Sheffield Langsett - appreciation thread

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On a tangent, don't know if you know, but another great Phoenix legend, Douggie Bond passed away yesterday.
I first met Doug as a scrawny teenager taking my entry to the stannington carnival road race to his house - Doug was the organiser and with it being my first ever event, I had no results to put on my entry form, so I was hoping to convince him to give me a ride, which he did. Bit of a baptism of fire really, as it was like a star trophy event, with anyone who was anyone in the north was on the start sheet.... Anyway, I'm rambling, Doug was a great guy who put much into the local cycling scene and was a wonderful character

Hi, even though I rode with Doggie a couple of times some years ago I didn't really know him but those who did always sang his praises. By coincidence, the mate who I bought the Langsett from was quite close to Doggie and is somewhat upset. Another legend leaves us..

And don't forget John Tomlinson of the Phoenix who also passed away not to long ago. Quite a fast lad in his day.

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Hi all. Sorry I can't join in with your fascinating recollections, but just to say I bought an old Langsett a few days ago here in Norfolk. Sadly I only took this one snap:

before I did this!


Its frame number, which is on the lower headset lug, is 52160 which ought to mean frame 52 built in Jan 1960. Except it's not. I just bought Stuart Smith's little book about his family's shop together with a history of Langsett bikes and a useful appendix of frame numbers. This covers frames from 1952 to 64 and I think my frame is a lot earlier - maybe 30s or 40s?

I can add some compponent details, or see my new restoration thread at
viewtopic.php?f=23&t=415399

Regards
Andy

Looks 1938/9 to me. (from here)

Keith

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Thank you Keith for your quick reply. I agree it looks about that period too. There's little real info in the Smiths book about bikes of that era, other than a couple of adverts showing models that bear an uncanny resemblance to my old thing. In particular the "A.M. Continental" of 1939. In those days you could have "frame and forks chromium plated all over for 10/-". That's 50p!

The Williams chainset might have a date code on it, looks possibly original.
I can't see a headclip, so assume its expander bolt, with inserted cups headset.
Russ fork pattern started in 1937ish and was mostly gone by 1939.

Keith

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The chainset is still coated with black gunk - not to mention a deal of rust - but I'll clean it today and see about that date code. Done that ring code is AK46 (Classic Lightweights info says AK should be 1948 but I'm going with 46. LH crank is marked with an "X" which makes it 1935. I need to dismantle the other side to be able to view the crank code - later.done it-there's no separate stamp visible on the drive side crank if there ever was one just a faint WILLIAMS on the outside face. Or does the date on the ring include the crank? EDIT I am a silly old Billy (much nodding of heads all round), of course the AK is 1948 while the 46 is the tooth count :facepalm:

Here's a pic of the headset, complete with headclip. The bottom race was fitted inside the headtube but tapped out easily enough, the other was loosely fitted above under the clip. The stem is chrome plated with an expander bolt - looks a bit "GB'ish" to me but correct me if I'm wrong. And the forks are clearly Russ pattern.

I guess this all places this frame/bike firmly in the late 30's. WOW! I had no idea when I bought it and this moves my restoration career back 25 years. This old bike now seems a rather precious survivor?

keithglos":2vft7gnq said:

The Williams chainset might have a date code on it, looks possibly original.
I can't see a headclip, so assume its expander bolt, with inserted cups headset.
Russ fork pattern started in 1937ish and was mostly gone by 1939.

Keith

Click to expand...

I've done a bit of research on Russ forks and it all says his were round section but mine are oval. Although they are similar I think not Russ.

There are some stamped marks though: on the front of the steerer tube there is an oval with this in it:
? & P
B.S.T.
1/16G
A
whatever that may mean..and on the back is stamped 2 numbers:
5
5

4
4

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If anyone would like any help with frame numbers 1952 on, pm me with your frame number and I can refer to the appendix in the book to try to ID the model etc.