Oh yeah, that's the stuff, gorgeous frame.

I'm going to out myself as one of the buyers of the 3-speed frames, I'm expecting mine to arrive in the next few days and am really excited about building it up as a gift for my wife. mparker326 has been amazing in offering these to the BF community, it's a privilege to work with him! Here are a couple of the photos I've been obsessing over for the last few days:

Got my Lambert today and it's even more lovely in person! The paint is a bit more purple than it appears in the photos - a gorgeous color and very nicely done by Mr. Bell. I haven't fitted it up with wheels yet, but I'm curious to see if 650a will fit. I hope the others who bought these frames are as pleased as I am.

I purchased the unpainted frame and took a chance contacting Joe Bell for information. What do you know - he not only remembered, but graciously gave me a few minutes of his time to talk about them.

The guy who started the company bought the Lambert name, contracted Bob Jackson to build the frames and Joe Bell to paint them. As far as he knows, the company didn't get off the ground and his guess is there are maybe a handful of these frames in existence. JB estimates he painted 10 frames in all. Looks like you guys have an extremely rare Bob Jackson/Joe Bell frame.

I passed along to him the link to this thread also. We'll see if he pops his head in here. I know this isn't the for sale forum, but he mentioned he has one last small 3 speed frame and he is willing to sell it. I don't want to post his contact info here, but his number is easily found on the web if you are interested or PM me and I'll give it to you.

mparker326 - if you didn't know it already, you made a great find!

mparker326 is good in my book, too.

Thanks for the additional info. From what I've read already, I figured we were in an exclusive club. If someone starts a "show off your Lambert Mk.II" thread, it will be pretty lonely

I've played around with the frame this afternoon and determined that I'd need very long reach brakes to use 650a wheels (though I think it could work,) so it will get 700c with as large a tire as I can fit. What are your plans for the unpainted frame?

Of all the marques to buy. This one is like taking a Jaguar and replacing all the trim and paint to be a Dodge Neon.

Thanks for the info. I love it when folks like Joe Bell are approachable and can remember details after years have passed.

I moved the Competition on to another forum member. I kept the smallest 3speed frame for my daughter. Keep us posted on the paint job and build up on your frame.

I'd say more like taking a Jaguar and re-branding it as a Tucker.

I should chime in too...I'm the one here tasked with doing the Competition justice. +2 props for Mark for this. We are both in the same town, so that worked out nicely. Right now the frame is hanging in my workshop (actually forcing myself to not do anything with it until I finish a road bike project I have for a 16 year old family friend). I have all the pieces to build it in any number of directions, but not sure what direction I'll go...I haven't gathered from the pieces of info folks have found how the Competition was originally built (if any were?). Oh, and yes, the photos don't do justice to the beauty of these frames.

curious if anyone else has one of these built up...

OK...I finally have an update...this is a mostly modern (with some C&V nods) build of the subject bike. A very nice ride, btw...

Chris:

That looks great! Nice job. Just out of curiosity, did it take a 27.2 seat post?

More pictures, please.

Finally finished this up and took some photos! Huge thanks to [MENTION=65544]mparker326[/MENTION] for the frame, [MENTION=105493]Chris_in_Miami[/MENTION] for his advice, and [MENTION=20548]JohnDThompson[/MENTION] for the "telephone dial" Lambert chainring.

I tried to get 28s and fenders to work, but no dice. So it'll stay fender-less for now, and maybe get the 650B treatment in the future. I didn't expect a "modern" bike with "tourist" in the name to have such tight clearances. The frame and the paint on this is incredible - definitely the nicest bike I've ever wrenched. Can't wait for my lady to give this its first real test ride this weekend!














(See the full-res photos here, if you'd like.)

Wow! Looks fantastic! What kind of hub is that? What a really well thought out build.

Thanks! I probably thought about it more than I should have, given how long it took me... : )

Went with a 5sp modern Sturmey in the rear, mainly because I wanted a bar-end shifter. The front is a Campy Record, and both are laced to Pacenti PL23 rims.

Would have liked it to have non-aero levers with gum hoods, but the ladyfriend wanted to try out Tektro's "short-reach" levers for people with small hands. And the crank set is actually a TA Cyclotouriste with replica Lambert decals. All in all, I'm pretty pleased with how this mix of modern, vintage-looking modern, and actual vintage components turned out!

Nicely done!

Wow, after all this time, I still remember most of this from back when.

Thanks for following up here, that crankset setup is quite the piece de resistance, and the bike just looks... ...fantastic!

In my defense, I got this frame from Mark in the fall, not during his initial facilitation. It took me longer to put everything together than I expected, but not 2+ years. : )

I really enjoy how much it confuses everyone who doesn't know the full backstory. Really happy that we now know ​the backstory - or at least most of it!

That turned out very nice, very thoughtful build