C Bertrand trike

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Another trike has come up on eBay(UK).

A TRIKE FRAME BY C. BERTRAND & Co TRICYCLE RACING FRAME on eBay (end time 12-Sep-10 18:59:54 BST)
 
This time a 24" by C Bertrand of London. I completely missed the auction but thankfully a contact kindly emailed me just after the event. I shall have to fine tune my eBay saved searches to capture any racing trikes up for auction.

685 views and 25 bids ending in £196.55 suggests that buyers knew exactly what they were bidding for. Judging by the few remaining accessories I'll hazard a (very) wild guess of 1950s - early 1960s at the latest.

All images are "borrowed" from the vendor's eBay auction. I have resized them upwards from the 500x375 originals to 800 x 600. Then "sharpened" them slightly in PhotoFiltre for the blog. Usually gamma+ and contrast + crisps things up nicely.

If the new owner is reading this I would be most grateful for larger images showing much more detail. (triker (at) nypost.dk)  Not just for myself, but for a wider, international readership interested in trikes.

The overall view of the C Bertrand trike. Old steel HP wheels and early steel calliper brakes. Neat "Wrap over" seat stays and what looks remarkably like a Higgins rear axle. Rather high, Chater-Lea, eccentric bottom bracket set. The pedals can't hit the ground on corners so there is no need for so much ground clearance on a trike. A lower bottom bracket allows the rider to sit lower keeping his/her Cof G lower.  Nothing obviously unique so far. The forks are typically trike or pre-modern. It is known that Higgins provided axle assemblies for independent frame builders. No doubt I will hear about it eventually if I'm wrong.

The interesting, plated steel, cantilever front brakes by Mafac. I don't have any real idea as to date. They look as if they'll clean up nicely and I doubt they weigh any more than any, more-modern, alloy type.  A nice, original feature.

The maker's signature on the down tube is tastefully done. I'm fairly sure the Huret gear change lever is a bit earlier than my own early 1960s introduction to sporting and racing bikes. I had Huret gears myself at one point but I don't remember anything like this. I moved to bar-end Campag levers early on so my memory may well be playing tricks. (It usually is)

The axle reinforcing loops look very similar to my 1954 Higgins. Typical screw-on, close ratio, 4 speed, sprocket block probably indicates a dedicated, time trial machine. Easily upgraded with a Trykit freehub adaptor kit if more speeds are desired. The Trykit website is "off the air" so I wont link to it just now.

C.Bertrand seat tube badge. "Tally-Ho Corner", 654 High Rd. N Finchley, London N.12. Why the reference to hunting on horseback? Possibly a coincidence of address? Please feel free to educate me if you know any more about this trike or its builder. (see Comments below for full details)

The view of the idler axle bearing from the other side of the sprocket block. Typical bottom bracket cup and lock ring. The end of the idler axle is visible in the bearing cup aperture.

The Chater-Lea, eccentric, bottom bracket set. The axle is designed for cottered, steel cranks but easily changed to something more modern if desired. The clamping bolts looks as if they need a good soak in penetrating oil. The eccentric body allows chain tension adjustment by rotation of the entire assembly. The two clamping bolts, underneath the bottom bracket shell, are them tightened to hold the chosen setting.  I tried to brighten the shadows in this image but it is still difficult to see the dark crescent to the right of the bottom bracket assembly. This dark crescent is the (outer) eccentric body with the oversized, steel frameset shell.

The vendor has attempted to brighten an original HP steel rim with steel wool. Given that the spokes are also rusty a new set of wheels would improve the cosmetic appearance of the trike considerably. This assumes (of course) that the new owner does not want to maintain an original, period look. I myself replaced the rusty wheels on my Higgins and consider it a great improvement. Not to mention much less work to keep them looking "tidy".  As fast as I rubbed the original wheels with fine steel wool they rusted over again. It is virtually impossible to clean around the ferrules, hubs, nipples and spokes properly without access to sand blasting. (or similar, more gentle methods) The fastidious restorer could no doubt source steel components in better condition if total originality is sought.

