Holdsworth restoration: stage four

Things haven't moved on that far in terms of finishing the bike but I have eleven months to do that. Basically I have polished and refitted the bell, changed the tubes and tyres (I'll keep the old ones) and removed the pedal end caps ready for cleaning. Next I intend to clean up all the lugs with cotton buds and have a go at the rest of the paintwork with lighter fluid. Then I'll be in a position to make a decision about the paintwork.

On the research side I've been learning all sorts of things about the bike (and not a little about human nature). Unconsciously I think I expected to find an unambiguous date of manufacture for the bike. I had already mentally stuck a card on it for L'Eroica saying 1939 or 1947. What I have discovered instead is a history of change and an acceptance of the unknowns that come with it.

The frame and forks have their own story. They were probably manufactured before, during, or slightly after World War II. This can be established by the style of the 'lugs' at the joints between tubes and the basic brass badge on the steering tube. The history of the bike is obscured by the clouds of war and the austerity which followed it. It is not clear whether it was a viable vehicle during those years or just an unused component made up later. It certainly differs in over all specification to anything in the 1939 catalogue although the frame is probably a Cyclone pattern of that era.

If it was a fully made up machine during the war it must have been valued enough some ten years later to have had a major overhaul. As I think I have already mentioned the MAFAC centre pull brakes and the Campagnolo Gran Sport mechs date from the period 1951-1954 and were fairly high spec for their time. For a while I thought the 'story' was a cherished war-time bike updated in 1951 as austerity declined but it seems there is another layer.

I had expected to find that the Williams chain set was of early 40s or 50s vintage too but the marks seem to indicate a second rebuild in 1957 (or certainly using 1957 rings and cranks).

Most of these issues will never be resolved but it certainly makes for a more interesting bike. Maybe I should get a life. Do you think?

Gary Nelmes