Any Push Bike Experts?

[arceye]

Just fetched a dodgy old pushbike home from the auction, bought for what I think its King of the Road bell would fetch on Ebay, so I'm not thinking it has any monetary value.

Two plans were in my mind, either a big basket on the front filled with soil and plants and leave it in front of the house, or fix it up a bit and try to find a cyclemotor to fit to it for a bit of fun.

Anyway, just been looking around it and trying to date it before deciding what to do with it, its a typical ladies style bike of unknown (at least yet) manufacture with rod brakes.

I was thinking 1950's, so thought I would try to get a date off the Sturmey Archer Hub. Thats when I decided to investigate a little further before butchering it. Anyway, its a 3 speed AM hub, which is I believe a rarer "club" type hub, but instead of having a date stamped on it it just says patent applied for. That and an old style looking quadrant gear shifter on the frames cross tube had me thinking it may possibly be a little earlier.

Anyone (Possibly Martin ) know about these things?

I can put some photos up if anyone reckons they can identify / date the thing. I'm still assuming 50's, but thought if it was any earlier I might fix it up a bit rather than butchering it.

[Martin Evans]

I'm more knowledgable on "Racing" bikes (What we call road bikes) but http://www.cyclemuseum.org.uk/ may be able to help. Mention that Martin, from cyclebasket.com, suggested it.

I am aware that some old Campag kit is fetching good money (My old road bike has some little used Super Record kit on it) but the old bike scene certainly isn't as developed as the classic car scene (And has a big miser element). Old road bikes have some advantages, in that you can mix and match components. A certain amount of modern stuff is throwaway, though a modern STI gear system is far more efficient, than an old "Friction" set up. You can take far more liberties today, than you could thirty or forty years ago.

[arceye]

Cheers Martin I'll have a visit to that link.

Some very careful cleaning has revealed the remnants of an old Raleigh decal on the headstock, and I'm thinking from browsing the net that it is a Raleigh Dawn with an optional extra Sturmey Archer geared Hub, having found the serial number it looks to be about 1947.

The only weird thing is that there appears to be no chrome except for on the seat pole, and the pedal cranks though they seem to have been painted black at one point, everything else including the hubs has been painted black too, no sign of chrome ever having been present on the black painted handlebars and wheel rims though that could just be with being in Caithness where rust is king. That and the older quadrant gear shift is puzzling me, like it could have been blacked out for the war, but perhaps its just an early post war thing.

Further investigation methinks.

Thanks again

[Martin Evans]

1947 would have been during the austerity period and may well account for the lack of chrome.

[arceye]

that makes sense

[arceye]

Couple of piccies to show how mad I must be getting...

[zipgun]

That top brake disc needs a skim

[arceye]

Persuaded off my Transit with a large hammer, by god they can stick

[JPB]

That's quite similar to a 1940s Humber that Dad once owned, it had 28" wheels and I remember the trouble we had sourcing new tyres shortly after he rescued the bike from the lockup where it had been stored away from prying eyes for some three decades since being laid up. That one of yours looks much closer to being roadworthy than the Humber did, yet he rode it regularly right up to about 2004 when the hills around home became too much work for the old man and he invested in his current mountain bike.
We used to get to the old bicycle meets everywhere from here right up as far as Alford (Aberdeenshire), where the Grampian Transport Museum is found, complete with one of the largest displays I've seen - one that includes many ancient bikes, pedal and internal combustion propelled. That's probably within a day's travel for you, Mr Eye, and I recommend a visit. They have a fair selection of cars too.

[arceye]

I think all it really needs is tyres (wheels are 26" so hopefully available) / tubes and the front wheel bearings looking at, and away it would go. Don't know what I think of that pedaling lark, it was 1995 when I last road a pedal bike, I was five stone lighter and fit as fiddle, now it might finish me off. Still its reckoned to be good for the heart, so if it doesn't kill me can only make me stronger.
However, a nice cyclemotor type engine would be the thing if I can find one and figure a way of getting it registered.

I've been to the Alford museam, probably about ten years ago and it was well worth the visit, very tempting for another day out now you have reminded me about it