Nocim....my Edwardian hotrod speed machine!

[Mickeyspinn]

And tonight we have a saucy three way saddle swap!

Nearly eighty years separate these three saddles...
The Talbot is the original saddle from my French "Pepe's" 40's France sport with simplex tour de France 4 speed derailleur. ...an amazing groupset with awesome shifting for its time quick and precise.

I've been slowly breathing life into the Talbot and pearl which I think is late 60's ready for this swap around....
The black saddle is only a 5 year old...damn good saddle tho....brooks take note!

So the pearl is for the Nocim...
Talbot goes back to where it should be..
Black one...dunno!

So which saddle do you reckon is the lightest at sub 500g?

 

[Mickeyspinn]

So one of those difficult decisions had to be made....
Do I save the original and first simplex 4 speed block or the perfect and gorgeously buttery smooth atom hub?
Well yes obviously I tried to save both....I mean I really tried honest ! Someone had cut the spokes from the rim leaving me an inch of spoke to play with ...without loosening the freewheel.
I really needed that freewheel ....so I had to sacrifice the hub....
But I like to repurpose things don't I !

So I've started a little illuminating side project!



A little turning down of the flange and some internal polishing plus a gorgeous glass lense and we have something rather cute....


Dump a few watts of LEDs through the polished guts of the hub and voila...c'est magnifique n'est ce pas?

 

[sunympholepsy]

(...)So which saddle do you reckon is the lightest at sub 500g?

Is the oldest saddle also the lightest in this fine ensemble?
Some of my all time favourite components i.e. Cyclotouriste cranks and Cyclone GT derailleur etc. are lighter than most modern equivalents I’ve encountered.

 

[Mickeyspinn]

Is the oldest saddle also the lightest in this fine ensemble?
Some of my all time favourite components i.e. Cyclotouriste cranks and Cyclone GT derailleur etc. are lighter than most modern equivalents I’ve encountered.

Top marks
It's around 150g lighter it'll be fitted onto a domed top steel seatpost that weighs under 100g with an alloy clamp that doesn't really weigh much either! However the saddle is too precious to be ridden often so the pearl will be fitted to the Nocim.
There really is some amazing componentry out there that pushes the boundaries of light.
The swept back bars on this bike are from a late 30's bike .....140g....over 80 years old !!! I have to keep reminding myself of those facts when riding.
Considering the extra length because of the sweep in the bars that's on par or lighter than any uberlight 90s MTB alloy bars!

 

[Mickeyspinn]

Righty tighty lefty loosey here's a dump of pics
Corrosion,rust, patina,character,and quirks.
Had a lovely peddle about today the old boy didn't miss a beat or a trick. Roasted an ebiker too... hah .

Okey dokey spokey it's chocks away time chaps...
Some dead planes ....well we like old nackered stuff right?
This is the noisy end of a de havalland vampire


And this is the other end

It's handsome it's knackered and theres my Nocim and yup Nocim is faster than a jet and older too

Now if you see one of these rolling and bouncing toward you start running....I doubt you'll catch me on the Nocim ...sorry about that.


That's a bouncing bomb dam buster stylee

Air raid alarm went off so had to jump in air raid shelter....left the bike out....it's survived a few wars ..it'll cope fine.


Got the all clear...one downed plane nearby but all's good...let's get back on the road!




What is it about bridges? Always have to stop on a bridge!



That's what the marsh looks like...it's flat ..fields and ditches and dykes everywhere! About 80 square miles of roads that lead to..bridges,fields ditches and dykes and other roads that lead to....yeah you got it.......oh and churches of the middle ages! Loads of em!

Oh look a church...bit of it is about 1200 years old
So a bit older than my bike!


Bloody hell another church...well kinda...a spire that aspired but to great heights but didn't quite make it!



Another church .....went to this one everyday religiously for about a month a few years back..
Hard graft getting it ready for that new little window....god didn't even bring me a cuppa! Cheek!



Enough churches...more bikes

Back on the road like toad meep meep !

