1938/39 Parkes Lightweight

Jonny69

Senior Retro Guru
07/09/2021 - I've just worked through re-hosting the images. Please note some are missing and the formatting might be a bit screwy...

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Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! Where to start on this...

Well it's a long story. A long time ago a colleague at work gave me my first fixed wheel bike. We could never identify the original frame but it rode like hell and appeared to be a mix of bits with an old roadster frame with relaxed geometry and a fork with an awful lot of trail. It didn't ride nicely at all and after I donated it on, it eventually found its way back to me missing a few bits. I saved the handlebars, brakes and the rear wheel which was a rusted 40-hole 27" rim with a particularly nice old alloy fixed/free hub laced into it. And that's where this project begins, because from there I always wanted to build a classic bike with 32-spoke front / 40-spoke rear combo. I looked for ages for a 27" rim but they rarely come up at a sensible price, and then I cut my teeth on tubular tyres - for which there are stacks of really nice alloy 40-hole rims for next to nothing. So that hurdle made, it wasn't long until a 40-hole wood-filled Scheeren rim was hanging on my wall and the project had officially started, mentally.

Scroll forwards a couple of years and a couple of guys in the Road section were drooling over a bit of potential wall art on eBay, a 24-hole sprint rim with a machined down Campagnolo hub and no dust caps. They weren't buying it so I took punt and snapped it up quickly. That meant I needed a frame and then this Parkes popped up. If you've seen any of my other bikes, you'll know that I tend to build lower budget riders rather than show pieces, so a bit of rust is usually welcome. Well I took a risk on this one, because it looked really snotty in the pictures, but I kept my fingers crossed that some of the chrome would be hiding under the grot and it paid off. I've put a bit of elbow grease in and it seems to have come up better than I was expecting.

So it's a 1937 Parkes Lightweight (16/03/2016 edit: now confirmed 1938/39. The serial number begins with E). The frame wears a very old Reynolds 531 transfer and though the seatpost is 26.4mm it does feel light enough for me to believe that. I don't know much about Parkes at all, other than they were originally lightweight builders and formed a mainstream part of the company which became Sun. The Parkes brand remained only for FC Parkes' handbuilt bikes, which I think this is one of.

This is a bit of what I've been up to with it so far. Mainly rubbing down the chrome with aluminium foil and a bit of oil to clean the scale off it. You can see a bit of before and afterage here:

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I can't really justify finding genuine 1930s kit for this, so it'll be an 'in the spirit of...' build and will mainly be wearing 50s-60s components, but I guess most people won't be able to tell.

It's going to be fixed gear, like most of my bikes are. I have a Williams chainset with fluted cranks:

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I've got some French bars on a Philippe stem. It's 22mm but seems to fit in the steerer ok:

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This is the front wheel. I have to lace the rear with new spokes so I may re-do this one as well, to be on the safe side:

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And finally the headset. It's set up for a headclip, which are like hens teeth and go for ridiculous money. If I can't find one then I've got a roadster headset which I might try to adapt to fit:

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I got to do a mockup last night. Ibbz kindly donated a spare bottom bracket which turned out to be the right width for the chainline. I wasn't sure if this would have had 26" or 27" wheels originally, or if it was suitable for tubular rims. That wheel with the machined down hub doesn't fit because the quick-release axle is way too big so I pulled my spare pair of 700c track wheels out the loft to find out:

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REALLY big gaps! Bear in mind that the rear wheel isn't in the dropout because the axle diameter is also too big, so it'll be about 30mm further back than it is. Even though this Weinmann 500 isn't the longest caliper you can get, based on how much space there is I think this was intended for 27" wheels plus mudguards:

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Did a bit of cheeky drillage (it's not an old seat post, don't worry):

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Wrights W3N saddle, which I've yet to clean, re-shape and wax. This will make a good 'before' pic:

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And just some spare bars to mock up. I've got those French ones for the final build:

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Re: 1937 Parkes Lightweight

That's why I think it deserves some 27" wheels! 700c fit but I think it would look better with the bigger rims and a bit more tyre.
 
Re: 1937 Parkes Lightweight

Di2 and carbon the nuts out of it!

Oh, hang on, wrong forum! (takes hipster beard off)

Looking nice - what shiftwers? I have some CLB levers plus a Huret shifter from a 1950's build around here somewhere
 
Re: 1937 Parkes Lightweight

That's a beauty, and going to look beautiful! I'm looking forward to this, and I reckon it'll be worth the wait!
 
Re: 1937 Parkes Lightweight

Haha, thanks guys! The hunt goes on for the 27" wheels or rims. There's a pair of 32/40 hole Dunlops on eBay but I think I must have opened a case with the seller in the past or something because I seem to be blocked from buying them. Frustrating!
 
Re: 1937 Parkes Lightweight

Wheels are still holding me up at the moment - 36 spoke sets are two-a-penny but I'm still holding out for a pair of 32/40 spoke 27 x 1-1/4".
 
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