1950 Gillott Continental

[Martin Rattler]

Lovely set of wheels, it's really looking good! 3 cross is normal for a back wheel, why would you want 4 cross out of interest?

I read somewhere (the venerable Sheldon perhaps) that 40 hole rear wheels are traditionally laced 4–cross; I used this pattern on the set that I built up for the RO Harrison, with the 32 hole front laced 3-cross. The wheels were sold to me as 40 spoke rear, 32 front so I would have expected the rear to be 4–cross, but that said I haven’t counted the spokes to confirm that there are 40, but a 32/36 would be a bit odd. TBH it isn’t obvious and the wheels look fine but I will need to give them a little more tension before riding.

 

[B1kEnUt]

Can't wait to see the completed bike I do love a really polished ride but I also very much appreciate a beautiful bike that shows its well earned age but is cared for, Class!!

 

[Martin Rattler]

Chainset by JuanM58, on Flickr

Chainset 2 by JuanM58, on Flickr

I have made a little more progress with the Gillott. I had been looking around for a while for a crankset and wanted something light and elegant that would be in keeping with the delicate appearance of the pencil stays. After searching for some time without any luck I spotted a pair of re-chromed Stronglight cranks on the website of a well-known purveyor of vintage kit. I had wanted to set it up as a 10-speed machine and obtained the 52/48 Simplex chainwheels via EBay, the chrome is a little flaky but they seem to be in reasonable condition. A found a Bayliss Wiley No14 BB on EBay that I thought would fit but when I assembled it, I found that the non-drive side crank was just touching the chainstay. After a bit of measuring a TDC No 5 looked as if it would give sufficient clearance and I found a refurbished on, again on EBay. I was a little sceptical as to how effective a reground spindle would be but as it was only a few quid I thought that I would take a chance; and it looks pretty good, it appears that the minimum material has been removed and I think that it should be OK for light duty and the limited mileage that the Gillott will likely get. The TDC spindle fitted the BW cups OK but of course, things weren’t as straightforward as I had anticipated and when I came to fit the cranks the drive side would go on. Removing the spindle and measuring it with a micrometer indicated that the drive side end was a little swollen, probably due to a good belting with a hammer in the dim and distant past. Of course, the spindle is too hard to file so I spent a couple of hours dressing the end of the shaft with a stone and engineers’ blue until I got a decent fit on the crank. Time will tell whether the chainline is correct and I may need to look for another BB spindle, but so far, so good.

 

[B1kEnUt]

Nice they look appropriate and beautiful!

 

[Spokesmann]

Lovin that chain wheel. Classy, period and elegant.

 

[Martin Rattler]

Re:

View2 by JuanM58, on Flickr

View1 by JuanM58, on Flickr

Matchbox by JuanM58, on Flickr

Nondrive by JuanM58, on Flickr

More progress with the Gillott which is now nearing completion. Setting up the gears has been a real faff and I cannot remember a build that has required more tweaking. Firstly the rear derailleur was lightly pinging against the spokes when the chain was on its largest sprocket. I adjusted the dish on the wheel but it didn’t deem to give sufficient clearance; in the end I made up a steel spacer to shim the freewheel out by a millimetre or so. This isn’t something that I have had to do with other builds and I remain puzzled why I had to do it with this one. As with the RO Harrison that I built recently, this uses a five speed fixed/free hub with a Campag Gran Sport derailleur and there appears to be plenty of clearance on the ROH. I tried a different freewheel with the same result. If a solution comes to me I will remove the shim, otherwise it will have to stay.

Setting up the matchbox front changer proved to be the work of most of an afternoon. I have a couple of these and some bits so of course tried to set it up with all of the best bits. The chain wouldn’t stay on; or it rubbed; or it jammed…and it was Sod’s law that it was only when I used the most heavily pitted cage and the tattiest body that it all came together and worked. I suspect that I may be expecting too much from ancient components but it is a little frustrating. I’ll see whether I can make the chromier (or chromiest) bits work by a bit of judicious tweaking over the next few days but to be honest I am not sure whether this really works as a 10 speed. It occurred to me during the build that it would have probably originally have been set up as a 5 speed with a bar end lever, so perhaps that’s what I’ll look to do in the longer term.

I went for white cables to contrast the flamboyant purple paintwork and have so white leather straps for the Lyotard pedals, although I could do with a more authentic pair of clips; something to look out for at the next jumble. I suppose that it should have white bar tape but I have always thought that white cloth tape is a shoo in for the world’s most useless thing; I have some blue cloth tape that should darken down nicely with some button polish so I think I will probably try that first.

Unfortunately I am currently convalescing from surgery and am off the road for a couple of months myself so I cannot say how it rides, or even whether the machine works as a whole but I am pretty pleased with it so far. I’ll update again when all is complete and I get to ride it. Or perhaps before if anything interesting transpires!

 

[Spokesmann]

Lovely build. he issues with bits rubber, clattering or just not functioning correctly is a bugbear of all old builds like these. Ive had my fair share of them myself and indeed still have a few niggles to iron out on a Carlton build of mine.

 

[jon w]

Great bike.

I've seen freewheel spacers on bikes. It seemed to be a common enough problem even then. As to tweaking, the Sun took over a month to settle in... the rule of old bikes!

Hope your up and about soon.

 

[Gastheerg]

Headbadge and hubs with the butterfly nuts. Almost better then sex

Super. For me personal a few years to old because I use retro bikes for retro-ride in Italy with steep mountains. But to view this topic is great!

 

[Martin Rattler]

Re:

P1010137 by JuanM58, on Flickr

P1010136 by JuanM58, on Flickr

Well, I guess that this is finished then! I have been running it about for a few weeks now and took it out on a local V-CC ride last weekend. I have finished off the bars with blue cloth tape which I sealed with button polish; I hoped that this would dull down to a nice browny purple but it didn’t quite work out. The bar ends are whipped with twine and again painted with button polish. I was off the road for the summer and assumed that the weather would be wet in the autumn so I fitted some mudguards that I picked up for a few quid from EBay and added some leather mudflaps I made up. I think that the guards are modern but look in keeping and they can be removed when the weather improves.

The Gillott is a nice ride and definitely a keeper but in the longer term I think I will probably set it up as a 5-speed with a bar-end lever which will suit the braze-ons better. There is a slight shimmy from the bars that I think is probably related to the headset so that needs a little investigation and fettling but it’s a lovely little bike for a gentle couple of hours ride in the summer; I’m very pleased with it.

What am I going to do with myself now? I need a new project!

Current Spec.
1950 Gillott Continental frame and forks
Airlite HF hubs (fixed/free), 5 speed Regina 14-24; 27” Alesa rims, 32/40 with 1 1/8” Michelin tyres.
Universal 51 calipers with GB Superhood levers
GB spear point stem with GB Olympic bars, Brampton headset
Stronglight Chainset with 52/46 Simplex chainwheels, BW/TDC bottom bracket
Lyotard pedals. Ale clips and Christophe straps
Campagnolo GS ‘matchbox’ front derailleur, Campagnolo GS rear, Campagnolo levers
Reynolds 27.2mm ‘dome top’ alloy seat post, Brooks B17N saddle