Recent content by focomat 1c

Interesting comment , with one exception all the cantilever brakes I have come across have had a small amount of play at the brake pivot . However the Suntour/Pedersen Self Energiser brake ( shown above ) in both it's front and rear versions does not depend on the brake pivot to guide...

I have a similar Alpina with AMP F1 forks , however when out riding one day I happened to look down at the front cantilevers when braking , only to see a surprising amount of twisting of the fork legs . I fitted a brake booster to solve the problem . Considering the loads that you are...

Having just discovered this advert on the back of a cycling book ( dating to around 1950 ) it is hard to understand how this revolutionary design has been overlooked by the major bicycle component manufacturers ? maybe the ' world patent applied for ' has discouraged them ? Come on Shimano ...

Looks like 1985/86 , however the front and rear Sturmey Archer hub brakes will have year and month of manufacture marked around the outer surface of the brake drum , the front mech will have a two letter date code stamped on the inner surface of the guide cage . This will give you a starting...

Shimano did not make much of a fuss when they announced 'their' new brake design To find out why , check out ' V - Brake evolution ? an unlikely original source '

Would be interested to know the date codes on these as March '95 is considered to be the date that Shimano first produced their version/copy of an already existing ' Wie-brake ' design by Florian Wiesmann

This 35 year old Shogun has a very small frame , however using most of the standard seat post and fitting a riser stem ( Suntour copy ) with some riser bars has resulted in a very comfortable riding position which is easily adjusted to suit a smaller rider if required

Reading through this has cost me 15 minutes of my life that I won't get back ! What a complete waste of time and wind up

The simplest way to date this bike is to look at the Sturmey Archer rear hub . You will find the date of manufacture stamped on the body of the hub between the spoke flanges . The bike would have been built slightly after this date but will at least give you some idea . The bike looks to be in...

Interesting find , this is certainly an original Parabike and is probably one of many that were sold off at the end of the war to businesses like Gamages in London . They replaced the original sliding pedals with those you see here and fitted mudguards . Being government surplus they were...

It appears from your comment ' does it have a spring ' etc that the spring and elastomer bump stop are missing You may have a problem as the springs were specially made for AMP ( in three ? body weight/stiffness sizes ) and there do not appear to be any stock springs , metric or imperial , that...

Why ? Leave the inserted section alone and polish the rest . Did a similar job on a black anodised Kalloy post the other day , the finish was faded and worn in places . It now looks like new Check out the reason for the original problem , usually the poor finish to the inside of the...

I have used a slight variation to this idea as follows : Fit a spare axle in the place of the existing wheel using heavy duty washers and nuts on both sides of the dropouts , making sure that the OLN measurement is the same as the wheel . Fit another axle into the gear hanger again using...

It appears that you have a pair of AMP F1 forks . These have a single centrally positioned compression spring backed up by an elastomer plug which stops the spring from coil binding at full travel . The F2 version is similar albeit with slightly changed geometry . The F3 and F4 variants have...

Looks to be a 1980 frame with some Campag bits . Most likely had a respray at some time so makers and tubing decals no longer visible . Could be a Mercian ? probably easier to take a decent photo and list it in the road bike section with its frame number , as its clearly not an MTB