# Lambert of England



## kwoodyh

Any noted qualities of the Lambert of England light weight bikes? It appears most of the components are also Lambert made. @dnc1 what say you?







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## juvela

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Also offered badged as Reg Harris and as Viking.

There is a forum expressly for owners of these -

http://viscountandlambert.boards.net/

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## SLM

kwoodyh said:


> Any noted qualities of the Lambert of England light weight bikes? It appears most of the components are also Lambert made. @dnc1 what say you?View attachment 751511View attachment 751512
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



We had two Lamberts in the 90's and they had a issue with the front forks failing so becareful !  It was a great lightweight bike.  The bike shop in Ann Arbor Mi , offered to replace the forks .


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## dnc1

Hello,
Excellent information given above.
I've seen many Viscounts and one Reg Harris, but never a Lambert badged bike.
If that's the cast aluminium fork don't ride it! They're not known as 'death forks' for nothing.
They were sold as Lamberts up to 1974.
Unusual chain ring.
They sold well into the U.S., largely on their low price for such a lightweight machine, and this advert......

 
This ad. gives you original 1972 spec......

 .
And you could buy that gold - plated bike in th ad. too!


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## dnc1

Headset, chain rims and tyres were the only bought in components.
One of their major U.S. backers was a member of the Marriott (hotels etc.) family.
Eventually taken over by Yamaha motorcycles in '78, who did a recall to replace the forks.
Yours looks pretty all original, does it have clinchers or tubs?


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## kwoodyh

dnc1 said:


> Headset, chain rims and tyres were the only bought in components.
> One of their major U.S. backers was a member of the Marriott (hotels etc.) family.
> Eventually taken over by Yamaha motorcycles in '78, who did a recall to replace the forks.
> Yours looks pretty all original, does it have clinchers or tubs?




Clinchers and the hoops are labeled but I can't remember the name?


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## rhenning

These bikes were bikes were sold under 2 names. Lambert and Viscount and were built by an aerospece British company.  They are nice riding bike but the early ones used a cast aluminum front fork which unfortunately broke without warning and often and are famous for being the "Death Fork Bikes."  Most have had the fork replaced under a recall.  I have 2 of the bikes.  One which is still in the original Viscount colors and the other which has been resprayed in dark blue.  That bike still had the origninal Death fork on it.  Some pictures of the bikes and the death fork which I replaced.  Roger


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## Mr.RED

I've always liked the Viscount style crankset granted they resemble TA but still cool looking.


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## 100bikes

We were retailers of  Lambert bicycles soon after their introduction in the US. 
Great value for the day, and when they introduced the Japanese built stuff, it was top notch.

Light. 

I believe the rims were Benelux, a contemporary of a Weinmann 313.

The failing" Death Fork"  fork put them out of business in the US. 

Not 100% on this part but seem to remember that the junction of the steel steerer tube 
and the aluminum fork assembly was the culprit.

It was pinned and swaged and could loosen or fail.

Funky, unique size, press fit sealed bearing in the bb and needle bearings in the pedals.
Japanese built products were ISO.

As to this bike, funny about the lugged head tube and the flat crown fork on the English cro mo 
filet brazed frame.

I do not remember this configuration in production, especially when mixing materials or frame 
building methods such as this. 

To my eye, the headtube and fork almost look like they were "repurposed" from a Mossberg bike
- color, finish and shape and even the decals. 
Result of a crash that took out the head tube? This would be a fix.

The braze on shift boss and  original to this bike, clamp on cable guides are also curious.


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## kwoodyh

100bikes said:


> We were retailers of  Lambert bicycles soon after their introduction in the US.
> Great value for the day, and when they introduced the Japanese built stuff, it was top notch.
> 
> Light.
> 
> I believe the rims were Benelux, a contemporary of a Weinmann 313.
> 
> The failing" Death Fork"  fork put them out of business in the US.
> 
> Not 100% on this part but seem to remember that the junction of the steel steerer tube
> and the aluminum fork assembly was the culprit.
> 
> It was pinned and swaged and could loosen or fail.
> 
> Funky, unique size, press fit sealed bearing in the bb and needle bearings in the pedals.
> Japanese built products were ISO.
> 
> As to this bike, funny about the lugged head tube and the flat crown fork on the English cro mo
> filet brazed frame.
> 
> I do not remember this configuration in production, especially when mixing materials or frame
> building methods such as this.
> 
> To my eye, the headtube and fork almost look like they were "repurposed" from a Mossberg bike
> - color, finish and shape and even the decals.
> Result of a crash that took out the head tube? This would be a fix.
> 
> The braze on shift boss and  original to this bike, clamp on cable guides are also curious.