I can't see any transfers describing the frame materials. Can we assume Reynolds 531 butted tubes are used on the frameset triangle?

The Bertrand partly wrapped for onward carriage. I would prefer to see every tube covered in foam pipe insulation. Then tightly wrapped on top of the foam in several layers of box cardboard and taped really well. Cardboard over foam is an amazingly strong structure offering far more protection than the foam wrapping alone. The tape is also vitally important to ensure the cardboard doesn't come loose. Loose cardboard immediately loses its stiffness and resistance to bending and crushing forces. Foam cored panels and tubes are used for some very serious stiffness in some very high.tech. structures. A strong skin is vital to their design. In its place, at much lower cost and much greater bulk and weight, the taped, cardboard, thick-wall "pipes" over the foam does well enough for our purposes. 

As shown, the wheels offer some extra protection to the delicate frame tubes but not nearly enough. Lightweight cycle frames have very thin tubing and its high tensile strength is not perfect protection to localised impacts. In carriage, an object is likely to meet any number of unforeseen risks. Undoing damage is infinitely more difficult, expensive and time consuming than an extra bit of foam. Plus an extra quarter of an hour wrapping everything very tightly over the top in free, scrap, cardboard packaging from the local supermarket.

All this should take place before the machine is boxed. A bike box is merely cosmetic unless the contents inside are very well protected. My own, decades-long experience of dealing with deliveries of all kinds does not bode well for anything not suitably armoured for the perilous journey.

Time and again I have seen bored, underpaid and uncaring delivery staff deliberately drop delicate objects from raised vehicle tail lifts or from shoulder height. I have watched countless attempts to use other packages and pallet trucks as battering rams to move packages around within their delivery truck.

The presence of others does not alter their pattern of behaviour one iota. They have no personal investment in the care of the packages and it shows in their body language and manner. They are high turnover, disposable, delivery fodder running on a low grade level of rage. The very few who actually care stand out like sore thumbs! But are much more likely to move onto pastures new. Usually due to the total lack of positive feedback from their employers. Nor do they get any from the receiving staff at their delivery points. The driver faces awful traffic every single day and is an outsider without sympathy at every delivery point. Their employers compete by undercutting their staff's wages and placing onerous delivery schedules on their bowed shoulders. It's a no-win situation for anybody in the chain (including those who paid for the supposed service) and you must be prepared for it.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, progress is being made in the restoration of this fine trike:

http://s1092.photobucket.com/albums/i418/Tricyclist/

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Higgins with differential

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The new owner of this Higgins 'Ultralite' trike has kindly sent me some excellent pictures of his rebuild progress. I have downsized the images slightly to avoid large downloads for my blog readers. Some images have been slightly cropped to emphasise some details. Steve is a competent and very experienced restorer of period bicycles, tandems, and now trikes. He already enjoys riding fixed wheel on his superb, classical track bikes.

His Higgins 'Ultralite' trike now road worthy and very tasty it looks too! Raring to go!

Here we see the Higgins differential. Suitable threads are provided on each side of the casing for a fixed sprocket or a threaded freewheel. The owner then has a choice to reverse the differential to taste. Albeit with some work involved in dismantling the rear axle. I must admit to a certain respect for anybody willing to learn to ride a trike from scratch with a fixed wheel.  Rather you than me! ;-)

I've just remembered that my first trike was fixed wheel to start with. On the first real ride into town I nearly ended up in a posh hotel via the revolving doors! Ouch! Fortunately I was fended off by the burly, uniformed doorman as I snaked across the road,  jumped onto the pavement, all on two wheels and completely out of control! Ah, the overconfidence of (idiot) youth. :-)

The view from the sprocket side. Note how the axle extends right through what is normally the idler side to provide drive to the offside wheel as well.

