Humid Rides...

 

Not much in the way of heavy-duty heat here lately, but plenty of humidity. I guess it's that time of year... I'll put up a few photos of the 1948 Raleigh Sports Tourist and the 1950 Schwinn Superior. They both ride nicely. The Sports Tourist is a little heavier with its chain case and dynohub system, but no complaints about either bike. 

I've probably written this before, but chain cases are great looking and great from a collector standpoint, not so much from a mechanic's standpoint. They're a pain to get "just right" so nothing rattles or rubs. This one is a good one: no real dents and very straight. It has all the covers, sliders, etc. I still prefer a hockey stick style chain guard for riding and repair purposes. But the full chain case sure does look the part...

 

 The Superior has a more American flavor to it: lots of chrome, heavy gooseneck stem, louder paint scheme and decals... 

The Superior has a 22-ish inch frame, versus the 23-inch of the Raleigh. I am 5ft 8in or so tall, with long legs for my height. I can ride either frame comfortably, though perhaps the 23 is a little better fit. 

One trick with the smaller frame is to use a better seat post and a little longer stem to get the bars and saddle into place. BMX seat posts are a good source of longer, stronger posts for these welded Schwinn frames. This is a Cr-Mo post that is quite long. The taller "AS" razor stem also helps get those bars into place and more adjustment range. I hate a bike with too much or too little reach to the handlebars. For whatever reason it's among the first things I notice riding a bike. I hate feeling like I'm straining to reach the bars especially... So a taller stem and a little more range of adjustment is in order on these 22-inch frames. 

You can only do so much though with the stem and seat post. If you're 6ft 3in tall, a 22-inch frame on 26-inch wheels will not cut it. Then you would need the taller frame. But if you're at the edge of the frame size in terms of fit, the stem or seat post can make the difference in getting comfortable.

I notice the days are starting to get a bit shorter again... too bad. Keep on riding. 

1936 Raleigh Mini Catalogue - Adaptation to the US Market

I recently had a chance to scan in an interesting consumer mini-catalogue from Raleigh. This is a 1936 consumer mini catalogue showing the various models and specifications of Raleigh bikes for that year. What is interesting about this particular booklet is the that it was specifically adapted for use in the USA.

 

 

This booklet shows that by 1936, Raleigh had expanded outside of Boston and into New York City. East Coast cities like NYC and Boston were ideal places for Raleigh, given their proximity to Atlantic ports, large populations, multiple universities and colleges, and bike shops with the expertise to deal with English-made bicycles.

 

Of particular interest in this catalogue, the models offered by the Raleigh Cycle Agency are marked with dollar currency stamps. The English money entries are blank. This catalogue shows the particular models this shop was selling at this particular time with the dollar stamps, though they undoubtedly sold different models at different times and during different years. The variety of models offered was much more limited in the USA than in England. 

 

 This catalogue was originally a British offering adapted for American usage. It does not appear to have been a dedicated booklet for the US market, as some of the Raleigh USA Boston brochures and catalogues were in the 1930s. 

These bicycles were expensive in their day. For example, the Sports "C" Tourist above was $55.00 at this particular shop in 1936. Using US Government inflation statistics, this would be about $1,330 today. The Tourist rod brake model was $48.75 then, which is about $1,180 in today's money. 

Looking back at the 1935 California Services catalogue from my previous entry, we find the Raleigh was a bit more expensive in some cases, but close in others. The basic Royal Enfield roadster sold for $40.00, versus $45.00 for the Raleigh (about $120 difference today). Royal Enfield's smaller roadster was $42.50, very close to the Raleigh Dawn's price at $42.25. 

 

 Parts were also available, including a small array of Sturmey Archer hubs. The choices were more limited in the USA than in England, but at least some hubs were offered.

 In these early days, English-style, modern "lightweight bikes" were somewhat exotic machines in the USA: costly, available from East Coast city shops/dealers, and not available in all parts of the USA. The post-war era would change all that, with the influx of English bikes in the latter half of the 1940s.

