1949 Rotrax Vel d'Hiv Track Frame - My Latest Project
07-03-12, 07:00 PM
#1
十人十色
Thread Starter
1949 Rotrax Vel d'Hiv Track Frame - My Latest Project
I bought this back in October but it wasn't until May that I got to England to pick it up and bring it back to Tokyo. It's a 25" track frame, which is unusual, and it took me a couple of years to find it. I decided to buy it as soon as the seller sent me these photos (the wheels were just to show the frame and not part of the sale):
[IMG]
1949 Rotrax Vel d'Hiv by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]
1949 Rotrax Vel d'Hiv by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]
1949 Rotrax Vel d'Hiv by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
It has cast lugs and period paint and original transfers and head badge:
[IMG]
1949 Rotrax Vel d'Hiv by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
I removed the badge to clean the frame - it's attached with screws as per racing regulations requiring it to be removed for racing. Cleaning it with Simple Green has caused a little of the paint to flake - bad move:
[IMG]
1949 Rotrax Vel d'Hiv by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
There was a liner inserted into the BB shell. Removing it allowed a small amount of rusted metal to come out so I cleaned inside the down tube with small drain-cleaning brushes and treated it, and the chain stays with WaxOyl:
[IMG]
1949 Rotrax Vel d'Hiv by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
WaxOyl is messy stuff but perfect for stopping rust inside tubes. You spray it in until it runs out and then leave the oil part to evaporate, which then leaves behind an anti-rust wax coating. I've learnt to leave stuff so treated hanging in the sun for a few days since using it on my Katakura Silk and having it ooze out of the BB whenever I rode it in the sun.
[IMG]
1949 Rotrax Vel d'Hiv by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]
1949 Rotrax Vel d'Hiv by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG][IMG]
1949 Rotrax Vel d'Hiv by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG][IMG]
1949 Rotrax Vel d'Hiv by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]It has cast lugs and period paint and original transfers and head badge:
[IMG]
1949 Rotrax Vel d'Hiv by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]I removed the badge to clean the frame - it's attached with screws as per racing regulations requiring it to be removed for racing. Cleaning it with Simple Green has caused a little of the paint to flake - bad move:
[IMG]
1949 Rotrax Vel d'Hiv by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]There was a liner inserted into the BB shell. Removing it allowed a small amount of rusted metal to come out so I cleaned inside the down tube with small drain-cleaning brushes and treated it, and the chain stays with WaxOyl:
[IMG]
1949 Rotrax Vel d'Hiv by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]WaxOyl is messy stuff but perfect for stopping rust inside tubes. You spray it in until it runs out and then leave the oil part to evaporate, which then leaves behind an anti-rust wax coating. I've learnt to leave stuff so treated hanging in the sun for a few days since using it on my Katakura Silk and having it ooze out of the BB whenever I rode it in the sun.
[IMG]
1949 Rotrax Vel d'Hiv by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
Last edited by Dawes-man; 07-03-12 at 07:30 PM.
07-03-12, 07:08 PM
#2
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Neat bike. Are those Airlites?
07-03-12, 07:22 PM
#3
十人十色
Thread Starter
Oddly, to me anyway, the top tube and seat stays are completely sealed. I have considered drilling holes in the TT but have decided that sealed it's unlikely rust can act there.
The frame was quite dirty when I got it and I was pleasantly surprised to find that what I had thought were stone chips were just bits of asphalt that had adhered to the back of the seat tube. There are a few paint chips and 3 or 4 very small dents here and there but overall the frame is in very good condition. Here are some details of it waxed and polished:
[IMG]
1949 Rotrax Vel d'Hiv by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]
1949 Rotrax Vel d'Hiv by Dawes-man[IMG]
1949 Rotrax Vel d'Hiv by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG], on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]
1949 Rotrax Vel d'Hiv by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
You might notice some discolouration of the white panels - with the badge removed it is obvious that the original white was the lighter of the 2.
[IMG]
1949 Rotrax Vel d'Hiv by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
As many of you know, it is not possible to ride without a rear brake in Tokyo anymore without risking a $600 fine if caught. Therefore, although I bought the frame with the intention of building a fixed gear machine, rather than hide that beautiful rear seat stay bridge I've decided to fit an old Torpedo coaster brake. The front fork is drilled for a brake.
For the rest of the build, I shall be transferring all of the parts, except the wheels, from my 1956 Hetchins Nulli Secundus, which at 23" is a little too small for me:
[IMG]
IMG_5261 by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
I just need to decide what hub to use on the front and to get a 36 hole Fiamme for the back as all my old Fiamme sprint rims are either 32 or 40 hole. For tyres I'll go for Veloflex Paris Roubaix tubulars.
The frame was quite dirty when I got it and I was pleasantly surprised to find that what I had thought were stone chips were just bits of asphalt that had adhered to the back of the seat tube. There are a few paint chips and 3 or 4 very small dents here and there but overall the frame is in very good condition. Here are some details of it waxed and polished:
[IMG]
1949 Rotrax Vel d'Hiv by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG][IMG]
1949 Rotrax Vel d'Hiv by Dawes-man[IMG] 1949 Rotrax Vel d'Hiv by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG], on Flickr[/IMG][IMG]
1949 Rotrax Vel d'Hiv by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]You might notice some discolouration of the white panels - with the badge removed it is obvious that the original white was the lighter of the 2.
[IMG]
1949 Rotrax Vel d'Hiv by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]As many of you know, it is not possible to ride without a rear brake in Tokyo anymore without risking a $600 fine if caught. Therefore, although I bought the frame with the intention of building a fixed gear machine, rather than hide that beautiful rear seat stay bridge I've decided to fit an old Torpedo coaster brake. The front fork is drilled for a brake.
For the rest of the build, I shall be transferring all of the parts, except the wheels, from my 1956 Hetchins Nulli Secundus, which at 23" is a little too small for me:
[IMG]
IMG_5261 by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]I just need to decide what hub to use on the front and to get a 36 hole Fiamme for the back as all my old Fiamme sprint rims are either 32 or 40 hole. For tyres I'll go for Veloflex Paris Roubaix tubulars.
Last edited by Dawes-man; 07-03-12 at 07:46 PM.
07-03-12, 07:23 PM
#4
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Subscribing now. I want to see how this evolves. You've shared some magnificent stuff in the past and this looks like it will be another of my favorite threads. Keep it comin'!
07-03-12, 07:27 PM
#5
十人十色
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07-03-12, 07:30 PM
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Thing of beauty...
07-03-12, 07:42 PM
#7
十人十色
Thread Starter
Well, thank you for the kind comments. It might take a while but I will be working on it pretty quickly when I find a nice 36 hole Fiamme. There are a couple on eBay but with hubs but I'm waiting for a single rim in good condition... Unless I can find one from Italy or France it probably won't be period.
Exactly how I feel about it...
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