How old is this 5 Star

Recycler
Posts: 241
Joined: Sat Dec 22, 2007 11:32 am
Location: Woolgoolga NSW

How old is this 5 Star

Postby Recycler » Sat Jan 05, 2008 9:30 am

G'Day all, I have a 5 Star track bike. # 9 S 127 on the left rear dropout, Strong Light 165mm cranks with no forks, wheels, bars etc. Any one out there can help me. Thanks Good Luck Recycler.

silverlight
Posts: 630
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2007 7:29 am

How old is this 5 Star

Postby silverlight » Sat Jan 05, 2008 9:48 am

hi recycler

Do you have a picture you can upload for us to see?

SL

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5 Star Rolf
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Postby 5 Star Rolf » Sat Jan 05, 2008 10:36 am

Hi there,

...this could be a 1969 Sydney build number 127. I say 69 based on the first letter of the serial corresponding with last letter of year of manufacture, assuming the cranks are that -0r 59, but will need a pic to more accurately verify... do you know of any history of the frame?

Ride safe, cheers, 5*R :wink: .

MountGower

Postby MountGower » Sat Jan 05, 2008 11:28 am

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europa
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Location: southern end of Adelaide - home of hills, fixies and drop bears

Postby europa » Sun Jan 06, 2008 1:20 pm

Here are a couple of photos of Recycler's bike. Apparently these are the 'after' photos, not the 'as found' photos :roll:

Richard

Image

Image
I had a good bike ... so I fixed it

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Kid_Carbine
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Location: Southern Tablelands N.S.W.

Postby Kid_Carbine » Sun Jan 06, 2008 8:16 pm

Mmmmmm, Nervex Professional lugset. I suspect that this was not a 'production' bike when it was new.
Carbine & SJH cycles, & Quicksilver BMX
Now that's AUSTRALIAN to the core.

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GaryF
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Postby GaryF » Sun Jan 06, 2008 9:46 pm

Hi Recycler,

I'll second that Mmmmmm, Nervex professional lugs do suggest a typical hand built 5 Star. Shame about the missing forks. I would guess that the forks were originally a 2 plate fork crown with round track forks. They probably had a much closer tyre clearance than the forks in it now (although they look like nice road forks).

I am also interested in the seat stay caps. They are typically long but they look like they have a groove running along the length of the caps. I find this unusual.

My guess would be that the frame was made in the late 50's / early 60's. I don't know when Malvern Star stopped making 5 Stars but I would estimate that your frame would be a later version.

Your paint scheme looks nice.

As well as 5*R, the Canberra Bicycle Museum might be able to help with the serial number.

May I ask what your plans are for such a nice example of Aust. frame building and cycling history?

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Kid_Carbine
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Location: Southern Tablelands N.S.W.

Postby Kid_Carbine » Sun Jan 06, 2008 10:13 pm

If I might quote from Rolf Lunsman's work on the 5 Star in his treatise "Light as a Feather, Strong as a Lion" he writes.

"In 1956 there was a more radical change to the lugs introducing pressed & welded feature lugs which were fancy cut & scalloped in the style of the then fashionable Nervex lugs manufactured by DuBois from St Etienne in France. A 1957 Malvern Star brochure refers to the fact that Malvern Star sourced at least some of its lugs from St Etienne & photos of custom frames of the early 60's indicate that Nervex Pro lugs were commonly used at that time.. It is known that Rupert Bates in Melbourne also made many 5 Star lugs"

Hopefully this will remove a little of the fog of uncertainty from around this one.

Yes, it's sad about the forks, but when a bike is crashed, it's the forks that take the brunt of it first, so non original forks are a part of life for older bicycles these days. None the less, it's possible that a proper Nervex crown can be found & a new fork built. This is what happened with me quite recently. I bought a Nervex lugged track frame in Sydney for the crankset & stem, but the foreign forks that came with it didn't even fit the frame.
I donated the frame to a friend who just happened to have a correct new Nervex pro fork crown on the bench. Out came some new fork blades & a new steer tube & before you could say "Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch" he had a new & correct fork built for it, so this stuff is still around if one looks & asks.

