Does anyone know much about Harry Hall bikes?

[Woz]

Concerning the odometer magnet ring, looks very much like an Avocet 20. See 2nd page:
http://www.avocet.com/instrpdfs/20.pdf

Bottle cage seems more recent than the rest. Nice bike that will restore without too much fuss.

When passing Manchester I would often pop-in HH.

 

[DrewSavage]

Re:

Thank you. That settles that little mystery.

I've checked the gears now - it's got a 48/32 on the front and a 5-speed 13-28 freewheel on the back. Is that kind of like a Compact? And would it add weight to the theory that's it's more of a tourer than anything else?

Most excitingly, yesterday I pumped up the tyres, oiled the chain and rode to work on it. The gears will need adjusting but work fine. There's a slight clunk of a noise with every pedal stroke. The cranks aren't hitting anything obvious and it stops when you freewheel.

Would that suggest bottom bracket trouble?

 

[DrewSavage]

Re:

And if so, is it sacrilege on a classic bike to suggest replacing the bottom bracket with a modern sealed unit? If it isn't, what would I need?

 

[hamster]

IIRC the cranks need an ISO bottom bracket, so a Campag cartridge one is the easiest solution, provided you can find one in the right size. However people survived for a century with cup and cone.

The bike looks like a fine candidate for a light resto. It's amazing how well most if it should clean up. It's a pity someone appears to have left it outside for a few months.

 

[Woz]

Re: Re:

Thank you. That settles that little mystery.

I've checked the gears now - it's got a 48/32 on the front and a 5-speed 13-28 freewheel on the back. Is that kind of like a Compact? And would it add weight to the theory that's it's more of a tourer than anything else?

Yup. Probably more correct to say it wasn't a racer. My guestimate would be the small ring is for
easy climbing in the Peak District and the big ring for nice gentle tootling around the flatish
Chesire lanes

 

[DrewSavage]

The bike looks like a fine candidate for a light resto. It's amazing how well most if it should clean up. It's a pity someone appears to have left it outside for a few months.

Yes, that's how I came by it comparatively cheaply (although still into three figures...). The lady selling it didn't quite appreciate what it was and was surprised I'd driven from Manchester to Redditch to pick it up, but she did say due to storage issues it had been left outside for six months.

Do you have any useful tips for light restoration? All I usually do with bikes I buy is get busy with Silvo on the wheels, brakes and anything that ought to shine, but it's clear this frame requires a bit more than that. Is there a way of improving the rusty bits without taking the paint off too?

 

[hamster]

I would give it a decent wash then use T-cut lightly on the paint to restore a shine and remove the rust staining. After that a really good car wax will seal things.
Rubbing all the bare metal bits (rims and spokes) with Bacofoil and soapy water will do an amazing job of cleaning things up.

I think after that it will have a nice patina of age. You could your a metal polish but I think it will jar with the aged paintwork.

As the wheels use rustless spokes I would consider re-lacing them with stainless eventually.

 

[Shreds]

Re: Harry Hall frames

Sorry for only just seeing this, but to give you a take on the age of the bike in the forum question from two years ago, HH were producing frames in the number range 10xx in 1982/3 and 11xx in 1983/4.

The Reynolds sticker is definitely slightly older but they changed the style in the very early 1980s so that fits.

If it was a 9xx numbered machine it is likely to be at the end of the 1970s or even early 1980s.

Just also bear in mind they may have bought tube stock and stickers in advance of producing the bike frame.

The lighting boss did appear on some of their ‘stock’ bikes designed for touring. I had one at one time.

The Huret hub appendige was a mileometer thing if I recall correctly but not seen one for years.

Nice to see a HH frame/bike from that era again.

HH personally took my order at Cathedral Street and we had a great discussion. I am pleased to say that same bike is still going strong and is not significantly modified and has only needed new tyres, tubes and brake blocks in the main. Fits me still like a glove and that was down to HH giving the advice on a perfect fit.

 

[martinb]

Re:

It’s a Mavic headset, special tools are available.

 

[Shreds]

The bike in question has braze ons for mudguards and a carrier/rack so definitely of the ‘touring’ spec, plus the gears, in those days, would have been considered to be ‘wide’ and suitable for heading up to the Peak District or into Wales from Manchester. Not compact at all. In fact the width of the gears was to some extent determined by the travel the changer could do and that Campagnolo one shown was one of the few that Campag would do to cover such a wide range. More general in those days for road / racing would have been a 13-18. Smaller or larger cogs (above 28 teeth) were rare unless you were really serious and five or six cogs would have been the max.

Obviously the wheel ‘dish’ was less in those days and axle width narrower than appears nowadays.