The overall rear end view. The Higgins Differential is a remarkably neat and compact unit. 

A posh, new, lightweight, alloy, eccentric, bottom bracket assembly has been installed in the bottom bracket shell. Presumably sourced from Chris Hewitt Cycles. A handy device to have for precise chain tension adjustment with a single speed drive. Particularly with fixed wheel where the chain is tensioned one way under power and then the other way by braking with reverse pressure on the pedals. This effectively doubles the effect of any chain slop.

Real trikes lack adjustable rear drop-outs. Though my first trike had telescoping, adjustable chainstays with nickel-plated, screwed sleeves for altering chain tension. Small clamps underneath the stays then kept everything tight and secure. I can still remember the struggle to keep the clamps tight with rather small and poor screws of the day. Today they would be fitted with much tougher Allen, hex socket screws. Back then these screws weren't yet in the public domain. Though specialist Allen screws were certainly being used on alloy chainsets.

 A very pretty Campag Record chainset has been fitted. I think it wise not to learn to ride a trike with toe-clips or even clip-in pedals. You rarely has time to remove a foot to save yourself if the trike should tip over. Not even when at a complete standstill! This is when it usually happens in my own experience.

Detail of the wonderful artistry of the Campagnolo Record single speed chainset. The new, eccentric bottom bracket assembly can be seen peeking through the chainwheel.

The period "cockpit" is fully in keeping with the age of the Higgins frameset. When this trike was built I was a 17 year-old, bike-mad teenager but still a couple of years short of a trike of my own.

It was a time of great change. With teenagers suddenly being recognised as a new economic species. To be catered for with wage increases to match their new-found needs and responsibilities. Bikes and British motorbikes were being scrapped in vast numbers. Everybody wanted the newly affordable, family cars. Hire purchase (credit) was a new phenomenon. Completely bypassing the former tyranny of the local bank manager. He who would only lend to those who already had money and property. Nobody realised it at the time but many manual skills would soon become only a very, distant memory. The computer had already arrived. Albeit in a space the size of warehouse. I worked on the peripherals of a couple of these monsters myself. Only the "boffins" in white coats could actually touch the machine itself.

Detail of the dual front brakes. Which are a typical combination of cantilevers on the brazed-on, fork bosses. With a centre-pull brake mounted on the hexagonal extension bar in front. The extension bar is essential to keep the brake blocks from overlapping when using two brakes in front of the forks. It is internally threaded for the brake fixing screw.

An unusual view of the brake arrangements with the forks turned sideways. I note that Steve chose to use the beautiful Campag Record headset bearings. Another real touch of high class cycle componentry.

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 Further updates: Steve, The new owner of the Higgins is enjoying his trike even more now he has fitted a freewheel block. He is now building some mileage but wondering how to proceed when confronted with stationary traffic. It is more difficult to wriggle through the traffic queues on a trike as I remember from my youth commuting between cities in England. Fortunately Denmark has bicycle lanes marked out almost everywhere so the problem rarely arises. 

Cornering on a trike at high speed with fixed wheel is a very difficult matter indeed. It takes a lot of the fun out of "hanging off the side" of the trike and drifting at high speed if one must keep pedalling. One learns to take a corner fast by free-wheeling and then start pedalling as soon as possible. Small roundabouts are enormous fun and one can get 3/4 of the way round without pedalling or losing speed. The trick is to use one's body weight well inboard on every corner. It feels strange an d dangerous at first but soon becomes the most enjoyable par of triking. IMO.

Here are some new images of the Higgins differential:

The Higgins half axles, without the differential, showing the actual distance between them in use. The trike is inverted here nicely showing the Higgins gear hanger boss. A small, right angle bracket is fitted here with a suitable thread to take the gear changer pivot directly.

Now with the trike the correct way up with the diff. carrying a five speed, screw-on, sprocket block. Only a single gear being used at present due to a lack of gear hanger. (Chris Hewitt usually has a choice of three different hangers)

The Higgins differential in close-up. Now fitted with a five speed, screw-on, sprocket block.

