Awesome Customer's Bike: 1940's Carlton

     This is a bike we recently put together for one of our customers. It is a 1940's Carlton that belonged to his father. I always love it when bikes are passed down from one generation to the next and are put back into service. He had it painted a nice forest green color and brought in some of the original parts and we assembled it for him. It is a bit of a mix.
      We used the original Campagnolo Record rear derailleur and shifter (shifter is closed "C" , so it is newer). It also has the original Brampton Alatet head set. We had to get a custom BB made for it as it took the oversize Chater Lea type (Whitworth threaded). The customer wanted to use more modern  (cotterless) cranks. Our solution was to use a Shimano cartridge bearing BB spindle of appropriate length and bearings, and have oversize Whitworth threaded BB cups and a spacer sleeve made. The solution, after a bit of tinkering, worked like a charm, buttery smooth and tight. So, the bike retains the original threading in the BB shell with a more modern cartridge bearing assembly and cotterless crank set. it has modern alloy wheels (27" double wall machined sidewall rims). it also has the original bar and stem, GB Maes (sleeved) bars with really cool stem of unknown make. It also has the original GB Hiduminium brake calipers with modern pads.Unfortunately, the paint is a bit thick on the underside of the BB shell, obscuring some serial numbers / factory codes. (see photos).
     The end result is an updated classic that hopefully will be ridden for many years to come and hopefully goes further down the generational line of the family.  Thanks for trusting us with its care!