Over the past month or so, I re-built this 1946 Hercules Royal Model C. The bicycle represents a "compact" style rod brake roadster. The bicycle is Hercules-made, but has a "Royal" decal on the head tube. It came with a Perry coaster brake dated 8-46. I replaced the single speed coaster with a Sturmey Archer TCW hub to make the bike a bit more ride-worthy. The rear brake is a coaster and the front is a rod/stirrup type.
I had a very nice Sturmey Archer quadrant shifter from the 1940s in my parts bin. This one appears to have been either never used, or only very slightly used. The rims are Dunlop Westwood rims that take the 26 x 1-3/8 (ISO 590) size tires. These are the usual, "English Sports Three Speed" sized tires. The frame is 21 inches, but more relaxed than a "Sports" roadster.It features the "gallows" style seat post and "cut away" type lugs with oval holes. It has the "half chaincase" type chain guard. The gear ratio on this bike is 44 teeth in front and 21 in back.
The philosophy to this bike, like most of the others I have, is to make subtle upgrades to make the bike road-worthy while also keeping a deep respect to the history of the bike. The TCW hub is notorious for difficulties, but I completely overhauled this one into a steady-running state.
