# Viscount bicycle



## pakman2 (May 29, 2018)

A few days ago on my way home I stopped at a flea market because I saw some bicycles. Most were walmart type of bikes but I saw a bicycle with flat tires that was a Viscount and had a nice leather saddle and alloy rims. Not knowing anythibg about this bike I decided to buy it due to the give away price and alloy rims and saddle.
At home , I researched it and it was the death fork bike but the fork had been replaced as were the components. The saddle was an Ideale 90 with steel rails, Araya alloy rims 27" with suzue forged alloy high flange hubs(Normandy hub look alikes and sun tour barcon shifters. these parts will go on other bikes of mine but what to do with the frame and leftovers. I hate to just throw it out but do people seriously collect this oddity


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## RidgeWalker (May 29, 2018)

There were several models.  The ones with the aluminum fork were faulty.  Some of these were replaced with steel forks.  And there were models that came with steel forks to begin with.


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## dnc1 (May 29, 2018)

People will collect anything, I'm sure someone somewhere will want it.


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## juvela (May 29, 2018)

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pakman2 -

in case you would like to learn more about your purchase there is a forum expressly for these machines.

http://viscountandlambert.boards.net/

also discussed are the examples badged as Viking and as Reg Harris.

this forum had a recent lively discussion regarding Lambert (Viscount antecedent) here:

https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/lambert-of-england.125580/page-2#post-868651

congratulations on your find.  

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## bulldog1935 (May 30, 2018)

from a metallurgist and PE, _*what were they thinking !?!! *_comes first.  
(unfortunately can tell you what they were thinking - market splash and differentiation)

Steel forks on bicycles are perfection - they flex for shock, they steer crisply - they do everything you want in a fork.
There was a time they even repaired them with available blades, though buying whole forks (for trail change/ asthetics/ prestige) became the norm.






https://janheine.wordpress.com/2018/05/17/myth-9-fork-blades-dont-flex/
https://janheine.wordpress.com/2018/05/18/myth-10-stiffer-forks-steer-better/

An aluminum fork, especially a casting, doesn't save weight, by definition will crack because it flexes - as they learned.

And by the time Lambert dba to Viscount, they did have steel forks.
There are definitely people who collect and ride these bikes, because they are nice and often good buys.

Getting past all that, a lot of cool things about the bikes - they were well-appointed, and one of the coolest things was their cyclotouriste crankset copy, licensed for their manufacture by TA.


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## mongeese (May 30, 2018)

70s Dura Ace too.


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## MarkKBike (May 31, 2018)

I also have one. It's fairly light, and rides decent.





I sold the original pedals that came on it and recouped the money I payed for the entire bike, making it basically a free acquisition. I did replace the saddle and bar tape, and am temporarily running a replaced Shimano rear derailleur that works just "ok", not great.

If you have some extra parts, there may be a market. You might as well list them.You said parts were replaced, but If you have the original derailleur I may possibly even be interested. 







.


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## bulldog1935 (May 31, 2018)

bulldog1935 said:


> unfortunately can tell you what they were thinking - market splash and differentiation...
> 
> View attachment 816209



Interesting confirmation on a parallel CR thread, posted by John P. of Sudbury, Suffolk, UK - a former employee.  .
These bikes originated as a business transaction between Yamaha USA and the English maker.
They were only to be sold in USA accompanied by the marketing "ballyhoo" - an English start-up manufacturing company designed for the bike boom, American market, and American marketing.
http://bikeretrogrouch.blogspot.com/2015/09/great-bicycle-advertising-lambert-cycles.html



Lambert's head-on attack to the very popular Raleigh Grand Prix is less than subtle.



Except for the fork, these bikes are a better-appointed Raleigh GP, and it wasn't until '77 model that Raleigh took on Viscount with equivalent components (arguably better, SunTour V), though the Grand Prix didn't get alloy rims until it became the Super Grand Prix, the following year. 

The Viscount name originated when the manufacturing company changed hands - hiding the Lambert name and "death fork" reputation - Yamaha USA continued their purchase contract for USA distribution, and it was actually Triumph motorcycles that later distributed Viscount bikes to England, Europe and Australia.



 



Noteworthy, all bicycle tubing originated as hot-pierced seamless aircraft structural tubing - TI(Raleigh), Reynolds, Vitus, Columbus, True Temper.  As the aircraft industry moved into greater use of aluminum flanges for structures approaching WWII and the jet age, the steel tubing hot-piercing mills looked for new markets, TI bought Raleigh and became the great UK bicycle magnate.  I wouldn't be a bit surprised if someone could show Lambert 1027 was TI2030 purchased from TI/Raleigh (by all steel nomenclature, they're the same grade of C-Mn steel).

But from the Wright Bros, aircraft and bicycles have always been intimately associated.



MarkKBike said:


> ... but If you have the original derailleur I may possibly even be interested
> .



Mark, from the ad I just posted, you're looking for a Shimano Crane RD.


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