24: 1959 Pollard

Bicycle Type: W&E Pollard

Owner: Harris Bucklin

Primary use for this bike: Ideally Track, but for now it only sees the road.

Frame: W&E Pollard, Reynolds 531 tubes, Nervex Pro lugs and bottom bracket shell

Fork: W&E Pollard twin plate crown, Reynolds 531 blades

Crankset: Campagnolo 151 23t cog

Cog: Campagnolo 1" pitch aka "skip tooth" 8t

Gearing: 23/8 (equivalent to 46/16), 74.7 gear inches

Rims: Sun MA13II

Lacing Style: 3X

Hubs: Campagnolo

Stem: Cinelli Track

Bars: Cinelli m14

Grips: good ol' cloth wrap

Saddle: Brooks Swallow

Shout Outs: The Old Spokes Home! www.oldspokeshome.com

What year was this bike manufactured ? 1959 in Coventry, England

Did you just ‘happen upon this bike’ or was it something you searched for ? I had a nice Torelli track bike that I ended up selling while living in NYC, so when I moved back to Vermont I told myself I was going to find a nice track bike to make up for my loss. So, yes I was searching it out, but in doing so i happened upon this beauty!

Is this a rare bike to find in this good of condition ? Yes. Apparently it is the original paint job, which would be extremely rare. This could be accounted for by the fact that this bike was only used for track racing, and track racers are known for taking care of their stuff. I imagine that it was the kind of situation where the bike was only used on race day and was luckily never crashed.

Explain to the readers why there’s extra spacing in between the teeth on the chain ring and cog: This is whats called 1" pitch or "skip tooth". Modern drivetrains are 1/2" pitch meaning there is one tooth (on a sprocket or chainring) every half inch. What you see on this bike and most bikes pre-60's is 1 tooth every inch.

Is this bicycle build completed or are you still searching for parts ? Its mostly complete. The only thing i would change would be the pedals. Still looking for some Campagnolo track pedals.

Out of all your bikes, is this the number 1 ride? Yes. Its not usually my first choice when im thinking about going on a ride, but it is my pride and joy.

Feature Bike No. 24 originally published on September 24^th, 2009