Thanks for the info but this bike and the literature posted doesn't refer to the frame as of CrMo construction (4130) in fact they go out of their way to tout the fact it's constructed of 1027 carbon steel with a Mil-Spec number. The grade 1027 doesn't exist anymore and was changed to 15xx when they consolidated the grade numbers years back. This is one of the things that first caught my eye because 1027 is not a grade you expect to see in quality frame construction. They also tout that the tubing is seamless which would contribute to it being suitable in rigidly for an acceptable frame for every day use. The frame construction and its inherent flexibility may of contributed to the fork failure seen during its construction life ultimately leading to the business failure? I imagine it would be a PR nightmare having your product associated with death (death fork) and everyone who knows about these bicycles referred to it as such!


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## rhenning

If you look at my pictures of the death fork you can see the roll pin that failed (close up picture) and allowed the cast aluminum bottom of the fork seperate from the steel steer tube.  I replaced the bottom brackets bearings in my blue bike and had no problem finding them at a bearing supply store.  They were not in stock but they had them in a couple of days.


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## kwoodyh

rhenning said:


> If you look at my pictures of the death fork you can see the roll pin that failed (close up picture) and allowed the cast aluminum bottom of the fork seperate from the steel steer tube.  I replaced the bottom brackets bearings in my blue bike and had no problem finding them at a bearing supply store.  They were not in stock but they had them in a couple of days.




My pondering was that the mild steel frame and it's flexible nature might of contributed to the fork failure but at first glance I find it odd that they chose an aluminum gravity cast fork with a steel steering tube. Could it of been that the roll pin was added as a secondary capture mechanism to prevent a total separation of the dissimilar metals? This we will never know!


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## juvela

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100bikes -

I think that rim name was Birmalux rather than Benelux.  It is a brand name belonging to the Birmetals Ltd company.  Today the company is called Birmabright.  In cycle fittings they are probably better known for their alloy saddle pillars than their wheel rims.




 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birmabright

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## dnc1

kwoodyh said:


> My pondering was that the mild steel frame and it's flexible nature might of contributed to the fork failure but at first glance I find it odd that they chose an aluminum gravity cast fork with a steel steering tube. Could it of been that the roll pin was added as a secondary capture mechanism to prevent a total separation of the dissimilar metals? This we will never know.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



You're right , the first production forks were without the pin. This was added later on on subsequent production runs, presumably due to early breakages I surmise.
The initial batch of frames were lugged, an example is shown below from the CR site......



They were also fully lugged throughout, including the seat stay/seat tube/top tube area, whereas yours appears fillet brazed @kwoodyh.
A 'transitional' frame perhaps, or a later repair as suggested by @100bikes above?
Are the lugs on yours similar to the shot I've posted, or are they different? Hard to tell from your initial photo.


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## juvela

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Bikes were either lugged or lugless.  There were no combination construction frames.

Example under discussion has had the head and fork of an ordinary Japanese machine grafted onto the Lambert frame.  That trim tape seen nowhere else is there for a reason!  Saw one other done similarly in a CL advert.  It was rougher. Agree with the suggestion of 100bikes above.

dnc1 - lug pattern on your example is BOCAMA  30-II.

Lambert also employed BOCAMA lug pattern 18-II as seen on the Super Sports model  below -





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Here is a diagram of the aluminum fork construction -






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## kwoodyh

dnc1 said:


> You're right , the first production forks were without the pin. This was added later on on subsequent production runs, presumably due to early breakages I surmise.
> The initial batch of frames were lugged, an example is shown below from the CR site......
> View attachment 752366
> They were also fully lugged throughout, including the seat stay/seat tube/top tube area, whereas yours appears fillet brazed @kwoodyh.
> A 'transitional' frame perhaps, or a later repair as suggested by @100bikes above?
> Are the lugs on yours similar to the shot I've posted, or are they different? Hard to tell from your initial photo.




I'll check but right now I'm waiting on the ice to melt on my truck! All this Lambert talk is making me hungry!

It's a world famous cafe (at least around here) for the rolls which are tossed around the room as they come out of the kitchen! There's probably something on the YouTube?


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## juvela

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Found it!

The "other" example of a grafted frame Lambert I mentioned above was the _the same bicycle.  _It was listed in a San Francisco area craigslist advert of 13 November 2016 as a free item put out at the curb.

Here is the poster's photo -





In order to perform the graft without messing up the Lambert's finish some method of clamping/plugging must have been employed.  kwoodyh - if you possess this machine I would recommend against using it for safety reasons.

