Norris Lockley wrote:
Viscount however in their search for "home-grown" materials and products
sourced their "Aerospace" tubing from a company called Phoenix, a manufacturer based in Wednesbury not far from Birmingham. Not much is known about Phoenix tubing except that it was thought to be a plain gauge seamed , rather than a double-butted drawn and seamless tubing. Additionally it was a Chrome-Moly rather than a Chrome-Manganese. It might have been used by other builders but I cannot remember any references to it.
It did however surface again some years after the Viscount Company finally closed its doors, and was used by Falcon Cycles as the three main tubes in the companies top-of-the-range frame of that time. I can't
remember the model, but in the UK it was finished in a flam. burgundy with some chrome somewhere in the rear triangle. The
front forks were sourced from Tange, the lugs were long point Prugnat with windows. The frame when built into a bike used the Campag Gran Sport groupset. Maybe it was exported to the States. I recall seeing the
new model in the office of Billie Holmes, the former ace time-triallist and roadman, who was at that time - early 80s - the Sales Manager for Falcon. Billy claimed that there was a weight-saving in the main triangle of 4 ozs when compared with 531DB.. and of course it was much cheaper.
The tubing also found its way into the workshops of a number of lightweight frame-builders who rather unscrupulously substituted the tubing for reynolds 531 DB, but the frame decals never told the truth, Slightly later on Falcon suffered a very bad fire in its paint plant, the reult of which is that several thousand "fire-damaged" frames were sold off as salvage, only to enter the retail supply chain carrying all manner of makers' names.. including some well-known ones.
I forwarded Norris' comments to Nigel Land, the Elswick-Hopper (now part of the Falcon company) ME for the V-CC, and he replied:
I have a brochure for Brampton Fittings Ltd. illustrating their Phoenix frame lug sets operating from the Phoenix Works, Handsworth, Birmingham, probably during the 1930s. I am told that by the 1970s they were based in Newtown, Wales, so there is probably no connection between Brampton and Phoenix tubing. In support of Norris Lockley's comments I have a Falcon catalogue that lists the Majorca, the Professional and the Super Pro as being constructed with Chrome Moly tubing. The brochure is undated but is probably from 1979. These were the top of the range models though there is no mention of Phoenix. So, does anyone know the provenance of Phoenix tubing?
Peter Brown, Lincolnshire, England