Holdsworth La Quelda 1949

MatBH5

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Picked this bike up last week after making a charity donation (one close to my heart, too).
Trip on the train followed by pushing it through central London for an hour with two flat tyres... (gave the office types something to laugh at) and here we are.
Not quite as hoped as the non-drive chain stay is shot (I think from tyre rub) but hey-ho, it’s a 70-year old frame. This scuppers my ‘classic pub-bike aspirations’. There’s a hole and radiating cracks around the circumference, so quite nasty.

Not decided what to do yet. But might be nice to have some record of the frame on the internet.

Frame seems to have originally been black, with chrome rear stays, white band on seat tube, a hint of red maybe too.
Now painted badly by hand in two shades blue and some kind of varnish.

Wheels were later additions, so they’ve been removed
Looks like original fork.
Lyotard pedals,
GB alloy ‘touring bend’ bars (cool, almost like dirt drops)
Reynolds stem
Brooks seat is past the point of rescue - leather anyhow, maybe he frame is ok.
Seatpost alloy candle stick, made in Great Britain, can’t make out brand.
Original alloy seatpost clamp
Old-style headset and cottered BB.
Non-original, non-matching brake levers.
Original head badge.

I suppose this could either be fully restored (not by me though, I think just too much work to replace a chain stay...) or act as parts donor for someone else’s restoration, as I know people looks for badges, forks, parts etc from the 40’s and 50’s.

Anyhow, any thoughts are welcome.
 

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Just clean up the hole in the chainstay and get someone with the knowhow to braze (or better still, silver solder) a neat little patch over it, then clean up the edges and cover with primer. That will put back the strength, and as it's on the inside, it won't even be visible.

But first, I would give the frame a good checkover for any other damage, and check everything looks straight.

The La Queldas were very good frames and 531 throughout, and Holdsworth had some top frame builders back then, so it is well worth restoring. The scalloped edge on the topeyes is a typically neat Holdsworth touch.

The seatpost is by Strata. You will probably find that the top tube is oversize, so the same diameter as the other tubes.

Good luck!
 
Re:

Thanks to ‘wheelnut’ and sorry for taking so long to respond. Good advice and I will be taking a closer look at the damage after cleaning up the area.
Still thinking that with the damage it might be a restoration too far for me!
 
Re:

Small thread refresh as I’ll be popping this up for sale later today. A baby and rather full garage means that I’ll never be able to do this justice. Would rather sell as a package - headset is Lytaloy so some decent parts to salvage here, or a frame to restore.
 
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