New Carlton Thread

Minus temps yesterday meant that instead of fog there were flakes of ice. Like Winky says, riding in such weather builds character. My Sealskinz gloves, however, do keep my hands warm and dry whilst allowing me to manage all the levers with no problems. 

Sealskinz? I'm looking into that.

Winky - they have an overwhelming range now. I'm still using an earlier variant of the Ultra Grip but the bike gloves do look good. I bought them first for skiing, used under a Goretex mitten when really cold. I've been down to -20 C with them. The past couple of years I've been using them on the bike and have no complaints. A great combination of dexterity, comfort and warmth.

Big Sealskinz glove fan here too. I have Raynauds syndroome (this means lots or problems with cold hands). Believe me when I say I have more gloves than socks! My

cycling Sealskinz are as good as any.

I just finished making up my new MTB. Orange R8, reduced-to-clear sparkly white Reynolds 853 loveliness, largely old kit cannabalised from my now retired full susser. I have stopped riding technical MTB trails really, this will do fine for the longer tracks trails and lanes that make up my more typical MTB rides now.

If it was not blowing a serious gale I'd be out now getting it suitably dirty.

One pic not quite enough for you all I thought....

Nice. Good to see someone else pushing back against the trend to EVERYTHING being fully suss. You don't see X-country races won on full suss very often; and almost never at the highest level. I just can't ever see myself deciding to go for one of the rattly, heavy, high maintenance, bobby, pogoing, soft-pedalling things.

I even flirted with buying a rigid front forK!

In fairness my old f/s bike (a Rocky Mountain Element from your part of the world) was pretty tight, it was av ery good companion on lumpy rides and did not bob at all really. It was also pretty reliable, never needing a service in 2 years (and still does not). I just don't really do the rides that call for it now and it is a bit of a clunky companion on faster tracks and lanes.

Bruce

Well Since the fixing of the old lady ready for my cycling weekend with GML - new wheels and brooks B 17 primarily, as the rest had already been done - I now have a thousand commuter and pleasure miles [1008 actually] on the old lady and the Brooks B17 is totally run in to the shape of my bony posterior! Now the pain barrier has been passed, and was never actually painfull, the saddle now has that comfortable feel of a good old horse saddle. Smooth and totally lacking any friction, it is absorbing bumps, but with the maximium of connection with the frame so that I am left wondering if there could be a more suitable saddle for an English steel framed cycle.

Unfortunately the day of my fiftieth birthday I ruined the rear derailleur. I took the wheels out and put thecycle in a big car, and with only a couple of miles thought nothing of it, but the chain now runs horribly off-line on the higher cogs. Cannot back-pedal. I'll get a rplacement this month.

Given the mild winter, I have not taken to using the Elswick for getting to work, as I started out in October [for more or less a month] with it, and then the back tyre blew.  A rusty rim cause the tube to go, but unfortunately the bang also spoiled the wall of the tyre casing, so that without the impetus to fix it, I have simply carried on using the Carlton.

ATB from George

Are you sure it is the derailluer? The hanger might be bent (easy to re-align on a steel frame).

Dear Winki,

Not the hanger for sure, but unfortunately the jokey cage and the parallelogram were both distorted. I had a spare cage by me, but when I put it on it was obvious that the rivets through the parallelogram have distorted. The top of the parallelogram is nicely in line and the bottom part is tilted, so the straight jokey carrier [part] only marginally improved things. Okay on the lower four gears but not the top two. Give the cost of a second hand derailleur of the same type [at this non-cycling time of year!], I'll strip the original down for spares, and get another!

Soon be time for a good general service as well!

ATB from George

Nice replacement Nuovo Record Deraileur will be winging its way to me tomorrow!

Then old girl will be back on the topline again!

ATB from George

New Nouvo Record Derailleur now fitted. The Carlton is back on the topline again! 

ATB from george

Excellent news George, you must be dead chuffed.

Just been out for a trial, and it works better than the old one even when it was not ruined.

Just got to set the top gear adjustment. It won't quite drop onto top cog, but that is half turn on the screw adjuster! 

Nice to be able to back-pedal without the chain running off the derailleur cogs!

ATB from George

Photos added on behalf of George.

Thanks fo that one, George!

Looks well, works perfectly, and as straight as an arrow. It is a 1977 version.

ATB from George

The new derailleur looks grand George - well found!

Might seem a shame to use a cycle like this for the commute as well as fun, but really the Elswick is a horrible cycle in comparison! And the Carlton looks a bit of a sleeper, so that its turn of speed is quite a surprise to people on more modern and advanced machinery!

The Carlton is no mere fair weather friend!

ATB from George

Some nice photos coming soon! The old Carlton may have a certain presence, but it is also a working cycle that earns its daily bread. Soon the weather will improve, and the cycle will be less messy!

ATB from George

Photos ahoy George.

Dear George,

Thanks for posting them! They show a slightly dusty, but fine late English steel framed [Reynolds tube] cycle used for work and fun, though at this time of year riding out for the entertainment is rather less of course!

For anyone else interested, the groupset is of course not from one Campagnolo series, but only selected for fine engineering and more or less age compatability.

The oldest parts are the 1960s Gran Sport brakes, which are still perfect in function. They are the shortest reach that Campag made, and in real life look insubstantial, but are immensely powerful. Otherwise everything is either Nuovo Record or Super Record from between 1977 and 1983, except for the gear levers from the "C" Record series [circa late 80s or early 90s], as these are the best friction lever Campag ever made, and were given me in a box of scrap spares, though never used before I fitted them. The cycle is actually from summer 1984. 

I have never been able to date the bottom bracket - pictures earlier in this thread - but it is a remarkable and unique looking set. The spindle is hollow as with all the best Campag BBs, but the surface is gun metal blue. Amazing attention to detail in an item that is to all intents and purposes not ever seen. 

For the carbon and aluminium enthusiasts, it may be of interest that the cycle [with lights and road legal at night] balances out at 9.9 kg on the scale even with a Brooks saddle! So though not quite a modern lightweight, it is by no means heavy by any standards! 

We are now coming into the cycling season, so please post pictures here of any classic steel framed road cycle that gives you pleasure!

ATB from George

Two fine Reynolds 501 steel framed cycles.

And we must excercise them round the lovely Ale Houses of Norfolk again when the weather gets better!

I remember the amazing sounds of the wind blowing through the forks [both the same pattern of course] "in Unison" as we set out for JN's house last August - something a bit special. And next day the gentler trip to the "Crown!"

Best wishes from George

Yes, an unforgettable cycling weekend George. Roll on the next one.

ATB - George

Perhaps the end of April or begining of May?

We might even make a gentle trip over to Holt and Wells next the Sea?

ATB from George