VeloFellow54":2oiez14v said:
Forgot to ask. Which Ray ? - Ray Etherton ?
Yes, that’s right—amusingly, Argos recognised his handwriting on the envelope when I sent the decals for the repaint… It is nice to hear there are more of those out there, it would be good to get a hi-res scan before they are all used.
The Leach was built for my ex next door neighbour in E15; he dredged it out of his cellar after a long hiatus and gave it to me before he died a couple of years ago.
The hubs are indeed Harden—the originals showed signs of serious corrosion and I didn’t trust them, so replaced with a matching pair from eBay. The wheels—spokes rims etc were completely shot; replaced with 700C for practical reasons. The tubes and tyres were not that ancient, and although v perished did hold air for a push a mile up the road. Brakes were also past their best, but replaced like-for-like; they have enough reach to work just fine. The paint had degraded beyond hope, as had the chromed ends, but Argos did a nice job with new paint (colour matched from a bit shielded under the fork light braze-on) incl. box lining & Ray’s decals. I replaced the saddle with an equivalent current Brooks. He rode it for ages before it was relegated to the cellar, so I’d be unsurprised if pedals and other bits weren’t contemporary, but it’s interesting that you think the saddle is older.
I’ve kept the saddle, and all of the other “left over” things, hubs brakes etc, including a ’60s “Starlite” front light (found a NOS one and converted it to LED, which is great!) and a 80s EverReady rear light (converted to LED too, but no way of attaching it without spoiling the paint)
I’ve done a bit under 400km on it post renovation, and still haven’t got the knack of getting into toe-clips on fixed wheel…
What else to say? The handlebars are cool, Stratalite South of France with a Reynolds girder stem, it’s comfier to ride in the drops for any significant distance. It was built to a high standard, with some nice practical touches like the mudguard mounts & wingnuts and pump pegs. Chris told me he rode it from London to Wales & back when courting, and the Mile End Road was cobbled at the time; it’s seen some adventures.
It feels good riding a bike a couple of doors down from the man who had it built just a mile or two away the best part of 70 years ago. I’ve since had a more modern machine made by Stayer, also just up the road, in something of a homage (pic attached, if I’m doing this right).