Note the two opposed threads are now on the other end of the diff. casing. The main thread is the same as any other screw-on sprocket. (but shorter) There is also a short left hand thread for the locking ring. If the locking ring had the same thread as the sprocket it would loosen as one back-pedalled to slow down. Reversing the thread ensures that the ring self-tightens. Safely holding a fixed sprocket firmly against any amount of reverse toque. If a fixed sprocket came loose the rider would lose all braking power on a track bike. And easily lose control on a road fixie!

From memory, it pays to tighten the sprocket well before tightening the locking ring. This avoids any free play in the sprocket which is very undesirable. The fixed sprocket can be tightened by standing on the pedals with the front wheel pushing against a wall. Or with the front brake(s) applied hard. Only then should the locking ring be tightened really well.

Do not try to use a fixed sprocket on a normal threaded hub designed for gears. The fixed sprocket  will fit the thread perfectly. This is not the problem. The problem is that even a pair of bottom bracket locking rings (if there is room on the thread) will suddenly undo themselves without warning! I tried this in my youth and was extremely grateful for my single front brake! It all came badly undone at the bottom of a long hill when a car in front braked suddenly. No fun at all and it required very quick reactions to avoid a nasty rear-end collision.

The bare Higgins Differential. Note the two different types of thread on either end of the casing. Long, continuous, gear thread on the right. Shorter fixed wheel thread on the left.  Opposite hand,  locking ring thread on the extreme left.

Higgins differential end view. Note the hexagon socket to fit the half axle. This hole will probably be in the back of a large bevel gear. The large headed screws on the outside of the casing no doubt support the four, small, bevel gears within.

The Higgins differential showing the opposite end of the casing. Note the grease nipple for lubricating the differential without the need for dismantling.

Here we see the other hexagon socket to fit the axle stub. Being completely reversible both end sockets must be identical.  Only the sprocket threads differ. Thereby offering the lucky trike owner a choice of fixed wheel or gears. This shows remarkable flexibility of thinking by the maker. Though admittedly fixed wheel was considerably more commonplace/popular at that time than it has been ever since. The fixie craze is only very recent. Though there were always those who preferred to ride fixed.

Riding a 72inch fixed gear was once considered the best way to get fit again after a winter lay-off. The gear was low enough to force rapid pedal rpm. (twiddling) Yet not too high for steep hill climbing. (Often out of the saddle) Nor was the gear too low to allow reasonable speeds downhill or with a tailwind. Time trials were once held for 72" fixed gear. I tried everything from 40" to 153" fixed in my youth. The latter with a 68T TA chainring was for pacing intercity buses but proved totally impractical. Particularly on the very long hills where I lived. I had a silly habit of trying to go as fast as possible downhill on these long drags. Which is where the (borrowed) 68T chairing came in. Not a good idea at all. :-) 

Note the large flats on the casing ends to take a very large spanner or vice jaws. (the latter used carefully and preferably fitted with protective slips on the jaws)  These flats hold the casing still as one unscrews sprockets or gear blocks from the other end. Often requiring considerable toque and a long chain wrench! The use of a common machinist's vice with typically rough jaws will probably damage the casing permanently if only cosmetically. A couple of small lengths of angle iron, brass angle, alloy angle or even strip steel bent at right angles, will protect the diff. casing from the roughest of vice jaws.

Yet again my thanks go to Steve, the Higgin's owner, for providing all of these excellent images.


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Tandem trike on eBay

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LEACH/HIGGINS Restored Touring Tandem Trike/Tricycle on eBay (end time 08-Sep-10 19:19:44 BST)

This must be the first tandem trike auction I have personally come across on eBay:

The seller has kindly given me permission to use his auction images. They appear below without alteration.  Due to the size of the originals they cannot be enlarged by clicking on them.

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It certainly looks to be in fine condition.



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