MrWolf Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 That sounds about right. We have a couple of cycle shops like that around here. People are stupidly snobbish about bicycles. Until lockdown hit, the roving scrap man's lorry was piled high with bicycles, most of which are perfectly fixable. People who buy a new bicycle thinking that they will get fit in a week won't entertain a used one. But since lockdown, things have changed and we can't supply my friends shop enough overhauled bikes. Everywhere (apart from the boutique shops) ran out of imported bikes about last June. Supplies have only recently been replenished, a result of the loss of the British cycle industry. I felt sorry for a lad who came in the other week wanting a tyre fitting to his mountain bike. It was a fancy one bought from a fancy shop for over £30. You can get a more robust piece of rubber from the machine in a pub toilet... All bar one of our bikes are pre 1960, the other pre 1980. We're neither of us those hipster types, I have been messing around with vintage cycles since the 80s and SWMBO just hates modern bicycles, says that they look like Dysons. She has the same opinion about modern cars too. 4 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alastairq Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 (edited) 6 hours ago, gr.king said: They are almost all elaborately tarted-up "boutiques" now, with a limited selection of bikes costing many hundreds or more often thousands of pounds each and staffed by socially dysfunctional enthusiasts with a sneering attitude to anybody who wants to buy or repair a more basic, older bike. Also extends to ''coffee'' shops, delicatessens, etc? [Try going to one of the posh coffee chains and simply asking for a 'white coffee?'] { McDonalds has it cracked, 99p for a perfectly acceptable coffee, and no overpriced nibbles either. [Good old double cheeseburger is better than some of STarbux overpriced gucci dog biscuits] Back decades ago, I had an early 1950's framed Claude Butler [one without gussets]....About the only thing that was original was the frame, and maybe the handlebars? Yet as a 14 year old I cycled, alone, from Sutton Coldfield following the A38 [I lived on the A38 in Sutton]....to Plymouth, then over the Torpoint ferry to Cornwall. I used it a bit in London too, long before lycra [remember bicycle clips??], in the 70's. Mainly just going to work & back. The idea of using it for exercise never entered my mind. A bicycle was cheap transport, nothing more really, in my eyes. However, as a teenager I cycled all over for the hell of it...the freedom to go anywhere I pleased, really. But once I got older [and got all sorts of daft ideas out of my head, like, joining the Royal Marines!!]...exercise really became a pointless pastime....a waste of spare time. Edited March 31, 2021 by alastairq 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alastairq Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 Anyone remember cycle capes, for when it rained? 7 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted March 31, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 31, 2021 42 minutes ago, gr.king said: GB cycling success in at the Olympics and other international events in the last fifteen or so years Sigh. Box Hill, within sight of which I spent my first 24 years, is now awash with cyclists seeking to emulate Olympic glory. It's evidently What You Do. Similarly, a former colleague left his bike here for a few days a decade ago - having been to other parts of France to sample Le Tour stages. And the minor road passing my house sometimes sees huge pelotons of cyclists on Summer days. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobby Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 15 hours ago, PhilJ W said: You need a Commer TS3 'Knocker'. A Maestro or Montego with the Perkins could do a similar job! Alastair, whatever you do don't go to City Centres and try and walk anywhere... My experience of Brum is that whilst walking along on the pavement you are likely to be run over by either a cyclist, guy on an electric scooter or a small motorbike... All will have large boxes on their back telling you they are doing important food deliveries and take priority over legal pavement users such as you and me... 1 1 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWolf Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 11 minutes ago, alastairq said: Also extends to ''coffee'' shops, delicatessens, etc? [Try going to one of the posh coffee chains and simply asking for a 'white coffee?'] { McDonalds has is cracked, 99p for a perfectly acceptable coffee, and no overpriced nibbles either. [Good old double cheeseburger is better than some of STarbux overpriced gucci dog biscuits] Back decades ago, I had an early 1950's framed Claude Butler [one without gussets]....About the only thing that was original was the frame, and maybe the handlebars? Yet as a 14 year old I cycled, alone, from Sutton Coldfield following the A38 [I lived on the A38 in Sutton]....to Plymouth, then over the Torpoint ferry to Cornwall. I used it a bit in London too, long before lycra [remember bicycle clips??], in the 70's. Mainly just going to work & back. The idea of using it for exercise never entered my mind. A bicycle was cheap transport, nothing more really, in my eyes. However, as a teenager I cycled all over for the hell of it...the freedom to go anywhere I pleased, really. But once I got older [and got all sorts of daft ideas out of my head, like, joining the Royal Marines!!]