 

[Mickeyspinn]

Say hello to Sid and Nancy..


Built tough.... train chicken and i win!


Lovely fenders!

Rear light works but not at the same time as front...dynamo chucks out a belting 2.7w so not quite enough to go around!


I think this saddle is going to settle in nicely..very comfy a bit more slender than a b17 champion standard. Think I'm going to like it

Danger danger high voltage took hours fiddling that apart to get it going stunning bearings in it....late 30's quality
However I think if I lit a fart I'd probably see further


Doesn't keep time but it does shine


Ooh me pearl


Wooden it be nice to get a grip?


You still here!

 

[Mickeyspinn]

Well it's happening frequently now ...once about month or so ago twice yesterday and once today!
Officially a problem...... actually a nice problem !
I must be getting stronger ... Really didn't think I'd produce enough torque through a 64 tooth chainring .....I keep budging the rear axle!!



So it's ditch the wing nuts and fit some axle nuts....nope...I like my wing nuts I found them on an old Peugeot randonneur bike in a ditch in france as well as the chain guard,front axle and other various bits !
So I need some anti budgie axle bits!
Best get making some.

Brass or aluminium?

Well the new saddles no lightweight so it'll be aluminium


A little bit of drilling a bit of tapping and a bit of hacking....

Roughed out ready for some more filing!

That's about it for the "tugging the axle" bits ....tomorrow I'll make the "keep hold of the dropout" bits..
Yep a little rough....just the look I'm after... handmade....the mother of necessity look!
I'll probably give these a tumble in a big ol'bucket of rusty nuts and bolts to help the patina bloom

If you like shiny perfect more ? then your welcome to come on over to my other build thread...

https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/da-funk-is-this.444944/

 

[Mickeyspinn]

So as I was having my dins last night I realised the next bits "the keep hold of the dropout bits" were going to be a bit of fiddle to make....

Hmmm

Oh lord won't you buy me a milling machine
My friends all drive Porsches I must make amends...
I've worked hard all my lifetime no help from my friends
Oh lord won't you buy me a milling machine

So with Janis in my head and before the sparrow farted I cracked on...hacksaw,files, scrapers, punches ,chisels and whatever else came to hand at the ready....got to make some square edged holes in aluminium

Righto of we go...

Roughed out of plate...



A 3 mm slot....stepped at the bottom too just for extra faff ..... a bit more tweaking to do then do it all over again on the other one....



Felt they needed a little detail....they're lovely sliding dropouts on the frame and I didn't really want to cover the ends but well it needs these so I figured best add a little aesthetic something

Nest stage finalise how much bolt/thread length is required make whatever adjustments needed and then fit! Reckon they'll fit first time?

 

[Mickeyspinn]

Just found this picture!!
This was on eBay for months and months buy it now £15.... I forgot all about until I was working on a job about 5 minutes away from where it was decomposing. Dropped a message heard back in 5 round there in 10! So glad I did....those are the mudguards,bars and dynamo on Nocim! Seller said it was a 60's bike.....moment I got next to it I knew it wasn't


Lovely couple that were selling this had an absolute cracking story of how they become the "owners" of this bike

They were newlyweds on honeymoon in the South of France...in the late 70's... obviously enjoying themselves. They'd been out all day visiting vineyards and I presume properly getting on it....the vino that is... and basically lost their car.....we've all done it haven't we?
They can't recall exactly how it came into their possession but the bike was in their hotel room in the morning ! So they brought it home to blighty...and lent it against the woodpile under a lean too where it stayed without moving till I bought it!

Looks rough doesn't it!



It's not actually as rough as you think.
It has charm it has patina....it has potential to be Nocim's naughty little twisted sister
So it's a la Fileuese mixte of mid to late 30's quite a fancy bike for its time!
Well once Nocim is wrapped it's the target for more vintage mayhem...I have a cunning plan for this one

 

[wynne]

I love this story of your aged hotrod.
You've made me laugh out loud reading this. All power to your elbow, sir.