A Window into Early Modern Bicycles in the USA: 1935

I recently purchased a wonderful catalogue from 1935 from a company known as "California Service Inc.". The company had a shop on Long Island, New York, and apparently focused on quality bicycles for adults. 

I've written in the past about the arrival of the early "modern" lightweight bicycle in America in the 1930s. From the 1910s through the early 1930s, bicycles in the US market tended to be aimed at children and teens. The adult bicycles that were made and sold in the US tended to be aimed at couriers (such as Western Union) or dedicated racers (tending to have fixed gears or single-speeds, and wooden or wood-clad rims). 

In the early 1930s, a few companies began importing English-made bicycles to the USA, exposing Americans for the first time to what we would consider the "modern" bicycles: diamond and step-over frames with steel rims, clincher or wire bead tires with inner tubes, rod or caliper hand brakes, and multi-speed gear or hub options. American manufacturers fought to catch up to the imports in the second half of the 1930s with models such as the Westfield/Columbia Sports Tourist and the Schwinn New World.

This catalogue gives us a window into the state of affairs for adult bicycles in the USA in 1935. At that time Raleigh (through Hamilton Osgood's firm in Boston), BSA, Royal Enfield, Aberdale, and Hercules Cycle/Motor were exporting bikes from the England to the USA. The numbers of these bicycles were tiny compared to the youth-oriented balloon tire bikes made in the USA. 

 

California Service focused their sales on Royal Enfield and, to a lesser extent, Aberdale bicycles. The Royal Enfield offerings were much like the Raleigh offerings from around that time. Models fell into three basic categories: sporty drop bar bikes, all-purpose cable brake bikes, and heavy-duty rod brake roadsters. 

 The offerings from Royal Enfield were even a bit more extensive than those of Raleigh in 1935, and included tandems and even a tradesman's basket bike.

 California Service evidently went beyond just dealing in bicycles. They also sold high-end tubing, forks, lugs, and the other components of bicycle construction. Interestingly, this included hiduminium alloy parts and Reynolds tubing, exotic stuff for 1935.

 All manner of hub could also be purchased: drum brakes, high-flange hubs, coaster brakes, multi-gear hubs and components, and the fittings to go therewith. 

 Handlebars and stems also were available. The venerable Sturmey Archer Model K three speed could be purchased.

 Saddles, tires, pumps, and other accessories were available. There were even child carriers if you wanted to commute or go grocery shopping and carry your child with you in the British and Dutch fashion.

 Saddle bags, rear racks, and a wide variety of tires could be bought. Saddles included both leather typs and mattress saddles.

 Even shop tools could be purchased. 

 California Service in Long Island had a key advantage: access to both British-made products and the New York City area market. A family-owned bike shop in the midwest at the time might feature only a few, domestically-produced bicycles for the youth market. But being on the east coast of the USA near a major city and port, California Service would have been on the cutting edge of bicycles, parts, accessories, and tools for the adult rider who wanted to tour, commute, or just have a bicycle for recreation. The offerings in this catalogue probably seem kind of pedestrian compared to the extensive offerings in the British catalogues of the day, but this would have been a standout in the US bike market of that time. 

Conclusion

In this catalogue, along with the 1934 Raleigh Brochure, we again see proof that the adult bicycle was not "dead" in the USA in the middle 1930s. Even though the American manufacturers had not yet responded to the early British imports, quality bicycles with multiple gears and hand brakes were available to adults who wanted to cycle in the USA. 

This California Service catalogue is all the more interesting because it offers something to both the consumer and the retailer: a source of components, accessories, tools, and complete bicycles from Royal Enfield and Aberdale. The retailer-oriented sales are especially interesting because they go beyond the shorter, consumer-oriented brochure that Raleigh produced in 1934. 

Five years after this catalogue, on the eve of the Second World War, American manufacturers would be trying to compete with the imports. But this 1935 catalogue and the 1934 Raleigh brochure give us a window into the early days of "modern", quality bicycles in the USA.