One of the more interesting moments of Cirque was sharing with fellow Lambert owner Ken Toda the misery of Lambert ownership and comparing horror stories. Since returning home I've discovered some more in trying to actually get my early 70's Lambert on the road. Latest adventure involves the non-tapered axle on pressed-in BB and the crank bolts thereof.
First, a trip to TruValue failed to turn up the washer with the square hole in the middle that one needs between the axle shoulder and the crankarm (hoped I might find them with the carriage bolts). With judicious filing, the closest standard flat washer tapped onto the axle and looked as if it would work, but when I prepared to tighten the crankarm, I found a standard crankbolt was the wrong thread for the axle. Nor would the Lambert-marked crankbolts from another bike work. Testing the two Lambert types and a Campy bolt on the Lambert BB and a standard axle reveals that the bolts from another bike, with 16mm heads with an enameled "L" are different from the chromed but unmarked crankbolt that came with the Lambert, and neither will fit a standard BB axle, meaning of course that a standard crankbolt will not fit the Lambert BB. The single bolt that came with the bike is, on examination, clearly a courser thread than the "L" marked Lamberts or the Campy bolt. Can anyone tell me what thread the non-tapered Lambert BBs used for the crankbolts? Anyone have a spare to sell or trade?
BTW I've received from list members a couple of Lambert crankarm sets. All arms have the concave surface at the back of the extractor hole, requiring a half-convex crank washer. Because the left arm (no right) that came with the bike is this type, I have formed the theory that this concave surface is a means of identifying the Lambert cranks that came with the non-tapered BB. Can anyone confirm or refute this? Anyone been able to use the non-tapered Lambert cranks on a standard tapered axle? As Joe Bender gave me at Cirque a tapered, standard threaded (titanium) axle made for pressed bearings like the Lambert's, I'm tempted to install this if the Lambert arms can be used on it.
BTW, I found Hilary's Design Classics article on Lambert/Viscount in a back issue of C+, but in a one page column he could only scratch the surface of the wierdness of Lambert. Since the theme of next year's Cirque is British bikes, it would be nice to bring the Lambert, but I'm not sure a year is enough to sort out all the strange parts.
Regards,
Jerry Moos