Thanet Silverlight Re-built

The Thanet Silverlight’s Re-build

Having left our beautiful frame and parts in the safe hands of Tom at Bike Workshop, after thoroughly discussing our options – we walked away extremely excited at the prospect of having the bike up and running in a matter of days, and were keen to see how she would run – a good 60 years nearly from when originally built.

We were keeping the brakes (which would need refitting), as well as the handle bars and brake leavers. Pedals and crank we were also keeping intact, with the bearings replaced, and at this point we have decided to leave the slightly aged paint work as it is.

Wheels were a slightly tricky area to source due to their irregular sizing for brake clearance, as was the back hub to fit. We ended up with a less than authentic Miche hub (a brand of hub I am currently sporting on my modern audax road bike) and a not so vintage wheel set. With the wheels being built to fit they were not too modern looking, and were the best option in terms of regular usage.

We wanted the bike to look as close to how it did when first built as possible, but without losing sight of the fact we were restoring it to ride, and felt that we had reached a good compromise in what we had all agreed. We could always invest in some less practical but more authentic wheels later down the road should we decide to.

The original seat post was also being re-installed, with one of our current saddles temporarily – until we manage to procure a fitting Brooks alternative – sporting another interesting feature of the bike... a bent seat post for a racing position.

After having being used to riding ‘clipped in’, we had been recommended something similar and fitting of the period by Tom, which were to be some beautifully shiny silver rat trap pedal clips to attach to the intricately designed original pedals the bike came with. I could imagine them being extremely fiddly in overshoes when riding fixed for the first time, but to have anything other than the original pedals would seem to be somewhat of a crime.

Collecting The Thanet in Her Re-built and Road Worthy State

The bars are low, with a tiny stem, and stretched out, all part of the race position of the time, with the frame cross bar set high and the bent seat post low and setback.

With the brake leavers re-fitted to the bars and the new black cotton bar tape wrapped on top, followed by the polished up old brakes themselves and made to fit wheels... the bike looks amazing, unique, and makes a very interesting collectable piece.

Tom from Bike Workshop looked very pleased with his work and thoroughly enjoyed the project, I felt a pang of envy and guilt in that I had not restored the bike myself but without the space, knowledge, time or tools Hattie and I were very pleased with the work they carried out.

The Thanet Silverlight on The Road

It rides beautifully, it's smooth on the road, light to pick up, and feels fast agile and nimble. It’s branded a light weight classic and is actually a lot lighter than I thought it would be when fully built. We opted for continental sport tyres with an anti puncture strip, and even with the heavier tyres and my new (rather large) bike light and full tool bag fitted for our Saturday ride out to Bath it felt so much lighter than Hattie’s Ridgeback and even lighter than my Tifosi. The steel tubing is much thinner than most of the 50’s at least, but it’s more than likely that most of the weight is lost in running it fixed.

Running it Fixed

The bike came with a 43t at the front, and we had 17t installed on the back. For the entirely flat ride out to Bath from Bristol and its return, the 68 gearing it gave was perfect, although I can’t say it wasn't a bit of a struggle getting it across Park Row up to Clifton once returning to the city. I can imagine that I might be investing in some other ring sizes and building a collection with any Christmas cash, certainly if I want to enter it into any hill climbs next year.

Sadly the frame is far too large for Hattie, with no clearance whatsoever on the cross bar, so only I can really ride it at the moment, but we have both really enjoyed researching into its history together and seeing it being brought back to life... and are looking forward to the rest of the Parke/Robinson family seeing the restored bike at Christmas.