...exercise really became a pointless pastime....a waste of spare time. My father bought a Claude Butler racer brand new in 1954, it cost him £27. To give some Idea of how much that was, three years later, his first motorcycle, a 1935 New Imperial model 30 cost him £2. He used it for everything from his paper round to visiting relatives in Lincolnshire. He even rode it from Leicester to Selsey once aged 16. You can still buy a Claude Butler, but in name only, yet another expensive Taiwanese parts bin special. IIRC Claude Butler himself went bust around 1970 and Raleigh bought the name. They too are now another major UK employer lost to cheap imports. If anyone thinks that I am suffering from rose tinted glasses, come and have a day working on even the "big name" modern cycles. The quality is appalling and your £800 alloy frame is no lighter than a steel racer frame from the 60s. Until I started helping out with such things, I never saw a collapsed bottom bracket bearing, it's every other one with the modern stuff. 3 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWolf Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 25 minutes ago, alastairq said: Anyone remember cycle capes, for when it rained? Often worn by couples touring the lake District on a tendem. It looks like a two man tent with wheels! 2 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prometheus Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 17 minutes ago, Hobby said: A Maestro or Montego with the Perkins could do a similar job! Absolutely! We once had a seven-seat Montego Countryman Estate. Really high-spec and a great family car, but even when low mileage, it laid down an appalling smoke screen when accelerating under load. tony 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alastairq Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 15 minutes ago, Hobby said: Alastair, whatever you do don't go to City Centres and try and walk anywhere... My experience of Brum is that whilst walking along on the pavement you are likely to be run over by either a cyclist, guy on an electric scooter or a small motorbike... All will have large boxes on their back telling you they are doing important food deliveries and take priority over legal pavement users such as you and me... Now that is something I can never see me doing again, Blair.... I wear steel toecap work boots mostly when out. My family look askance at my clothing tastes. [I buy most of my clothing from SiteKing....work stuff tends to be harder wearing than Matalan...] But I do find them useful when dealing with wheeled stuff on town pavements. Round these parts, the likes of Deliveroo decline to deliver. Not because of social strife, but we're too far away from any fast food outlets for them to bother with the likes of us. Last year I 'won' a voucher for one of the food delivery firms....I sent it back with a terse note pointing out that such a voucher was useless to me, as the firm concerned wouldn't deliver this far away from so-called civilisation! The only time I wear plimmies, is when using the Dellow... 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alastairq Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 I found cycle capes a mixed blessing really. Mostly because, they acted like a spinnaker! Great if in a following wind [but harder on the brakes]....but in a headwind, a disaster. Aside from having the clammy wet cape pressed hard over every body contour... Also really quite useless unless stood still......trying to continue riding in a downpour with a cycle cape was really pointless....most of the water was spraying upwards anyway....off the back & front wheels, passing traffic, etc.... 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alastairq Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 I once drove for Revills [& Berrimans] transport firm out of Langtoft, East Yorkshire [the drier, warmer, less littersome part of Yorkshire]. Most of the stuff they had was from the so-called 'lightweight' manufacturers..............Ford, Bedford, etc. But they did have a Commer coach, dating from the late 1950's.... It wasn't large by modern standards, and probably had its body made by Duple [it had a family resemblance to the Bedford Duples on the stock list.] It was rather posh inside, in a very faded sort of way...lovely shapes to the interior lights, for example? It normally had the smaller of the two sizes of Commer 2 stroke engine fitted...but when that blew, the only engine on hand was the larger type, so in that went! [Very innovative fitter worked there....used to get Christmas cards from the MoT testers in Scarborough!!]