Hi Alistair,
That sounds like a really neat bike, especially since it was your dad's.
The gear setup I think you're looking for info on is the super champion Osgear. It was connected to Oscar Egg, who was a famous rider from the 30's. He may have designed it, since he had a line of bikes, and even raced early HPVs with fairings. I have a 3 speed setup on an old Lewis brand bike, I can send some pictures . It's an interesting system, as it has a long arm under the down tube for a chain tensioner, and the "derailler" is a fork type thing mounted on the chainstay. It's also Indexed, and requires a little overshift to really work right. That's easy to get used to though.
Steve Birmingham Lowell, Ma USA
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Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 20:03:09 -0700 From: Alistair Johnston <info@synertik.com> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: [CR]Ernie Clements Bike circa 1946 Message-ID: <5.2.1.1.0.20031017195425.00ae2760@mail.jurock.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed MIME-Version: 1.0 Precedence: list Message: 3
Greetings I am a new member and joined when I brought my fathers 1946 Ernie Clements bike from Scotland to Canada to start restoring it. I need some information on the bike of that era. When my Dad spec'd it out ( we was a member of the BLRC) it had a 531 tube frame, alloy wheels with Harden hubs, and OZ 4 speed gear system (French make), B17 saddle, GB brakes etc. It is still all in great condition except that in the 60's when I used it to ride to High School on I had it painted and changed the gears to a Simplex set (the system with plastic componentS) . I would like to find out what the original colours were in 1946 ( it started off as a sort of light metallic green), locate the decals that were used in that period and source a set of OZ gears. I have been unable to find any references to OZ gears although he tells me they are very similar to the English Cyclo Ace system. Any input is appreciated Cheers
Alistair Johnston
White Rock, BC
Canada