Link to 'that place'
Click here to hear it spoken.
Carbine & SJH cycles, & Quicksilver BMX
Now that's AUSTRALIAN to the core.

Recycler
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Location: Woolgoolga NSW

5 Star

Postby Recycler » Mon Jan 07, 2008 7:47 am

G'Day Gary F, Thanks for your comments. I have raced the bike for one season and hopefully race again next season. Good Luck. Recycler

Recycler
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Location: Woolgoolga NSW

Star

Postby Recycler » Mon Jan 07, 2008 8:03 am

G'Day Kid_Carbine. Thaks for all your info and comments. I never thought about taking a photo of the bike when I found it, but regret that now. I am still reasearching the history of the Malvern Star. My dad raced road and track raced in the 1930s in NSW. I also have other Malvern Star bikes, thats another story. Good Luck. Recycler. PS. I have been to that place in Wales UK.

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Kid_Carbine
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Re: Star

Postby Kid_Carbine » Mon Jan 07, 2008 9:31 am

Recycler wrote: PS. I have been to that place in Wales UK.
Well you're doing much better than me. At least I can say that I have been to Woopie [Woolgoolga] as I had friends that lived a short distance from there on the main highway, directly opposite the model aircraft airstrip. [which probably hasn't been there for 25 years for all I know]

Very nice 5 Star you have there, very nice indeed.
My stepfather rode with the Penrith Cycle club in the 1930's & I suspect that we are a similar age. Where did your father do his riding & with which club?
Carbine & SJH cycles, & Quicksilver BMX
Now that's AUSTRALIAN to the core.

Recycler
Posts: 241
Joined: Sat Dec 22, 2007 11:32 am
Location: Woolgoolga NSW

Riding Farthers

Postby Recycler » Mon Jan 07, 2008 6:23 pm

G'Day Kid_Carbine, Good to hear your farther also raced bikes. Dad raced with the Enfield Burwood Club. Road Racing around Sydney as well as Golbourne, when it finished at Enfield. Track racing on a Jay Jay at most of the local velodromes including Prattern Park at Ashfield. Dad also raced against Dunc Gray, I still have that nights Programe. Could talk more but my typing finger is wearing out. Good Luck.

stevendavid75
Posts: 436
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Location: melbourne

Postby stevendavid75 » Mon Jan 07, 2008 6:47 pm

Nice looking rig, who resprayed the frame?
Just looking a the fork, wondering if it could be bent at all? looks to me like the blade are pushed slightly towards the down tube? Might just be the camera angle.

Either way, bloody nice looking bike.

Recycler
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Joined: Sat Dec 22, 2007 11:32 am
Location: Woolgoolga NSW

Paint Job

Postby Recycler » Tue Jan 08, 2008 9:26 am

G'Day Stevendavid75, Thanks for your comments, forks seem OK to me. As for the paint job I did it myself using pressure pack cans, the signwriters red I did with a small artists brush. How is cycling in the west? Good Luck

stevendavid75
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Location: melbourne

Postby stevendavid75 » Tue Jan 08, 2008 11:21 am

WELL DONE Recycler, you could get a little coin on the side!
I wouldnt mind having a go at spraying a frame one day, how did you prep the frame, just sand or did you get it sand blasted?

kukamunga
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Postby kukamunga » Tue Jan 08, 2008 10:54 pm

Saw a 5-star track frame not too dissimilar to one above, with "2 plate fork crown with round track forks" on display in the window of Open Road Cycles here in eastern Melbourne today. It evidently is on loan from a customer, and not for sale. There were a few interesting newspaper articles reprinted around the shop relating to old bike collectors and collectors of old bikes :wink:

stevendavid75
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Location: melbourne

Postby stevendavid75 » Wed Jan 09, 2008 12:11 pm

Richard in Open Road Cycles is pretty keen collector of vintage bits and pieces. A great guy too.

Recycler
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Paint Strip

Postby Recycler » Wed Jan 09, 2008 3:04 pm

G'Day, Stevndavid75 I cleaned the frame with paint stripper, then used a rotary wire brush in an electric drill. Very time consuming, next time will have it sand blasted. Good Luck

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