......Normally only used on school contracts, it was great fun roaring up the local village main streets at the crack o dawn.... It used to decoke itself regularly, quite a spectacular display too, especially as the exhaust exited out of the right hand side. It was one of my favourites to drive too.....It could easily reach 70 mph..... The supercharger wasn't really used as a blower [in the conventional sense], but as a scavenger pump....it sucked instead of blew! Hence why the exhaust would decoke itself on a regular basis [with no prior warning, either] Driving for a living in those days was quite fun filled in an obtuse sort of way. More so than today, I feel! For example, the firm had a small Ford D series freezer truck [sub 7 1/2 tonner]....which I used to drive on a once a week contract from Twydales Turkey factory in Driffield, over to Lowfield Cool at St Helens. All on ''overtime'', as the loading time was precisely half past four on a Tuesday evening. Twydales worked with Marks n sparks to produce the first chilled turkey meat products. These had to be loaded, chilled, and delivered to Lowfield Cool in time to meet their trunker......All very time conscious. I got the job as I could comply with the timetable... The Ford D series had an absolute flat out max speed of 45 mph! This was not an unusual flat out speed for many types of bigger vehicle back in those days [early 1980's]..and is something today's drivers [of all persuasions. ...Got to be inclusive these days?]....cannot comprehend. they'd probably think it was 'dangerous' or summat? Anyway, 45 flat out, over the M62 from Howden.....to St Helens. I might get a bit more on the downhill side, out of cog...But, the D series would hold its max 45mph all the way up the big hills this side.....Thus, overtaking all the wagons struggling on the grades....to be overtaken in turn on the downhill bits.... The truck also had an Ooogah horn. Another 'hot rod' on the Revills fleet was one of those tiny Bedford coaches that were bodied by Duple, full width, but very short [18 or 20 seats?] It's registration was PP, so it was named 'Puppy'.....A proper mini bus, it was... Anyway, it started life with a Bedford 4 pot engine...but somewhere along the line [for cheapness] it acquired one of the much larger, more powerful, Bedford 6 cylinder engines. That wee thing could really fly, given half the chance....Probably as wide as it was long, too....I believe the engine it got came from something like a VAL Bedford? I believe it got preserved too? 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium petethemole Posted March 31, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 31, 2021 1 hour ago, alastairq said: Anyone remember cycle capes, for when it rained? Oh yes. I did a 4 day circuit round the West Highlands in September '64. The only days it didn't rain were the first and last. The cape was little use. Another disadvantage was they obscured hand signals. Dad was driving me to Uni in 1970 (IIRC) in his Wolseley 6/110 (gotta mention the car). Going through Reading in rain, a teenage lad was riding along with a cape on and suddenly swerved to the right in front of us at a junction. Dad couldn't avoid him and knocked him off his bike, breaking his arm, or collar bone and wrecking the bike. Neither of us saw a signal and Dad, although offering to buy the lad a new bike, chose to defend the charge of driving without due care and attention. I didn't have to go to court but gave a sworn statement that I'd seen no signal. However witnesses from in front of the cyclist had seen him indicate right. His arm obviously didn't extend beyond the cape. Dad was fined and licence endorsed. His offer of a new bike was accepted. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobby Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 1 hour ago, alastairq said: most of the water was spraying upwards anyway....off the back & front wheels, I found that mudguards helped there, but then again my bike when i was a kid was a tourer not a racing bike with little or no mudguards! I'll be honest and say that I am not a fan of cycling, it's just too busy these days, back when I was a kid I used to cycle all over the place hunting down steam and early diesel trains, though the flat plains of the part of Lancashire I lived in helped. I did try out a bike when we stayed in The Netherlands recently (they came free with the cottage) but whilst it was pleasant enough I didn't particularly enjoy it, if I want exercise I'll walk, that way I wind up less people! 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alastairq Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 17 minutes ago, Hobby said: f I want exercise I'll walk, that way I wind up less people! I put the wind up a lot of people, I find..... 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWolf Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 14 minutes ago, alastairq said: I put the wind up a lot of people, I find..... Join the club. It's way more fun than being ordinary. I once had a Bedford TD1, a little one tonner with the cab from the A type. It was ex RAAF and fitted with 15" split rims and the running gear from the 5 litre petrol coaches. It would lay rubber at the slightest provocation. Lots of fun. I also had an A5 long wheelbase flatbed with a Perkins P6, coach gearbox and an Eaton two speed axle. But no heater and only one windscreen wiper. The only way to stop the cab steaming up was to have the windows open. (The ventilator flap ahead of the windscreens was rusted shut) So there I was, scruffy old flying jacket, cigarette jammed in the teeth, in full Stanley Baker mode, cruising mildly past all the modern artics on the M6 at a steady 65... I was filling up at Forton at about 3am on a very foggy night and a white haired old trucker told me I nearly gave him a heart attack, thinking he'd seen a ghost! 