Vintage British Bikes - Holdsworth

Table of Contents

Intro

This is another bike that my dad built from parts canibalised from all over the place. The frame was new to him, and is made by Holdsworth the rest of the parts are of unknown origin, mostly second hand. The bike was built as a fixed wheel all weather bike, and used for many years for commuting in the winter, the fixed wheel meaning less to go wrong during the abuse of a british winter. The bike spent most of the last 20 years in the loft and hadn't really been looked after when I got hold of it. The wheels were heavily laced with cobwebs, and in some places the nipples on the spokes have corroded in interesting ways. Despite this neglect, the bike is actually in pretty good condition, better than the Carlton I got at the same time. The wheels and tires had started to perish and were the first item to be replaced. But otherwise, this bike is in surprisingly good nick and ready to ride once it gets new boots.

Spec

Yes.

Alot of the gory details of the internals of this bike are unknown, however I do know:

  • Reynolds 531 tubing
  • 26 x 1.25" wheels/tyres
  • fixed wheel single speed

Photos

No photos are currently available. I will take some as soon as the weather permits.

Diary

April 2009

April 15th 2009

After a long search of the bike shops of both the UK and the Netherlands I finally managed to track down a set of replacement tyres for this bike. The obsure size of 26" x 1 ¼" is not the most common out there, and it seems entirely different from 26" x 1.25 ; despite the fact that they are mathemeticaly the same. SJS Cycles were the only supplier I managed to find, I bought a pair of Schwalbe HS130 and three matching inner tubes. In the process of finding these tyres I also discovered that google is very helpful when searching for 32-597, and simply answers -565, technically accurate, but entirely unhelpful.

Today I fitted these new tyres and tubes, a process that was a battle in and of itself. Managed it eventually and with new boots on the bike is looking wonderful.

Even tho this is a vintage bike, my consession to the modern world is to swap the pedals for some spd ones. I really don't get on with toe clips, and I have spd's on my other bikes, so it makes sense to be consistant. The pedals currently on the bike have been there for 30 something years. They don't want to come off without a fight. None of my adjustable spanners re upto the job, the ones that fit are to short to get enough force on them, and those that have a long enough handle are to big to fit on the pedal. Will see what I can do in the morning.

This page last modified Thursday, 16-Apr-2009 01:16:51 CEST.