Oh, I enjoyed this (see message below), as I have been searching for som
e time for a headbadge appropriate to a Nervex-lugged, Sixties I suppose
Armstrong Moth. The bike had been with its original owner for decades i
n the hometown of the seller, reputedly in burnt orange flam, but eventu
ally (before leaving said original owner) refinished in black, with a pa
ir of bottle bosses and two twelve o'clock brake cable brazeons added--h
eadbadge holes sealed by paint only.
I've had a devil of a time finding the headbadge, and certainly wading t
hrough 'Armstrong' listings under 'cycling' and 'collectibles:transporta
tion:bicycles' has been no picnic. Add to this the fact that there seem
to be Armstrong headbadges with holes oriented horizontally, and otherwi
se identical badges with vertically oriented pairs of holes. There is al
so a further confounding fact that there are Armstrong of Birmingham lig
hweights, and Armstrong 3-speed 26" wheeled middleweight northroad-bar -
type machines with a completely different (circular) badge.
Fun--most of the time!!
Tom Ward
New York City
>I would suggest that no one collect Armstrong bicycles (i.e. the Armst
rong
Moth): you try doing a search for "Armstrong" and have bicycle or
bike anywhere near it and your goose is cooked. I suspect there is a minty Mo
th with no bids and no reserve closing in 3 mins buried in 1,432 listings o f yellow plastic bracelets. And it can stay that way, thanks very much.
Peter Kohler
Washington DC USA