Viking hosteller restored or convert

This is my first post but have used this site many times for inspiration and information, so thank you.

I have just acquired an old viking hosteller which has the following parts
Hosteller frame
Sturmey archer front and rear hub with sturmey dynohub and lamp kit, front and rear. With aluminium wheels
GB stem and bars
GB grandtour Hiduminium brakes
Brooks bag holder.

My questions are.
1. Was the hosteller a high end bicycle?
2. Is the bicycle worth restoring and leave it as it is? Or Should I convert to a single speed, ( I have a set of mavic campagnolo retro wheels) which would be much lighter then the sturmey.
3. I have read about GB (Gerry burgess) brakes but am very unsure about the grandtour as I cannot seem to find any information on then! Should I polish them or leave?

Again thanks for reading my post

Martin

Hi, welcome to the forum, in my opinion, there looks like a nice frame to restore. Firstly I would strip it down and make sure everything comes off and the frame is okay. Then use car polish ( T cut can be used, but don't over do it ) to see if the frame comes up okay, there will be a few patches of rust, but at least you can make your mind up whether it looks okay in your eyes, and at the end of the day its your choice, but once its stripped of its original paint there's no going back, so don't rush your choice.
I believe the Hosteller wasn't a high range bike, but check out http://classicvikingcycles.com/ for all the info.
Single speed, or 3-speed, your choice, nothing wrong with fixed or single speed, bikes have had fixed gearing since Victorian times.
GB grand tours are okay, they were used mainly for touring bikes, don't see many about but they were just like any of the GB brakes of that time, okay, reliable but no where near the ability of a modern brake. Again to polish or not, is the bike being left original, if so, don't polish ( clean up and ensure they work okay ), if having new paint and parts, polish by all means, they should just reflect the condition/age you want the bike to look. I hope this helps. Terry

Many thanks, I think I will remove the wheels I have a set of mavic, campagnolo wheels which can be single speeded as long as I can get hold of a maillard splined freewheel remover. I think I will remove the brakes and put something a little more modern on it and sell the GB parts. As someone could probably appreciate them more then I will. Also I will try tcut I never even thought about using that on a frame.

Many thanks martin

A nice pair of drop handlebars will help get it looking as it should. I think Viking used their own frame tubing on early models which was later replaced by Reynolds 531. It should make a decent bike, some of them had nice two tone paint work which if you plan to respray would look good

i think that would be a good idea dropbars, what about cutting and turing them upwards? is that the done thing? i have seen it on a few bikes? and thought i might try it.

i think i have decided the future of the bicycle
remove GB brakes, stem handle bars and wheels
clean frame (Tcut)
single speed freewheel on mavic rims,
brooks vitesse seat and aluminim seatpost (polished)
polished bars and stem milremo looks nicer then the GB example.
i have some black pedals with straps
not sure on brakes yet.

well i will start it tomorrow.