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## kwoodyh

juvela said:


> -----
> 
> Found it!
> 
> The "other" example of a grafted frame Lambert I mentioned above was the _the same bicycle.  _It was listed in a San Francisco area craigslist advert of 13 November 2016 as a free item put out at the curb.
> 
> Here is the poster's photo -
> 
> View attachment 752447
> 
> In order to perform the graft without messing up the Lambert's finish some method of clamping/plugging must have been employed.  kwoodyh - if you possess this machine I would recommend against using it for safety reasons.
> 
> -----




CSI Lambert! Oh hell and this bike also came out of Wisconsin and has some suspect looking corrosion at the front lugs! I'm guessing with the corrosion, icy road conditions and possible "death forks" it's a perfect candidate for "what bike didn't I ride today"!


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## dnc1

Looks like he's fond of your little Yellow machine too!


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## Schrauber

Hi guys, I'm new here and have been looking into Viscount Aerospace bikes lately. I had one many years ago when they came out in australia. It seems that most of the achievements were made when they were called Lamberts. I especially like the frame shape due to the fillet brazing and lack of lugs and close seat stays, the stem shape is very cool, also the unique chainring, and amazing alu fork. The Birmalux rims had dome shapes at the spoke holes like on old motorbike rims. Other parts looked like copies of (or "inspired" from) continental brands. In any case I liked the new approach with the cartridge bearings, back then, and eventhough they were easy to replace, I didn't like them in the end, so replaced the hubs and eventually also the frame. The frame had cracked under the seat bolt, My brother had one too on which the rear drop out, dropped out...
I never heard of a alum fork breaking, just recall & the bad reputation. It's a pity about the DF name for the forks realy set in and that after apparently 30 recorded cases of broken forks and no deaths. I've read that the mark 3 fork, right in the drawing above and with telltale circular depression (as seen above on the washer lid), no longer had the issue. Yeah I'd like to get one. In England there are yearly rides called Death Fork Rally, and there are cool stickers for those fork blades...
In my search I have; as started above, also seen different variations of frames with some lugs: some head tube, some BB. These were Viscounts, so later than the Lamberts in question above.


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## Mr.RED

I spoke to a guy at a local bike show who road a Viscount for 20 years with the original death fork and never had a problem with it. So I wonder if the issue with the fork was blown out of proportion. The same goes for the old aluminum tubed steel lugged frames example being the Raleigh Tecnhnium frames you 1 read horror story of the tubes coming apart due to cheap epoxy then everyone goes off on  them how they are crap. I often wonder how many forks had to fail for them to do a recall on them.


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## kwoodyh

Mr.RED said:


> I spoke to a guy at a local bike show who road a Viscount for 20 years with the original death fork and never had a problem with it. So I wonder if the issue with the fork was blown out of proportion. The same goes for the old aluminum tubed steel lugged frames example being the Raleigh Tecnhnium frames you 1 read horror story of the tubes coming apart due to cheap epoxy then everyone goes off on  them how they are crap. I often wonder how many forks had to fail for them to do a recall on them.




The memo with the diagram of the difference in fork construction published by Yamaha states that failure was a result of the bike running into something, bumper cars with the bike. I don't think there was ever just a spontaneous failure of the fork from normal use.


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## rhenning

I have a lady friend who owned one of the Lamberts in the 1970s.  She was a very good rider and good enough to ride with the boys in our group rides.  Her fork literally just came apart while riding and she still has some scars from the fork failure to this day.  She was less than 120 pounds in weight and a skilled rider.  Spent about 4 months in recovery from the incident.  Roger


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## Schrauber

I understand it was only the first 2 versions some of which did fail and the 3rd & final version did not. I wonder if all the failures were on Lamberts, being the earlier brand, or also on Viscounts. I think on the english forum there are occasionally ex-employees who have interesting stories, and might know that.


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## djpubba

I have a Viscount with a death fork. Here it is.


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## djpubba

People have Rallies where they all ride their Death Forks. 

http://viscountandlambert.boards.net/board/6/death-fork-rallies


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## bulldog1935

as a metallurgist and professional forensic engineer, I can only say one thing about the Lambert cast aluminum fork - what the hell were they thinking. 
A cast 17-4PH landing gear strut shut down Fairchild Aircraft, but that is a Much stronger and Much more homogeneous cast alloy.


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## sam

The BB is unique to the bike. and the spindle and cranks are square cut not tapered and can loosen.


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## harpon

At the old Bicycle Peddler at 38th and Georgetown Rd where I worked in Indianapolis the summers of '73 and '74 I recall we got one or two of these in- It was a "Lambert" and they had just changed the name to "Viscount", or was it the other way around. Anyway, there was nothing said about the forks back then.  I thought the crank was novel, and the bikes were quite light for the price.

Has NO ONE said "matress" to  Mr. Lambert yet?


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