The Pollard has arrived

[biggs682]

just thought i would share a quick post and pic of todays latest arrival its Pollard specialite track stlye frame complete with rear dropouts and i presume a set of later addition Reynold 531 forks and modern shimano brakes .

now this is where it gets interesting as its running a 6 speed rear block and a rear deraileur .

it feels really light , once i get it up and riding will post some more info and facts .

Pollard were a Coventry/Nuneaton based cycle builder .

 

[smokeysmoo]

You gotta call it Sue

 

[biggs682]

You gotta call it Sue

i would like to call it my no 1 bike but cant commit to that status till it gets ridden a few times

 

[Deleted member 1258]

The pollards I had in the 1980's.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

In the 1980's I was working at the GEC factory in the Stoke area of Coventry, round the corner from the GEC on the Binley Road was one of the Pollard Shops, I think they had another one in Bedworth and another one on the Stoney Stanton Road, Alf ran the Binley Road shop and I was a regular customer until they closed in either the late 1980's or early 1990's.

http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/builders/pollard.html

 

[biggs682]

In the 1980's I was working at the GEC factory in the Stoke area of Coventry, round the corner from the GEC on the Binley Road was one of the Pollard Shops, I think they had another one in Bedworth and another one on the Stoney Stanton Road, Alf ran the Binley Road shop and I was a regular customer until they closed in either the late 1980's or early 1990's.

http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/builders/pollard.html

dave r the orange Pollard towards the bottom of the link is a frame i owned a while back and ever since then have been looking for one the right size , the strange thing about this one is that its badged as a Pollard Specialite rather than just Pollard like your yours were , some where i have an e mail for a contact who still speaks to Pollard jnr .

from what i was told by previous owner it was re commissioned in 1999 for a triathlon a family member was doing and has had only 1 outing since then .

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Theres a reference to a Specialite, slightly different spelling, frame in the Classic lightweights article I linked to, second paragraph, it was built as a cross frame. Unfortunately I don't know a huge amount about Pollards history, we built our own bikes on his frames and they made nice bikes.

My 1985 build

 

[Sterba]

If I may be permitted to intrude on your Pollard love-in, how do you get a gear hanger to attach to track ends? And are those mudguard eyes on the seat stays?

 

[biggs682]

If I may be permitted to intrude on your Pollard love-in, how do you get a gear hanger to attach to track ends? And are those mudguard eyes on the seat stays?

Sterba at the moment the rear mech is attached to universal hanger as shown below , so when you want to remove th wheel you have to remove the rear mech .

not sure what the brackets would have been for but they look similar to ones i have seen on sturmey archer equipped bikes , but if i decide to keep then mudgaurds could be mounted using them

 

[biggs682]

You gotta call it Sue

me and sue have just had our inaugural ride up the cul de sac and along the cycle path and back and even with a notchy bottom bracket she rides well , so work will commence .

as stands it tips the scales at 10 - 11 kg so nice and light for a steel bike

 

[biggs682]

dropped this off at lbs yesterday for them to do there magic , the owner commented that i had finally found a real bike and not one of those modern things !

 

[biggs682]

got sue back today from lbs after having them clean & regrease all bearings and fine true the wheels all for £19.50 !!!

have fitted some gaurds ready for next weeks commuting duties

 

[biggs682]

have been used this for the last weeks commuting duties complete with some newly fitted sks gaurds to protect me from the great British summer weather we are having .

awake early this morning so got up and took the old gal for a 9 mile spin and without even trying did it in 33 mins , it really is a great machine to ride and own

 

[biggs682]

well me and sue have had 3 early morning runs this week and its by far the most comfy bike set up i have ridden for ages . this mornings run was a sedate 10 miler in a nice 38 ish minutes all before traffics was up and out

 

[Spokesmann]

well me and sue have had 3 early morning runs this week and its by far the most comfy bike set up i have ridden for ages . this mornings run was a sedate 10 miler in a nice 38 ish minutes all before traffics was up and out

Best time of day for a run...