A friend (thanks Steve) has pointed out to me an interesting article on Picasa, reproducing part of the May 1976 Design Magazine. This has an ad. showing a Viscount Aerospace Pro (GB£115 - about US$188 at today's rate of exchange). It mentions the Aerospace range starting with a bike for just under GB£80 (US$131). What model would that have been? Sounds like incredibly good value, even in 1976. At this time the Viscount brand was being produced by 'Viscount-Trusty Ltd.' of Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, UK. (Potters Bar is on the outskirts of London.)
Also from the magazine is a one page article on the Viscount Aerospace bikes that has interesting photographs of a Viscount bottom bracket, pedal and hub that have been sectionalized to show how they were made. The article quotes Cycling magazine as saying that the Aerospace Pro could be used for 'road-racing, time trialling, cyclo-cross, training and touring'. It also mentions a competition model made by Trusty, 'slightly lighter' but twice the price. Does anyone know what bike that was? Any pictures or descriptions?
Many thanks to 'ichibyoshi', who posted this very interesting document. His (could be 'her' I know) other pictures and name suggest a home in Japan. My thoughts are with you and other citizens of Japan and countries of the Pacific whose lives, homes and livelihoods are threatened by the earthquake and tsunami that happened today.
hehe! That'd be me. Fortunately I'm not a resident of Japan, although I have many friends there, all of whom are safe as far as I know, thank goodness. b
ReplyDeleteJust saying I have circa 1976 Viscount (don't know model but probably cheaper one). Took it on a bike trip around the Big Island of Hawaii. Wheel Hub bearings still good. Left it out in the yard for nearly 2 years. Pulled the weeds out from the spokes, WD-40 the bearings, gears, chain and the wheels spin smooth. Cassette brg has some play in it. Needed 2 new tires but only 1 tube. If I remember correctly, last I checked the bike weighed about 23 lbs w/a rack installed. So I ride it, as ugly as it is, instead of chunking out $1000+ for another bike. Had some parts changed during a refit in 1985: 6 spd replaced original 5 spd cassette, steel fork replaced original rusted fork, new paint/cables. Now it's rusting but still rolling. Just my 2 cents.
ReplyDeleteI used to work at Trusty's in the toolroom/maintanance dept. & was responsible for everything there!
ReplyDeleteMonty,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your messages. Sorry I didn't reply to your one in October. I am still very interested in Viscount bikes, although I haven't got around to posting on this blog for (ahem) nearly two years. There is a new Viscount forum here: http://viscountandlambert.boards.net/ and still the long-running CTC thread here: http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=21010&sid=427d2aedeebfb4dcaba9ac2194ec13a4&start=2295
To avoid either you or I revealing our e-mail addresses to the world, in might be easiest if you posted on either of those forums. I am called Cusqueno on both of them. Once you have posted on the forum, I could send a personal message. The Viscount enthusiasts on these forums will be very interested in your experiences at Trusty, as I am. To start off, could you explain the serial numbering system on Viscount frames?
Kind regards,
John