1951 Holdsworth n+1

[rogerzilla]

Oh dear...I appear to have bought a 1951 Holdsworth frame and forks for £80.

I was only looking for a reason to use that spare Sturmey-Archer AM rear wheel, shifter and crankset.

[yoav]

Show us a picture then.

[rogerzilla]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/41286375@N07/albums/72157680465374341

More photos in the album, link above.  It has quite fancy lugs with cutouts, original grey/titanium metallic paint and decals (which sadly will have to be replaced since they are a bit too far gone - the fork, in particular, has very little paint left at all).  The head badge could do with some Brasso, too.  Chrome is in good condition and doesn't need re-doing; a bit of elbow grease and alu foil will get any rust spots off.  Weighs 4lb 6oz which is right for 531DB.

Will need a little cold setting as the fork spread is a bit too wide at 105mm (probably always been like that) and I want the rear triangle at about 112mm for a 5 3/4" axle Sturmey-Archer AM.  Haven't checked frame alignment yet.

Anyone know the model?  I thought Cyclone but the lugs don't quite look right.  Not fancy enough for a Whirlwind.

[hubner]

http://www.nkilgariff.com/Models.htm
http://www.nkilgariff.com/HoldsCats/Cat1951/1951Catalogue.htm

edit:I thought it was the Cyclone de Luxe, but the lugs are different.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Looks rather nice. Fancy paint as well as lugs. And your kitchen is... sparse.

[rogerzilla]

No, it's plainer than the De Luxe.  No real spearpoints - more fishtails with cutouts.  It has elements of the Cyclone, Cyclone De Luxe and Sirocco.  It may be that someone specified a custom build - did Holdsworth do those?

[rogerzilla]

Have just totted up what it will cost for Argos to paint it, line the lugs, save the chrome, fit replacement transfers and add a couple of bottle bosses and SA cable stop/seat tube roller 

It'll be amazing, though.  Lilac or turquoise?

[Cudzoziemiec]

Lilac. For you, Roger, always lilac.

[rogerzilla]

It needs to be a colour that doesn't look heavy.

[rogerzilla]

Found a 1951 Cyclone photo - mine is clearly a Cyclone with chrome options, including the fork crown.  The chrome is borderline and I think I will just save the crown and dropouts (where it is v good), not the stays where it is a bit pitted.  Rechroming is expensive and not good for frame life, but is easily painted over by an expert.

Drivetrain will be 3/32" because 42T rings are no longer cheap in 1/8".  The AM rear hub for this project happens to be the same year as the frame*.

The project is basically to build a pre-derailleur massed start racing bike.  The clubman is slightly too relaxed for that, although it is very fast with modern tyres.


*well, sort of.  The shell is an alloy 1951 40h but the internals were NOS 1949.  The 1949 shell is steel but is in reserve for when the alloy one cracks, which one day it surely will.  The flanges are as thin as in the steel shells!

[rogerzilla]

Ok, it's not a Cyclone, it's 100% a Tornado!  I found another one of the same year on Hilary Stone's bike emporium.

Took it to Argos yesterday.  They can get the correct decals.  It will be turquoise because the lilac was a bit too pale for the lug lining to show up.  Will only keep the chrome on the crown and dropouts; the chrome on the blades and stays is a bit too far gone and rechroming is generally a bad idea, as well as being even more expensive.

[clarion]

Lovely!

Holdsworth did produce a lot of wind

[Canardly]

I love the swept forks

[rogerzilla]

I built a front wheel on an Airlite hub (the forks will only take a 5/16" axle).  Bit disconcerting having a gub where the flanges can literally be pulled off the body, but there is about a ton of force holding them in place once the wheel is built.  32h cross-2 because of the large flanges, Velocity Deep V.  Did anyone make deep rims in the 1950s?  Anyway, it had to match the rear.