There was a recent thread about the pros and cons of period correct restoration. I am certainly very much one into sticking to period or era. Although one is tempted, as a keen cyclist, to improve on what can be improved, I don't really see the point of taking a 1948 Clubman and employing modern (meaning post 1960 to me) continental components and accessories to try and make it something it isnt. If cottered steel cranks were good enough for Reg Harris, they're good enough for any mere mortal.
Part of the attraction classic cycles have for me is that total look achieved by the authentic components, saddle, mudguards, lighting equipment etc. I am resisting even using halogen bulbs in my dynohub lamps even if finding 6 v. .3 amp bulbs is a major pain. If I could find NOS Dunlop HP roadracing tyres Id ride on those even if the air inside them is contemporary. A Terry's wristwatch holder on the handlebar. Maybe. A modern trip computer. Not a chance.
Being period correct also contributes to the other essential of this hobby for me: the ride. A 1951 Clubman rides completely differently from a 1949 Clubman and certainly differently from a 1979 Competition GS and that's half the fun. Muddle the two and you get a muddle of a ride. And its much more fun roadracing (and sometimes winning!) riding a '51 Raleigh, all period correct and Bristol Fashion, against all these 1990s Colnagos. Show 'em what British steel can do, what?!
Of course, you can also make your life miserable and paint yourself into all sorts of corners being a stickler. I rather agonised when I replaced an original 1951 AW hub on my Clubman with a NOS 1950 FC. Thats being silly, but who says passions have to be practical?
Hilary Stone recently had a lovely Percy Stallard Monthlery on eBay. I was sorely tempted, but this 1947 mount had been extensively upgraded in the 60s with Simplex chainwheel and Campy derailleur etc. Is a 1960s upgrade of a 1947 bike period correct? You bet! It was done all the time. But for me, had it had c. 1947 Chater-Lea components and Sturmey-Archer FM hub or Cyclo-Benelux gears, Hilary would be packing it up now with my address on it. Being a stickler also prevents one more bicycle crammed into a one-bedroom apt and thats a good thing, too.
Happy Christmas!
Peter Kohler Washington DC USA
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