go top drawer .. Steel of course..

I was always afraid of those forks, but the bikes look so much better with them than with any replacement fork I've seen. I'm sure there are some pretty good histories of those bikes out on the web, the companies didn't last long and they were publicity hounds. I was never too impressed by the fact that they pretended to make better bikes than anyone else and yet they blatantly copied many existing parts. My understanding is that was part of their downfall, if they had used standard parts they wouldn't have had to do so much work and probably would have made more money

Ideale made some very nice saddles; they also made some really cheap ones that had very thin leather and it wasn't uncommon to see one that was trying to regain the shape it held while part of a cow. Those probably would be useful again if soaked, reshaped, and laced.

My Reg Harris had the same fork (replacing with a newer non death aluminum fork) but has a threaded bb.

As long as the spindle isn't trashed, refurbishing the bottom bracket is a fairly easy fix for any competent bike shop; remove the u-clips on the spindle and the press fit bearings--replacement bearings are widely available at any good bearing supply house and online as well.

A quick search here will cover all of the Viscount issues mentioned in detail.
FWIW, I put the Al fork back on my Aerospace Pro.

Top

Well my wife has the camera in her car at work so no picts today. However while doing some cleaning on these bikes I found that the hubs have sealed bearings as well. Very very smooth even after 35 years. Unbelievable. The hubs say Lambert, and are very very well made. Look a lot like a high flange Campy. High quality polished finish. The frames are very light and apparently well made. I saw one years ago naked when my buddy Jerry repainted his, and I think I remember they were very nicely fillet brazed by hand.
I think this bike was very advanced especially for a bike made in '73. Only about 21lbs. too. One bike has a Shimano Touney(?) front derailleur, the other a Suntour that shifts backwards:you PULL the lever to shift DOWN, very odd on a road bike, but was common on early mtbs, so I think it was a replacement.
I'm leaving the death forks on, since if I do ride these bikes, it'll be just on my regular rides where I'm not pounding pounding pounding every minute. Frankly, I think these bikes were a fantastic bargain, and with proper care "probably" would last as long as any other bike.
I will take photos, and start a new thread tomorrow.
The Ideal saddle is a model 6 in very good condition. When I eventually find an old Peugeot touring bike, it's going on that.

Yes, I gave a set of Lambert wheels to my brother a couple decades ago and he's still using them.

No, the early 70s SunTour front derailleurs (Spirt, Compe-V, SL) all worked that way. They were popular on tandems with long cable runs because the spring would help on the upshifts.

I like them on all my downtube shifter bikes because they work the same as the rear: BACK to downshift and FORWARD to upshift.

Top