Mick,
I must confess, that when I'm restoring and building up a frameset, I aim for components which are contemporary with the period the frame was built, but I also own bikes dating from the 40's and early 50's, which have their original finish, but no longer have all of their original components, these, no doubt, having been replaced by their owners with whatever was suitable at the time they wore out. As far as I'm concerned, the state they're in is part of their history, and I preserve them in their current state. The guy who criticised your pal's bike obviously hadn't heard the quote from a certain Abraham Lincoln: "Better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt"...
Coincidentally, the bike which fired up my interest in older machines was one of the Bates Volantes, built by Ron Cooper, which I bought from Ray Etherton in 2000, before he sold the business to Martin Coopland. At the time, I was looking for a steel framed machine with fancy lugwork, which was a bit different from the typrical machine available then. I had it built with NOS 1970's/80's Campagnolo Nuovo Record and Super Record components throughout, apart from early Royce hubs and TA pedals. It rides and handles superbly. Ray introduced me to the Veteran-Cycle Club, and it all went downhill from there!
I've placed photos of Constrictor rim tape on:
http://photobucket.com/
Neil Foddering Weymouth, England
>From: Michael Butler <pariscycles@yahoo.co.uk>
>To: Phil Sieg <triodelover@comcast.net>
>CC: CR Rendezvous <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
>Subject: [CR]Topics Further
>Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2006 18:49:50 +0000 (GMT)
>
>
>Phil,
>The proper Constrictor rim-tape is like a round wick,
>you had to use this when natural rubber inner tubes
>were the only type available to avoid fracture
>punctures, with modern butyl tubes the problem is not
>that bad but I still fit a cloth rim tape first then
>cover it with a rubber one. Makes the valve sit a bit
>high that's all.
>In my opinion Constrictor Asp's went out of favour
>because the rim breaking surface is not that great and
>the problem with internal fracture punctures.
>The reference to the wrongly coloured mudguards is
>better illustrated like this. There are numerous
>organised lightweight cycle runs throughout the year
>held in the UK.
>Now this old chap who shall remain nameless found out
>that one of these runs had as a theme a frame maker
>very dear to his heart. He had only ever owned three
>bicycle's in his life. Never owned or drove a car,
>cycled everywhere. Well the day came that this themed
>rally was on, his prized machine was made personally
>for him by this illustrious maker yonk's ago. So he
>cycled the 40 miles out to the start of the rally
>which took him 2h 45m. Rode the 40 plus of the rally
>and cycled back home. Now this is the cruncher they
>were all examining the bikes at the lunchtime stop
>when some idiot went up to him and said that his bike
>had got the wrong so and so, the critisnm was endless
>plus the mudguards are the wrong colour for the age of
>the frame! Didn't occur to him that the old chap had
>worn the stuff out actually cycling. Now this was from
>some tosser who had roof racked his mount by car to
>the ride, struggled to do the 40 and actually
>rubbished everything my old mate said. Who was he I am
>not saying but he held several Eastern Counties RRA
>records in his career.
>By the way the 70' and 80's equipment I would put on
>my new Bates (if I could afford one) would be NOS or
>secondhand from one of the many car owning VCC
>members, you can bet your last Sov that it wouldn't
>have had much use.
>Best wishes Mick.
>PS Will try and find a catalogue scan of a Constrictor
>rim tape for you.
>
>Thats all for now. Keep those wheels spinning, in your memories if not
>still on the road. Be lucky Mick Butler Huntingdon UK.