Conserve or restore ??
Here is a 1950's Carlton Flyer frameset. This is the lightest 531 frameset that I own at 1958 grams. Overall (with fork) it's lighter than my TI Raleigh Team Pro SB310 from 1975, by 140 grams++.
http://www.ece.ubc.ca/
As you can see, the head badge decal is practically gone, and it's been in a front-end crash. Moreover, someone mistakenly put a rack on the back, crimping the seat stays.
Some paint on the (all chrome) fork steering column indicates that the original color was emerald green. The present color is lentil green. Someone seems to have stripped the lower head lug, which is dull chrome or nickel. The upper head lug is painted. The lugs are picked out in white, but the job is bad I'm certain it wasn't done by Carlton. The fork is in marginal condition, with no paint and bubbled chrome everywhere, but surprisingly, little or no perforation in the chrome (sorry, no picture.)
The seat tube behind the seat lug is wrinkled, and David Cunningham (Joe Bell's frame repair guy) suggested that this could be caused by either a seatpost that was installed too high, or from an accident that resulted in a hard smack atop the seat.
Conserve or restore ?? How far would you go ??
- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA, USA