This showed up just today on the local CL. I'm thinkin' you anglophiles would like it.

Mine was blue! LBS customized mine with Berthet pedals, Unicanitor saddle. I think withi a month I had replaced the rear dr with a VX.

Ran across a Viscount a few weeks ago, bought it mainly for the bar-end shifters somebody put on it. Lambert/Viscount had some interesting ideas , and put them into their bicycles, ready or not.

I think that's the Yamaha replacement fork, and it appears to have the circlip/sealed bearing bottom bracket. Lugged frame, though. Must be one of the earlier ones. Then again, it is listed as a '72.

If you can get one of the early frames (threaded bottom bracket), grab it! They're real nice riders, very responsive, and putting on first line period components turns it into one hell of a nice riding bike. I got mine that way, have been putting it back to original Lambert, as much as I can. I watch the overall performance die slightly with every proper original component I add.

You got a month out of the rear derailleur? You must have been gentle. I remember a guy who had one die on the ride home from the bike shop after picking it up. I'd love to find a rear derailleur, but it'd go into a glass case, not on to my bike - unless I planned on making a wall hanger out of it.

What's wrong with the sealed bottom bracket? I realize it is a bit interesting to service but the bearings last nearly forever, I only replaced the ones in my sons Viscount because the left side bearing had gotten moisture in it from improper storage.

His wheels still have the original sealed bearings and they still spin silky smooth.

Looks like a Death Fork to me. The Death Fork has an angled crown and the Yamaha/Tange fork has a flat crown.

I'm presently disassembling a 1973 Viking by Lambert with the death fork, and that certainly looks like the death fork there.

Thats definitely the death fork. Bottom bracket is standard english threading. I transfered the bb from my Lambert to my wifes Mercian. (I have replaced that with a Campy NR since).

Absolutely nothing wrong with the bearings, they're terrific. My understanding is that the spindle has a notch cut into it for the clip that holds the whole assembly together, and spindles have been known to crack at that point. Of course, finding a replacement spindle is difficult.

Thanks for the correction - I was working on memory. Obviously quite fallable. You also showed me that my Lambert has the Yamaha fork, not just a generic after market one like I originally thought.

Gratuitous photo of mine, which is a lugged Lambert frame, recently upgraded with an Electra Ticino fork.

Death Fork? Did the blades come off the crown...or what?

Death Fork? Did the blades come off the crown...or what?

Dissimilar metals at work. There was a steel core and steerer with the aluminum cast around it. I have never seen a failed one, but Yamaha who did the distribution and marketing back then issued a recall and the replacement was a Tange unit, with the swaged steerer....?!

The cast aluminum part was pinned to a steel steerer. Sometimes they weren't pinned. On a few bikes the cast aluminum part separated from the steel part. Not good.

https://sheldonbrown.com/lambert.html

It's quite an interesting story actually: https://viscount-lambert-bikes.blogsp...unt-death.html
for more info.

Thanx!

The original Lambert forks where made in one piece from blades to crown with a 2" extension over which a steel steerer was fitted and bonded (some were also pinned). The aluminum was prone to fatigue at the crown which would have the fork snap at the crown race, leading to an instant faceplant, hence the name "death fork".

These were recalled, and replaced with a similar looking fork, except that a roughly 1/2" diameter pin was inserted thrrough the bottom, extending well up into the steerer. This buttressed the critical area, resolving the crown failure issue, but there were still some QC issues relating to bonding and pinning which allowed for separation over time, but usually with less catastrophic results.

In the end Yamaha scrapped the aluminum fork entirely and replaced it with a steel fork as pictured in an earlier post.

The OP can remove the front wheel and look for the steel pin showing at the bottom of the crown. If there isn't one, do not ride this fork at all. Not even for 100 yards across the parking lot because there's no way of knowing when it'll fail with predictable results. If it does have the steel pin, it's OK for short ceremonial rides but isn't to be trusted for extended use or at high speed.

BTW- changing the fork disn't solve all the problems with these bikes. The stronger , stiffer steel fork was too strong for the frame, and bikes with it suffered an unacceptably high number of heat tube joint failures.

Overall, Lamberts were a good example of going too far too fast to shave weight and offer features at a good value, and outpacing the engineering needed to do it right.

That's an early one. Check this one out I just aquired. Its the trophy for 73

Just kibitzing here to make it 3 variations on old school posting in one thread...
Compared to our venerated namesake above, I'm just a newb though!

Now . . . . . . to put things in perspective, given that this is cycling's biggest horror story (supposedly), in the 41 years since the Lambert hit the market, I have never heard a first or second hand (witness at the scene) account of one of these forks failing. Every story I've ever heard on them has been a friend of a friend of a friend of a . . . . . . .

You get the picture. It was an underdesigned component that would drive a liability lawyer nuts, but as for a mad killer of the pelotons . . . . . . lets get serious.

While we're doing gratuitous Lamberts, here's mine as I bought it:



Brakes, levers, pedals, shift levers and front derailleur have been returned to factory stock. Crank is next. I've got one, just need some TA bolts to finish putting it together.

I had occasion to visit the factory very soon after Yamaha bought the rights. There were hundreds, though probably not thousands, of these forks stacked up waiting for the scrap man. All were aluminum blade and crown units, with the steerer sheered off.

I don't know how many snapped after the steel plug modification, but it was still many more than would be acceptable.

In any case this wasn't a case of an overly cautious recall after a small number of failures, this was failure on a grand scale.

I also love the cast pedals, those are really neat as well as the press-in BB. Now, if I can only get the stuck seatpost out of my Viscount, should be good to go. I'm a little leery, so I'll be trying it out on the trainer first, provided I get the seatpost resolved. I think I've got the Yamaha replacement. Shiny, like Tange, not dull, like aluminum. Wheels and hubs are very impressive.

I have noticed that Geoff. Wasn't trying to be a copycat, its just what popped into my head at the time.