Replacing old frame transfers with new...

[pippy]

Does anyone know how accurate the transfers offered for sale on the well-known auction site by the 'Bicycle Decals' seller are in comparison to what the are expected to be replacing?

The pic attached at the bottom of this thread was posted a few days ago - but on a different topic - and I thought someone here might be able to offer-up some advice.

The bike is a 1976 Holdsworth Pro (owned from new) which, although having endured a well / hard-lived life throughout my 'active years', has recently been housed for quite a time quite happily in the bike shed in my garden with the odd quick-blast-out on a 'nice day' to keep us both in fine fettle.
On opening up the 'shed' the other week for the first time since last autumn, however, I discovered that snails (countless dozens of the buggers!) had, collectively, been munching their way through the original Letraset (Helvetica Bold!) white letters / red-paint hand-lined lettering on - primarily - the right-side of the top tube but had also had a go at anything else offering the same menu (as it were) within reach.

The 'Bicycle Decals' transfers linked here might be a good thing but, then again, perhaps not?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252169576508

Here's a snap of the bike. Quite a bit (but nowhere near all!) of the lower part of the down-tube lettering was lost through contact with rattling changer-cables over the last four decades but twelve months ago - normal wear and tear apart - that on the the top tube was almost complete. I was amazed by how much of the original lettering has been eaten;

So; anyone with any experience of this - or any other - dealership whose products are deemed to be of a fine quality please do offer-up your thoughts.

Thanks in advance!

Philip.

 

[raleighnut]

H Lloyd are supposed to be the best.

 

[pippy]

H Lloyd are supposed to be the best.

Thanks for the recommendation, Raleighnut, and I will have a look when I have a wee bit of time later today!

Philip.

 

[pippy]

H Lloyd are supposed to be the best.

Just to add a little post-script to my earlier post...

Thank you very much, raleighnut, for having suggesting Lloyd as a supplier for the transfers. I have just spent a most enjoyable half-hour or more looking through their transfer range all the way from 'A.J.Hodge' down to 'Zephyr' stopping-off at intervals to view both the 'well-loved' as well as the 'long-forgotten' and the 'completely unknown to me'. Wonderful Stuff.

At some point I will go back through their catalogue just to make a note of how many framebuilders were based in the London area alone; it seems to have been an extraordinary number!

When I checked the dimensions of the transfers I required the figure noted was 260mm. According to the dimensions on the Lloyd page the figure they stated was 258mm. Having double-checked - this time using an engineers rule - I now see that the correct size is, indeed, 258mm...

Thanks again for the recommendation!

Philip.

 

[raleighnut]

At some point I will go back through their catalogue just to make a note of how many framebuilders were based in the London area alone; it seems to have been an extraordinary number!

Be aware that often cycle shops would buy in frames then paint and decal them up as advertising for their shop or maybe if they had a team. We had one in Leicester, Sid Mottram who bought in frames often made by Holdsworth or Claude Butler or the best 531 frames made by Mercian of Derby

 

[pippy]

H Lloyd are supposed to be the best.

Just a very brief update.

I put in an order for replacement transfers for the Holdsworth. Thirteen of them (if I have counted correctly!). I had a slight concern that the top-tube / down-tube transfers might have been of a slightly different size.

Although I've not yet had time to swap-out any of the transfer so far I did have a very close look to compare the sizes of those mentioned and am very happy to see not just that size-wise they appear to be perfect but also how closely they resemble the original 'lined-Letraset' originals in terms of 'Looks'.

So thanks again, raleighnut, for putting me on to the right path in terms of finding H Lloyd's campany; greatly appreciated.

Philip.

 

[raleighnut]

Just a very brief update.

I put in an order for replacement transfers for the Holdsworth. Thirteen of them (if I have counted correctly!). I had a slight concern that the top-tube / down-tube transfers might have been of a slightly different size.

Although I've not yet had time to swap-out any of the transfer so far I did have a very close look to compare the sizes of those mentioned and am very happy to see not just that size-wise they appear to be perfect but also how closely they resemble the original 'lined-Letraset' originals in terms of 'Looks'.

So thanks again, raleighnut, for putting me on to the right path in terms of finding H Lloyd's campany; greatly appreciated.

Philip.

@pippy nice to do someone a favour. I know H Lloyd are a bit expensive bur AFAIK a lot of their stock is NOS and if they do replicas they are top notch..............................BTW if you use the @ before someones username it notifies them

 

[pippy]

@pippy nice to do someone a favour. I know H Lloyd are a bit expensive bur AFAIK a lot of their stock is NOS and if they do replicas they are top notch..............................BTW if you use the @ before someones username it notifies them

@raleighnut Has this worked? Archetypal Old Dog v's New Trick......

As far as the price goes? I didn't think they were at all unreasonably priced; quite the reverse in fact and I was delighted to see the quality when they arrived!

I did also order other transfers for the Shorter at the same time and there was a slight hiccough there; I received the more usual (I suspect) 'slashed letter' down-tube transfers (which were fitted to my frame at the time of the respray) as opposed to the 'Shorter-in-a-Sausage' transfers (which had been ordered) as those would have been the style fitted originally.

I contacted H Lloyd and they are happy to send me the correct ones which should arrive sometime this week.

Regards!

Philip.

 

[Fastpedaller]

If you need to varnish over them, I recommend Winsor and Newton vanish (the white spirit soluble, not the acrylic) which, if applied thinly with a good brush at 15degrees C or above will give a perfect result (practice first if unsure )

 

[pippy]

@Fastpedaller Thank you for the advice for which I am delighted to have been given! That was one aspect of the project which had given me some room for consideration.

My first 'hurdle' will be to remove the extant traces of the original transfers without doing (too much?) damage in the execution of that task...

Thanks again!

Philip.

 

[Fastpedaller]

@Fastpedaller Thank you for the advice for which I am delighted to have been given! That was one aspect of the project which had given me some room for consideration.

My first 'hurdle' will be to remove the extant traces of the original transfers without doing (too much?) damage in the execution of that task...

Thanks again!

Philip.

Maybe gaffer tape? Or introduce more snails

 

[Gunk]

Personally I like the patina, I’d leave them alone. It’s only original once

 

[pippy]

Personally I like the patina, I’d leave them alone. It’s only original once

@Gunk I do know what you mean about the patina and until 'The Attack of the Snails' was quite content to let the wear'n'tear bear witness to the life the bike has had. Seeing it in this unfortunate state, though, makes me feel a bit sad...

This coming Xmas will mark our 50th anniversary together so if I'm going to tidy (tart?) it up at any point then now would seem as fitting as any other. Any work undertaken will try to strike a sympathetic balance between original and refresh. The paintwork carries numerous little dings, scratches and so on which won't be touched.
I still haven't decided whether to replace all the transfers. Some of the originals are still in pretty fair condition and the small 'Professional' water-slides on the top-tube are effectively as good as new; so much so that I didn't even bother buying replacements for them.

There are a couple of other things I'd also like to change to get her back to 'Original Spec' but that's another story...

Philip.