Holdsworth restoration: stage ten

Things have moved on a little with the bike project. Mum and Dad came up trumps on the accessories front.
Having been provided with the materials courtesy of Fabric World in Bletchley Mum created a 50s style cap in white and ‘Holdsworth’ green. I’m now poised to add some 50s advertising to it.

Over the bank holiday weekend Dad and I created a bespoke bottle holder body using some 1mm stainless plate, a jigsaw and a set of engineer’s files. Uncle Des provided hose clamps to attach it to the bars and this seems to have worked admirably. The holder is going nowhere but keeping the bottle securely in it will be tricky.

I’ve modified a briefcase strap to bind the whole shooting match together but I think further modification will be required before road testing. I've also identified a supplier of demi-john corks for the tops of the bottles.

On the negative side I have had repeated problems with the back tyre blowing out or puncturing. Pumping the tyre to 6 barr is definitely not a good idea. It peels off the rim and the tube explodes like a rifle shot (leaving shredded remains). I established this after two tubes went the same way. Sadly the current tube also seems to have sprung a fastish slow puncture. This may be bad luck or it maybe a spiky bit in the tyre. I certainly won’t be taking it to P&D cycles to find out.

Cricket and other pastimes

In an effort to break out of the mundane meaninglessness of this veil of tears I like to try new things. Sadly for my friends this means that they get dragged along to things they might not otherwise choose to waste their time on.

This week's new horizon was full of leather and willow. Not (as you may assume) a bondage session in the Milton Keynes dungeon but a nets session with The Open University Cricket Club. Apart from chasing a few balls around the cricket ground at Jordon Hill I have never been involved with the national summer game so I was, to say the least, a bit clueless.

Fortunately Tom Argles and the OUCC people were very helpful and encouraging and we all got to have a go with both ball and bat. My bowling was a bit varied but I did claim my first 'victim' just before the close of play (see how I'm getting into the lingo). Batting came slightly more easily and I managed to hit most of the balls in a collection of random directions. We all enjoyed ourselves tremendously and would like to go back for another go.

The act of doing something new (allied with my own personal need to keep busy) stimulated a bit of pub brain-storm last night and we came up with a further list of things to do. They were...

Narrow boating; crayfishing; fly fishing; conservation volunteering; swimming; six a side cricket; sailing; wind surfing; trampoline; kick boxing; archery; shooting; listening to live music; tennis; crown green bowling; golf; road cycling; mountain biking; skiing; whistling; football kick about; badminton; table tennis; motor racing; horse riding; pub quizzing; pot holing; rafting; ballroom dancing; playing music. I also refer you to my previous list

Customer service

Emily's Dad is a big one for customer service and i always think of him when something goes wrong in the customer services department. Being a cyclist he would have hated my experience today. The tyre on the back of the Holdsworth comes loose from the rim and the tube explodes spectacularly when it is pumped up to the 6.5 Barr recommended on the tyre.

I took this in to Evans in Milton Keynes who offered to replace the rim with a modern one featuring the lip one gets on modern rims. Sadly they called me ten minutes later to tell me they couldn't get the Campag freewheel off because they (understandably) don't have the tool. They were pretty nice about it really.

The horror came at P&D cycles in Fenny Stratford. Having told him what was happening he looked me straight in the face and said "so what do you expect me to do about it"? I had been quite prepared to pay for a wheel rebuild, tube and tyre (and was very kindly disposed to small retailers) now i think the sooner people like that go out of business the better.

This is their address should you ever be looking for a bike shop not to go to:

P&D Cycles 35 Alyesbury StreetBletchley Milton KeynesMK2 2BQ01908 642203

Holdsworth restoration: stage nine

Today has been a horrible day with a long term state of being very dear to me coming to an end. Sadly I am not one of those soul-bearing bloggers so you don't get to hear the heart rending and messy detail of it all. Instead I'm going to draw your intention to the furtherment of my career as a cycle geek.

As every self respecting retro cyclist knows a bike is not a bike without aluminium drinks bottle mounted on the handlebars. Unfortunately, getting hold of anything that is both authentic and hygienic is all but impossible. Consequently I have obtained a pair of new SIGG drinks bottles in a suitably plain and pleasing finish. As with all things Swiss they are fearsomely hygienic and look just the ticket. This leaves two problems; the production of cork stoppers (which are an aesthetic ‘must’) and the mounting of the bottles in a suitably authentic 'cage'.

It seems remarkably difficult to get hold of a bottle cage which looks like anything other than a rusty chicken cage. Consequently I've been endeavouring to design one of my own. The pictures here show my paper prototype. The idea is that the body could be cut from aluminium or tin; bent into shape; and secured with suitably aged looking leather strapping.