Uploads from 弁慶

Victor and Sport

nobody@flickr.com (弁慶) — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 05:05:20 -0700

弁慶 posted a photo:

My two Viscount Aerospace bicycles

On the left is an Aerospace Victor and on the right is an Aerospace Sport. Both are 57cm frames.

The Victor's frame and forks are in original condition. Birmalux seat pin, unnamed alloy handlebars and Weinmann brake levers are also original. BB and spindle are also the original Viscount ones (sealed bearing).
The rest is upgraded or replaced.
Shimano twin cable Positron indexed rear derailleur
Sugino Mighty track crankset
Campagnolo SR chainring
Dura Ace 5 speed freewheel
MKS touring pedals
Sun CR18 rims
Bell (Australian brand) leather saddle
Viscount sealed bearing high flange hubs (recently added Viscount QR skewers)
Honjo hammered mudguards
Panaracer Pasela 27 x 1 1/8" tyres
Lambert centrepull brakes.
Victor's frame is fillet-brazed but has a lugged headtube. It was apparently Viscount's first Aerospace bike. Originally came with steel rims, a steel crankset and Shimano high flange hubs. Was always a five speed. Half-chromed chromoly forks with boss for headlamp were always original. The well-known (dare I say 'infamous') cast aluminium forks came later.

The Aerospace Sport OTOH has been extensively restored. Repair made to top of seat tube. Collars brazed on to seat tube and base of headtube. New powdercoat and OEM decals. The rest of the frame is fillet brazed. BB shell reamed to accept Italian threaded bottom brackets.
The only original parts on this bike are the frame and the Dura Ace front derailleur mechanism. The rest has been replaced as far as possible with first generation Dura Ace. This is in homage to an incredibly rare Viscount race bike that used the same frame but was supplied with the first (black) Dura Ace groupset. Examples of this bike are yet to be seen other than in brochures from the late 70s...
This bikes specs are:
Dura Ace crankset and rings (52, 42)
Dura Ace derailleur front and rear (rear labelled 'Crane')
Dura Ace brake levers and centrepull brakes
Dura Ace brake cables
Dura Ace 36H high flange hubs
Dura Ace 5 speed freewheel
Dura Ace seat pin
Sun CR18 rims
MKS Sylvan quill pedals and alloy toe-clips
Viscount 80mm quill stem
Nitto Dove handlebars, reversed and shortened
Honjo smooth mudguards
Panaracer Pasela 27 x 1" tyres
Ideale Type 70 Competition leather saddle
Regina Superleggiera chain

Viscount Aerospace Victor

nobody@flickr.com (弁慶) — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 07:23:20 -0700

弁慶 posted a photo:

another version of the same pic, slightly cropped.

Viscount Aerospace Victor

nobody@flickr.com (弁慶) — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 03:55:02 -0700

弁慶 posted a photo:

This is the current iteration of this bike (for the others, try feelofsteel.blogspot.com). I have it on good authority that this was Viscount's first Aerospace model. When I bought it, the bike had mainly steel components (derailleur, rims, crankset), and alloy touring bars similar in profile to Velo Orange's "Milano" handlebars. It had Shimano's first indexed derailleur, the Positron, a 5 speed freewheel and a single front chainring. It was an apparently humble tourer/commuter. You just couldn't brake in the wet...

Knowing it was a beautiful, ultralight frame (I already owned it's younger sibling the Aerospace Sport), it seemed a crime to keep it weighed down. So began a journey to find the right parts. I started by stripping it down to a single speed with alloy rims and yes it was a revelation, but I quickly felt the single-speed treatment was a bit... glib?

So it started to morph back into a 5 speed touring bike. After many changes, the specs look like this:

Aerospace frame and fork, head tube lugged, other joins fillet brazed (original)
Viscount Quill stem
Nitto Dove bars
Weinmann brake levers (original)
Sun CR18 27" rims (ISO630)
Viscount high flange, sealed bearing hubs
Honjo 35mm hammered mudguards
Sugino Mighty crankset
Campag Super Record 47T ring
MKS Sylvan Quill pedals & MKS toe clips
Shimano Crane rear derailleur
Velo Orange thumb-shifter mount with Dura Ace friction shifter
Shimano Dura Ace 5 speed freewheel
Ideale 70 saddle (hidden under Aardvark seat cover)
Dura Ace centre-pull brake calipers with Kool Stop blocks

Just realised the only things original are the frame, forks and brake levers!