Perth Vintage Cycles: My 1965 Malvern Star 2 Star bicycle

If you have perused Part 1 of my post regarding my 1965 Malvern Star you'll see that I originally re-painted the frame a beige colour....well, I experienced some problems with the paintwork. As I was assembling the bike the paintwork badly peeled away from the frame on the forks, the rear dropouts, and the seat post clamping area at the top of the seat tube.

I was very disappointed. I had my heart set on the frame being finished nicely so I had it sand blasted again, but this time around I had it powder coated a navy blue colour. In terms of durability and finish, I don't think you can beat a powder coat finish on a steel bicycle frame.

After powder coating I repainted the stars on the head tube and forks, assembled the bike.....and here it is - no paint problems this time!

My 1965 Malvern Star 2 Star

The 28 x 1 1/2 inch rear chromed Westwood 40 hole rim has a Perry (England) brand 19T rear coaster hub that was restored from old. The hub polished up quite well, although the coaster brake itself isn't too effective for braking. The old coaster brake will pull you up.......eventually, but in today's traffic you need more than just "eventually"!

Perry England 40 hole coaster hub.

I'm not too concerned about the lack of rear braking as I've also fitted a period Dia-compe caliper brake setup to the front chromed 32 hole Westwood rim. The brake is operated by a drilled Dia-compe lever - drilled levers always look great. Althought the Westwood rims offer a very limited braking surface area the front brake is quite effective in dry conditions (...although I don't think riding this one in the rain is an option!!).

Dia-compe brake caliper with drilled lever.

I had trouble sourcing an original Malvern Star chromed headset so I opted for a chromed Japanese Tange headset that looks quite good. The chrome finish sets the head tube paintwork off nicely.

Headtube and headset.

The stem is an original Malvern Star chromed steel stem from the period and the handlebars are also chromed steel drop bars (Nitto steel bars - not original but nice!). Sure they're a little heavy, but chromed steel components still look great on any restoration.

The cranks are Williams brand new old stock (NOS) originals that were very common to bicycles of this era.

This is a track crank setup where the chainwheel is interchangable without removing the cranks from the bottom bracket spindle. The 46 tooth chainwheel is secured to the crank assembly by 5 pins (very hard to find these little gems!) These also polished up nicely as did the NOS T.D.C bottom bracket cups.

Williams chainset.

T.D.C bottom bracket.

The Malvern Star decals look great. I again sourced these from Greg at Cyclomondo on eBay.

.......and of course I fitted a restored Brooks B17 saddle and seatclamp, a bottom bracket oiler cap, and chromed wingnuts to the front axle to finish things off!

Chromed front wingnuts.

My 1965 Malvern Star 2 Star is very enjoyable to ride. The large 28 inch wheels with thick black rubber tyres roll along effortlessly on the flat. A soothing sound is emitted from beneath the rider as the 1/2" x 1/8" steel chain rolls around the chainwheel and rear cog. The comfort of a Brooks leather saddle rounds off the experience.....steel, leather, rubber - what a nice combination!