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve1 Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 (edited) Is this a thread about old cars or is it for moaning about other cyclists and/or advertising one's cycling prowess? steve Edited March 31, 2021 by steve1 2 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alastairq Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 16 minutes ago, steve1 said: Is this a thread about old cars or is it for moaning about other cyclists and/or advertising one's cycling prowess? steve One thing leads another? Anything that's old and has wheels might get a mention? Nowt wrong with nostalgia...this entire forum is full of it! However, if concerned that the old banger classic car forum has wandered off track a bit [like a Ford Pop's steering?]...then feel free to post something up about old cars? Or, experiences of using them? Or, cycle capes in the rain, if you like? Reading is not mandatory [although it helps at times ] 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWolf Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 We all live so far apart, we couldn't sit around have a beer and talk about old cars and our other experiences of the road, even before lockdown. Like the rolling English lanes and the rolling English drunk or an Austin Somerset with worn trunnions, the conversation is likely to meander and occasionally veer off into a ditch.... 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohmisterporter Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 6 hours ago, MrWolf said: I was filling up at Forton at about 3am on a very foggy night and a white haired old trucker told me I nearly gave him a heart attack, thinking he'd seen a ghost! I wonder if he had white hair before he saw you. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold russ p Posted March 31, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 31, 2021 9 hours ago, Prometheus said: Absolutely! We once had a seven-seat Montego Countryman Estate. Really high-spec and a great family car, but even when low mileage, it laid down an appalling smoke screen when accelerating under load. tony My normally aspirated perkins in my van hardly smokes at all. The ZR with a similar but later engine does smoke a bit when it is in power mode (its been remapped and has a two stage map) It amazes me that basically a sherpa van engine can produce a reliable and usable 175bhp some people are running 30psi of boost but the turbos don't last very long Far better engine than the huge underpowered BMW engine in my ZT 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve1 Posted April 2, 2021 Share Posted April 2, 2021 Morrison’s last night. It looks like a 2000E but I didn’t have a chance to talk to the driver. Looked in excellent condition but I think the springs had sagged a bit. Ford silver paint that hadn’t peeled off too. steve 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BernardTPM Posted April 2, 2021 Share Posted April 2, 2021 (edited) Nice, but not a 2000E (though the wheel trim is) as it has the waist line chrome trim. Because the door handles had been designed to match the chrome trim they used a slightly different design on the 2000E where it wasn't present. Other 2000E features were a vinyl roof, a different front grille (with horizontals rather than mesh) and a aluminium/black trim piece incorporating '2000E' across the lower edge of the boot. I think two round reversing lights on the panel below the boot were also part of the package. While the Corsair was basically a slightly lengthened Mk.1 Cortina with new front and rear and door skins, it held it's own stylistically. The chrome grille on the rear pillar shows it is a 1965 onwards 'aeroflow' model, so it should have one of the V4 engines. Edited April 2, 2021 by BernardTPM 1 2 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWolf Posted April 2, 2021 Share Posted April 2, 2021 15 minutes ago, steve1 said: Morrison’s last night. It looks like a 2000E but I didn’t have a chance to talk to the driver. Looked in excellent condition but I think the springs had sagged a bit. Ford silver paint that hadn’t peeled off too. steve Well spotted, you don't often see cars like that out and about anymore. I always liked the design of the Corsair, one of Ford's best efforts in my opinion. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peanuts Posted April 2, 2021 Share Posted April 2, 2021 Spotted these whilst on a delivery a fair mixed bunch 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve1 Posted April 2, 2021 Share Posted April 2, 2021 That’s a nice set of rat rods. steve 2 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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