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RM will post upto 2.5kg for under £6.
getting above that weight from 2.5kg - 9.9kg will cost you between £6 and £12.50 for standard parcels, which might seem pricey at teh counter, but really isn't that bad. You can also post a 20kg bag of sand thru RM for just £15 if the mood took you.
couriers are great (parcel2go for best quote, inc better prices on parcel farces own rates) for things weighing more than 10kg IME

Agree. Parcel2go are agents for many carriers, and the cheapest in my experience. I can send a wrapped/boxed frame/forks inland for £8.25. They use DHL, Parcelfarce, you name it.
Weight alone is not the issue, it's volumetric weight. A pair of wheels takes up big space but not much weight. So just check the site and get an 'instant quote'. Costs nothing to do that. And they pick up from your door.
BTW I don't work for them or anything, just used them for ebay stuff for 3+ years.

Excuse the previous cock-up plz: )
This one is strange... The Gundle Bush car.
Leonard Gundle (the owner) on the rear in 1946.

Nice to see some carriers on here: )
Here's one of mine:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bikesruz/4412015452/
Don't understand why a boring Hetchins kept popping up previously: (
Works now....

Lots more Gundles here:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/leonard_gundle/pool/with/4306541714/

Me Bicyclz on Flickr.

Nice to see some carriers on here: )
Here's one of mine:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bikesruz/4412015452/

Lots more Gundles here:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/leonard_gundle/pool/with/4306541714/

Me Bicyclz on Flickr.

@ Superprecise.
Well thanks for that. So I am not alone then....
Recently I've tuned into Dave Marsh and got nothing but praise for them. I know Mercian are excellent, but quite expensive. But you get what you pay for these days, BJ excepted.

Here's another of my La Queldas from 1948, in original paint.
With correct decals.

Thanks for all your opinions guys.
But, the seat-post is correct and the same one was inserted after BJs 'repairs'. It was not reamed.

Some 531s are different diameters, French for example, but the problems are not just with the seat-post/tube. Check the bulge in the second pic. It went for a repair and refinish. Not cheap! When I got it back it looked reasonably well, and I excused the incorrect decals, but a few miles more and you see what it's like now.

This is the full bike. 1948 and one of three LQs in my possession. It's not like I'm an amateur in this respect. Running an FM hub here.

Seat-post is 27.2 and its a 531 frame.

The clamp is as tight as it needs to be and the seat-post is correct diameter.
It's their attitude that bugs me.

Check the bulge on the junction of the top and seat-tube: The little scratch is mine. I'm not going to lawyers, Dave Marsh is miles better.

My 1948 Holdsworth La Quelda was "repaired" by Bob Jackson and has recently showed signs of 'distress'.
First they used the wrong, later, decals during the refinish, and second a split has appeared at the back of the seat-tube, where it was 'repaired'. Along with a new top-tube.

Donald, the Managing Director said: "Lump it" and refused to do anything about it...

It's taken me almost twelve months, but I've finally finished my 1954 Sun Wasp road/track. The wheels feel massive, but once it gets going it really moves.

The frame as purchased, with at least three layers of thick paint (red, green, yellow):

The finished bike, resprayed by Mario Vaz and fitted with period-correct British components (with the exception of the French pedals, Belgian rims, and modern tyres and tubes):

The colour scheme isn't a copy of an original, but was instead inspired by a classic Nike Air Jordan colourway:

Interested to see your Sun Wasp.
I've got a 55/56 one (without track ends has to be said) and wondering what the SN on yours is?
Mine is here, with a few more pics either side of it. Mine's original, down to brakes and badged stem, headbadge, bars, B17 etc. but not wheels or paint.

My home cheapo method is Japlac, painted with a brush. Smooth and cool with the right technique.
Nitromors to remove the original paint, Kurust and one coat with Japlac is enough for a durable, cheap refinish.
Here's one of mine.

Wouldn't be good for the chrome though: )

Tumbleweed. I modified my BJS slightly by drilling a small depression (with a half inch drill) into the curved arm in order to locate end of the cotter positively.

One problem with using a hammer is that you can damage the entrance to the actual hole and if it gets out of round, or slightly preened over, you may have great difficulty getting any pin inserted. Missed hammer blows also frequently damage the chain-wheel itself. Seen plenty of those in my time!

I wouldn't put a hammer anywhere near a good Williams chainwheel...

