1980 Fred Williams road bike

[Johnny Ragwort]

I was given this by a mate, who was given it new for his 14th birthday 42 years ago. It's a Fred Williams, built in plain gauge Reynolds 531. When I got it, it had been refinished in yellow (it was originally black) and fitted with straight bars. Sadly, whoever fitted the straight bars and STI shifters butchered the gear lever bosses to act as cable stops; I removed them with a blowtorch and bought band-on shifters instead. As well as belonging to a friend, this also has some value because I spent a lot of time (and money!) in Fred Williams' Wolverhampton shop in the 1990s when I lived there: in fact, it's where I bought the Brooks saddle which will probaby find its way onto this very bike. Here are some pics of it when it arrived...

 

[Johnny Ragwort]

Back from the powdercoaters. I wish now I'd had the thing stove enamelled instead, since the cost of powdercoating has risen dramatically since I last had a frame done! Still, it looks pretty good to my eyes. Decals from H Lloyd Cycles. I've also replaced the aftermarket aluminium forks with a pair of Columbus steel forks; unfortunately, the original 531 forks were chucked in a skip long ago!

 

[Johnny Ragwort]

Gradually coming together. I had to make a special tool to hold the pin pliers in place on the bottom bracket while I tightened the lock ring with, er, a hammer and an old screwdriver. I thought I had all the bits of this in a box in the shed, but I was missing a seatpost bolt and some odds and ends. The drop bars are a bit weird: they were a cheap set off Ebay but are much smaller than usual in diameter meaning that the bar end plugs don't fit. I thought I'd managed to get away with this by turning down some wine bottle corks, but the brake levers don't clamp on properly and the bars turn in the stem, so I'm going to cut my losses and buy some properly sized bars. Nonetheless, it's coming along. More to follow...