Sid Mottram Fixed gear .

I purchased this Sid Mottram a couple of weeks ago from the daughter of the original owner .

As far as she could remember it was bought by her late father in the 1950’s after a trip to see Sid Mottram in Leicester shop .

Through the covering of dust and grime built up over the years of storage I could see a nice bike lurking below .

It’s fitted with a mix of original and later components ie Williams chainset , wienmann 27″alloy rims , GB drop bars and a Reynolds 531 stem that had been wrapped up in black bar tape . Thankfully the constrictor lamp bracket hadn’t been covered as well .

Once I removed the tape I could see the damage to the glorious chromed stem that years of tape had caused ie lots of flaking chrome.

My plan is to swap the cranks for a set of stronglight items along with a 19 toothed fixed rear cog . The front wheel will be respoked . It will also need some new cables and brake pads .

I am unsure if it’s a Wally Green or Mercian built frame . But either way I am looking forward to covering some miles on it.

Shorter

To compliment the red Aende I picked up last week . I added this late 70’s ex TT Shorter to my already overcrowded garage .

 

Original owner had it built to order at the age of 15 and paid in the region of £570 for it .

 

Do you reckon he got it cheaper due to holes in the bottom bracket shell and rear drop outs.

 

He also didn’t really have a gear set that are idea for hills .

1955 hercules Aston Tourist

Added another 1950’s bike to my collection the other night a very original 1955 Hercules Aston Tourist .

 

I have seen a few of it’s sportier sibling the Aston Club come up for sale before but have never seen an Aston Tourist .

It should clean up nicely if that is what i decide on . Having given it a couple of short laps around the block i can’t believe how smooth and well it rides apart from slightly buckled rear wheel .