Gaaah Where were YOU when I was asking anyone who would listen (i.e. no-one) about those^ on this very forum / CTC forum / Retro bike about three years ago!

No matter. I'm all about 10 speed freehubs these days ;)

Don't blame me. I wasn't on here then. Nor CTC etc. I was on Bikeforums winding up the Yanks: ) (Not too difficult, and good fun!)
But LFGSS is a 'new boy on the block' and quite cool IMHO: )

You want an old timers advice on cottered cranks?
Get yourself a cotterpin press and extractor. £7/8 or so from Machinemart. They are called Ball Joint Splitters. They work great on cotters, in or out.

Here's mine. Never failed yet. On all sorts of old bikes.
You still need to fit a new cotter correctly of course, but taking an awkward so & so out and pressing it back in is no problem.

DON'T ever use hammers, no matter what Sheldon Brown says.

Should be obvious how it works, but if you not sure I'll explain in detail if you ask..
.

Do phone them.
Ask them about the SN. I bet it's 2003, April.

You may have a beta model though: )

Aroogah.
Simoncini serial numbering is quite simple and date related.
In my case it says 53 028.

53 is the frame size (repeated on the steerer).
028 indicates 2002 and 8 is the month. Couldn't be simpler.
Bet yours is later: )

Cycles Clements also have decals, etc. and they are very friendly and helpful.
In my case they recommend Argos, or they ship frames back to the factory for repairs.
Since I've already bought tubing the latter is not on. Should've checked before since the factory would do the best job....

You mean the red one? Yeah, seen it and it didn't tell me much. On the other hand there are so few on the net they got to be rare, and I'm finding it all new and 'interesting'. Not quite the right word there but I'm sure you know what I mean. Totally smitten is going a little too far. But not by much: )

I'm emailing the factory currently trying to check out the serial numbers to date it. Then it can have some period components maybe. Mine came with Campy Mirage components (mostly) which are low end and don't fit the machine, so I'm assuming they were later replacements.

Gilco is the one I was trying to think of...
Mention of it here. But you are probably aware of that. You need to understand the company structure to understand the details I think! I surely don't just yet. It's confusing me right now: ) But fascinating.

Came across this one also, which uses Gilco as a model name.... The twin tubing is quite distinctive though. One of the reasons I like Simoncini. They are not afraid to be unconventional.

EEI.

What a lovely machine! Tubing definitely interesting. What's yours?
I've trawled the net and come across very few Simoncinis but a couple had your tubing.

I did check the other one and it's amazing what you can do with these things. It's a big, expensive job replacing tubing, and it may not be economic sometimes, but on a Simoncini, well, I'm going for it on mine.

I've got a 1948 Holsworth La Quelda (lugless) that has a replaced top-tube and it's brilliant now. Some pics on my Flickr Photostream here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bikesruz/sets/72157625677837888/with/5292506267/
Now a dead link cos I didn't like Flickr control over my pics, but my website Simoncini page is here:
http://www.bicyclz.com/simoncini_6.html

Plus a couple of other nice bikes, Holdsworth LQs: ) Etc. Etc....

Even the far side of the BB shell looks suspect just below the open chain ring bolt hole.

I can't find any damage/distortion on the BB but I'm getting all the paint off today and will post some more pics when I'm finished. Much easier to see with paint off.

Found a couple of tiny indents in the top-tube but since it's only 0.4mm away from the butting that's hardly surprising.

Tubing specs here.

Got to say I do not know of this guy!
I'm a newbie at this with Columbus and Italian steel.

531 on English bikes is a different story: )

The headtube engraving is by far the best maker's marque I've seen. Wonderful!

Absolutely! And very useful on a refinish. No decals to replace and no badges to remove and refit.

I'm just removing the paint to check for small dings and dents and I can remove all the decals without worry because of the engraved name on fork crown and BB.

Discovered that the whole frame is nickel plated under the paint. Not sure why except that it may be essential for the original paint. It might look very good with a fully chromed (or nickel plated?) frame on this one.

Now looking for somebody with experience of Columbus elleptical tubing to do the stay replacements. Any ideas anybody? Not yet checked CyclesClements (who are the Simoncini distributors in UK) or anybody else, but I've got the feeling it might be best to go to somebody used to this type of tubing.

I don't know enough to make a useful comment here except that your 'headbadge' is engraved, as mine.

Later they had a decal. And you fork crown is equally 'on the edge' at the time, but fantastic in their detail, design and brevity. Just essentials that look good too!?

I love the details of these frames.