1949 Raleigh Clubman - New Arrival

 Here is a recent arrival in my collection: a 1949 Raleigh Clubman. The Clubman was a premium sporting model made by Raleigh shortly after WWII ended. I think this bike will make a great companion to the 1953 Raleigh Lenton that I recently rebuilt.

 

This 1949 model features  26 x 1-1/4 (597mm) Dunlop wheels, Sturmey Archer hubs, and a frame with ornate lugs and Reynolds 531 main tubes. The paint has some wear, but no signs of abuse. I suppose this is what you would call, "good, honest wear". The frame is an "in-between" type at 22 inches (compared to the usual 21 or 23 of the more common Raleigh Sports). 

The handlebars and stem have been swapped, and it has a replacement front brake cable. The tires are Schwalbe 26 x 1-1/4,which are periodically available in Britain, but which never seem to be in stock in the USA. The bike has shop stickers from a bike shop in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

 

These Bluemels aluminum fenders are from a later model Raleigh, but I got the originals with the bike. I place to clean up the originals and put them back on this bike. 

 

The bike came with a wonderful "Raleigh" branded saddle bag, which I think goes great with this bike.

 

 The lighting system is the classic "Dynohub" type, with the fork-mounted headlamp. It has been converted to LED bulbs already, which I think is a great addition for safety's sake.

It has the old school fluted, Raleigh cranks, which I think are elegant and add a nice touch to these bikes.

 I previously owned a 1951 Clubman, which had 27 x 1-1/4 wheels. This earlier model is the 26 inch wheel version.

This bike will require a cleaning and overhaul. I'll probably play a little with the handlebar set up so that it fits me a little better. But this looks to be a promising project.