Sun Super Vitesse Rebuild

[WyvernRH]

About 5 years ago I picked up a 1952 Sun Super Vitesse frame in pretty tatty condition - definitely a re-paint so it was hung up until I could find someone to paint it and what to do about the fancy lining.




So, I've been practicing painting stuff with good quality rattle cans and have got to the stage where I'm pretty confident of producing a good job (good enough for me anyway ) Coincidently, H Lloyd in the UK brought out a full set of decals for the Super Vitesse so I was motivated to kick off a low-key restoration and after quite a while have got to the 'finished frame' stage. I kept the original fork chrome but added paint 'socks' to replace some bad bits down near the tips. Transfers are not an exact match for the 1952 model but are PDC. I can add the extra box lining on the downtube if I feel so inclined later on. Sorry, not the best picture but it shows off the snazzy H Lloyd decals quite well.



I've got most of the bits to finish it but I'm still a little unsure about what wheels to use. Original bike had 26x1 1/4 which are a pain. I have a period set of 27" wheels with a 4 speed freehub which fit the frame (which has massive clearances) so probably going with those, GB brakes/bars and maybe a Cyclo rear changer.
Headset is an odd one. It's a halfway house twixt a 'British' clamp type headset and a more modern 'Continental' headset. The fork steerer has the 'T' cutouts for a clamp headset but as far as I can see the clamp in the stack is not necessary as there is a locknut on top of it. I kept it 'as is' but most non-unique parts have been replaced with a mixture of bits from other TDC headsets.

I'll post more pictures when the bike is fitted out and ready to ride.

Richard

[P!N20]

I'm still a little unsure about what wheels to use.

Preferably spoke-less like the catalog image.

Tell us about the marque - British I assume?

[WyvernRH]

Tell us about the marque - British I assume?

Sun were one of the major players in the Birmingham (England) bicycle industry from pre 1900 up to the late 1950's when they were taken over by the Raleigh/Tube Industries behemoth and production was moved to the TI Worksop factory (Carlton) and thus became a mid range sub-brand of Raleigh like many other once famous brands. Their tandems acquired a good reputation and were a high proportion of their output in the 30s to 50's. The high-end stuff like Sun-Wasp and Manxman bicycles were quite sought after. Our first tandem (which we still own) was an upgraded 1938/9 Sun-Wasp ladyback (531 tubing no less!) which we rode over most of the SE of England back in the day.

The Super Vitesse in this thread was one down from the top of the range Manxman in 1952.

Here's a couple of links:
https://classicrendezvous.com/country-o ... isles/sun/
https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Sun_Cycle ... Co:_Cycles

Or you can hit the VCC library for a lot more info if you are interested. For such a major manufacturer there doesn't seem too much on the web?

Richard