gl1000honda3

Hi...Lovely build...I have Superbe brake levers on my 79 Raleigh Super Grand Prix, very nice to brake with and the surface finish is just about perfect...Enjoy!!!!

Italuminium

Gorgeous. Really does justice to the moniker Nulli Secundus. BTW were these track ends intended for use with an internal geared hub?

MrEss

Wow, just wow.

I'm really loving the Superbe group on such a classic "survivor" frameset. It's a whole new lease on life!

Sixty Fiver

Gorgeous.

For as much as I love Superbe parts... a bike like this would have looked incredible with a period correct Gran Sport group.

But for functionality and performance you could not to much better.

Dawes-man

My preference, too. My 1950 Hetchins MO had braze-ons for gear levers added back in the 70s and I wish they hadn't as I've set the machine up with a single chain ring at the front and the left-hand braze-on sits there unused and ugly. If I ever have the frame painted I'll have them ground off.

I suppose things change... hindsight and all that, and Blakey's frame's previous owner thought it a good idea to have the rear ends changes, the cable-guides added to the BB and the aero lever braze-on to the DT, but I wish people would buy frames that suited their purpose rather than chop good frames about.

OTOH, the Australian restorer has done a great job on Blakey's frame. The colour is great.

On how it rides (KonAaron Snake), if it's anything like my 1953 Nulli Secundus, it'll be quite bouncy and have more ponderous steering than more modern frames. I always have to readjust when I swap between bikes.

Dawes-man

I'm of the same school. Part of the fun for me in building bikes from the 50s is finding period parts in good condition, or restoring those that aren't. However, as components are bolted on and can be removed by future owners, I'm fine with people who want to go that way. There's a very nice machine on the Hetchins.org site fitted out with a modern Campag groupset and it does look great. And I'm partial to SunTour components

Blakey

I didn't score the NOS Superbe group until the frame was repaired and painted, otherwise I would have had no DT brazeons added and used the clamp on shifters, but too late, too late. Besides, now I've found some VGC retrofrictions to use anyway.

Seeing as the steerer was cut, preventing a period top clamp headset, and all the other mods I felt there was no point building it with period Gran Sport / Chater Lea etc parts, rather just to go with some of the best parts of the era in which it was modified.

The restorer was Joe Cosgrove, who builds as Frezoni, and also does all the paintwork for Llewellyn. He won best paint at NAHBS a couple of years ago, and it's obvious why. There's noone better in Australia.

TheOtherGuy

Very cool build.

Some have said that they prefer period parts, but it's really a personal thing. Nothing wrong with using your favorite stuff, and that Superbe works better than most any bits period to the frame. One of these days, my '52 Experto Crede is going together with an early Zeus 2000 group, along with just a few period bits. Why? Because it was my favorite vintage group, and I can.