TEST BUILDING THE CARLTON PRO

I built the Carlton Professional up twice.  The first build was only to get the bicycle on the road quickly and for as little cash outlay as possible.  If the bicycle proved to ride to my liking, I would go through it a second time, once riding season had come to an end.  And the end of riding season was still four months away.

The first build saw many compromises and consumed the better part of a single day.  The riding season had just begun and I really wanted to try this very unusual and highly collectable old bicycle out.  If what I had learned and was still to learn about Carltons was true, I really didn't want to wait any longer than I had to.  That said, I went with what I had on hand at the time and much of what I did have was substandard by the Carlton's standards.

A lesser wheel set, taken from a near mint woman's Bianchi Strada would have to serve for the time being.  The 700c Ambrosia rims were laced to middle of the line quick release hubs.  I did take the time to rebuild the hubs, even though it turned out that they didn't need it.  With the hubs rebuilt, I dropped each wheel into my home made truing stand, once again finding that there were no issues.  I installed the original tires which were in good condition and the wheel set was ready to go.

The Pro showed up with no seat post or saddle.  I happened to have a fairly decent something or other suspended leather saddle that I had found in a five gallon pail at the "Dump" one day.  It would do for the time being.  The seat post selected was an SR indexed model that fit perfectly and look completely out of place.  But it did the job well enough and that is all I cared about for build one.  Other than those items mentioned, everything else "as found" was used on the Carlton for the first rebuild.  My guess is that I didn't spend twenty dollars getting the bicycle on the road.

I opened up both the bottom bracket and head set cavities in an effort to lubricate precious vintage bearings.  With that task out of the way, I installed a set of new cables and the Carlton was ready.

When I had finished building the Carlton up for the first time, I put it on the road and spent the rest of the season riding it when ever I could.  And I rode that beautiful old English bicycle a lot.  I generally did not use special bicycles to commute to and from work, but the Carlton Professional spent many a day chained up to the bike rack and under the watchful eye of a security camera while I plied my trade as a Millwright.

NEXT - BUILDING THE CARLTON PRO - FINAL