No idea how I managed that, but

Joe's got the bug. He's the one who approached me after buying a Viscount frame and, according to him, is reasonably glad he's found me. The reason being is that he went to a bike shop to find out what to do with the bottom bracket and they simply did what bike shops with no idea about this 'weird' assembly do: they knocked it out and damaged the spindle irreparably in the process! Makes me a tad sad to hear that. Not that Joe brought it to a bike shop, but that those people he trusted to fix his frame, actually did quite the contrary. Those spindles are very, very difficult to find and suitable replacements are expensive. 

Yes, you can knock the BB out, but in order to do that, you need to screw the bolt into the spindle (completely) and the washer underneath it. It can still do a lot of damage, particularly when there's corrosion thrown into the mix. It's also not the most elegant solution either. And the bolt will possibly be yesterday's news as well.

However, we met up for a coffee so I could hand over the--still bottom bracketless--frame in order for him to recreate the white/red colour scheme of the Lambert G.P, while my tool's in surgery. It had taken a knock when it got bent and didn't survive the 'dry run' I'd done before turning to Joe's frame. Good thing, methinks; I'd rather it breaks with bits sticking in the spindle of my frame than breaking when working on a customer's frame. 

A bit of a bummer, nonetheless, as I'd planned to fit three BBs, and they're all spindles with a 5/16 thread. Well done, Stella! *sigh*

Lambert anyone? Joe's so strong, he can hold up two!

Anyway, I brought my Lambert frame along to the cafe to show Joe how it should look like and he got all excited--finally he is able to do something himself, get his hands dirty. He's already mirror polishing the death fork (mark III, the safe one) and can't wait to ride the bike when it's ready. 

To give him an idea, I literally made him ride all my Viscounts (the three that are complete), and he's rather much in love with the red flash. The blue one's gears need to be set up correctly, although I did a 2-hour ride on it today with hardly any problems or rub.

Colourmatching or what?

To be honest, since I've swapped the stem and put on new handlebar tape, I feel really good and comfortable on that blue Sport. The brakes are super sharp, even though I had to adjust the rear before I left for the ride. I find the skip-tooth freewheel makes for much easier pedalling than the normal 14 to 28 ratio. Pure joy if you just air for a light exercise.