# So I Was At The Tip This Morning........



## MacB (12 Nov 2011)

and what have I done? I parted with the princely some of £3 for this:-




Hercules Balmoral 1 by MacBludgeon, on Flickr




Hercules Balmoral 2 by MacBludgeon, on Flickr


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## Crackle (12 Nov 2011)

That chainwheel is something isn't it. 

Lots of work there.


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## Baggy (12 Nov 2011)

Lots of work, but well rescued, sir!


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## potsy (12 Nov 2011)

They saw you coming Mac 

You just cleared your garage for a pile of scrap?


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## MacB (12 Nov 2011)

scrap to some and may, once I've cleaned it up, be scrap to me. But to be honest I'd have paid £3 for a chainring that said HERCULES, just to hang it on my wall...............you either get 'art' or you don't Potsy  

Yeah, all right, I don't, but it tickled me and we'll see what emerges.


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## threebikesmcginty (12 Nov 2011)

Oooo I bet Mrs MacB said hurrah when she say you come home with another bike! It is a nice chainring though.


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## Diggs (12 Nov 2011)

Good luck with it! I'll never forget the look on Mrs D's face when she looked out of the window to see me dragging two "skip bikes" through the back gate one morning. I love my single speed now and the ladies folder came up well too.


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## PpPete (12 Nov 2011)

What wheel size is it ?

If 26 x 1-1/4" they are a pig to get hold of !


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## MacB (12 Nov 2011)

I doubt I'll build it up, I want to clean up the chainring as a wall ornament for my home office. The frame, and useable parts like the hub, I'm going to send to a friend who runs one of these freecycle to get people riding charity things. He'd asked me to keep an eye out for Sturmey stuff and sound frames, which this actually seems to be underneath the grime.


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## PpPete (12 Nov 2011)

Ah, but you have to get that cotter pin out first !	Some come out with the merest tap, some you can beating on the end with a lump hammer for hours !


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## MacB (12 Nov 2011)

PpPete said:


> Ah, but you have to get that cotter pin out first ! Some come out with the merest tap, some you can beating on the end with a lump hammer for hours !



 Oh I'm wise to that, I've given it a little clean in that area and then left it soaking in oil....I haven't been defeated by a part yet but I did end up hacksawing a quill stem apart once


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## alecstilleyedye (12 Nov 2011)

PpPete said:


> What wheel size is it ?
> 
> If 26 x 1-1/4" they are a pig to get hold of !



my lbs had tyres for that size, as i found to my relief having got mrs alecetc an old elswick with said wheel size…


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## pubrunner (15 Nov 2011)

Disappointingly, at our local tip, the employees are prevented from making a few quid by selling old bike frames etc. - no matter what financial incentive is offered to them. They are constantly monitored by CCTV, to ensure that this doesn't happen.

I won't be finding a Hetchins at our local tip.


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## fossyant (15 Nov 2011)

pubrunner said:


> Disappointingly, at our local tip, the employees are prevented from making a few quid by selling old bike frames etc. - no matter what financial incentive is offered to them. They are constantly monitored by CCTV, to ensure that this doesn't happen.
> 
> I won't be finding a Hetchins at our local tip.




+1


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## uphillstruggler (15 Nov 2011)

fossyant said:


> +1




and again, the staff at ours said anything like that goes on ebay. bloomin private contractors!


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## Dan B (15 Nov 2011)

PpPete said:


> What wheel size is it ?
> 
> If 26 x 1-1/4" they are a pig to get hold of !



That's the same size as the Pashley Princess [ edit : no it's not ], so not as hard as you might think. There's not a lot of _choice_ in wheels/tyres, true, but they do exist


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## tyred (15 Nov 2011)

It would take a lot to leave it as new but very little to build that into a rider.

More likely to be 26 x 1 3/8" which are easily available.


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## Dan B (15 Nov 2011)

tyred said:


> It would take a lot to leave it as new but very little to build that into a rider.
> 
> More likely to be 26 x 1 3/8" which are easily available.


Having a brain fade moment here. Mrs B's Hercules (dating back to 1969 or thereabouts, at least according to the datestamp on the sturmey archer hub shell) is the same size as the Pashley Princess wheels, but I can't remember if it's 1 3/8 or 1 1/4. I expect you're right here. 

If you don't care about period accuracy, I'd strongly suggest a front wheel upgrade to something made of alloy - at least if you want to stop in the rain


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## tyred (15 Nov 2011)

Indeed. Someone on Amazon is selling 26 x 1 3/8" front wheels for £22. Made a huge difference to one of my roadsters. 

Michelin World Tour tyres are well worth the few quid extra over the basic "Raleigh" pattern tyres as they roll so much better.


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## benb (15 Nov 2011)

That chainring looks like it will be so cool. Weld a stand on the back, so it stands up on the desk as if it were a clock. Or even turn it into a clock using other bike parts as hands (seize up some lengths of chain maybe?)

Or you could get some chain and wear it round your neck like a biking version of the Beastie Boys.


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## MacB (15 Nov 2011)

bit heavy for round the neck, still I got it off the bike, the cotter pin was tricky as someone had been at it with a hammer and the thread end was bent. Ended up having to drill it out, straightforward but caution was exercised. Just got to finish polishing up the chainring and then I'll take a pic of it on the office wall, surprisingly shiny under the gunk.

Frame, forks, bars and rear hub are going to Big Al at Wheelcraft, he has an old boy in need of an 'easy to mount' frame for pottering around on. They all cleaned up nicely as well, especially the rear hub, must of been 3-4mm of black gunk layered on it and yet it was pristine silver when cleaned.


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## steveindenmark (19 Nov 2011)

I would sandblast that chainring and then buff t with some really fine wet and dry. It will come up like new.


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## alecstilleyedye (21 Nov 2011)

pubrunner said:


> Disappointingly, at our local tip, the employees are prevented from making a few quid by selling old bike frames etc. - no matter what financial incentive is offered to them. They are constantly monitored by CCTV, to ensure that this doesn't happen.
> 
> I won't be finding a Hetchins at our local tip.


i have the opposite problem; they'll take the cash but i've yet to see anything worth more than a coin with straight edges…


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## alecstilleyedye (21 Nov 2011)

pubrunner said:


> Disappointingly, at our local tip, the employees are prevented from making a few quid by selling old bike frames etc. - no matter what financial incentive is offered to them. They are constantly monitored by CCTV, to ensure that this doesn't happen.
> 
> I won't be finding a Hetchins at our local tip.


i have the opposite problem; they'll take the cash but i've yet to see anything worth more than a coin with straight edges…


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