Vintage Bicycle Repair and Riding: American and English Bicycles
Here are a couple recent pictures from the road - my black 1958 Raleigh Sports four speed, and my blue 1947 Schwinn Continental three speed. Both of these are high-quality bikes in outstanding condition. I'm enjoying the dry, pleasant weather we've had the past two weeks here in New England. Hopefully there is more to come before the ride season ends.
Here is another local Craigslist find - 1970 Raleigh DL-1. As you can probably notice, it's a pretty tall bike: 24-inch frame on 28-inch wheels. It's in pretty good shape. Even the pinstripes are in pretty good shape. They're often totally obliterated by age and use.
This bike does have some light surface rust here and there, but it should clean up fairly well. This is a classic example of a "second generation" rod brake roadster in the US market.
In Britain, rod brake roadsters had a very long lifespan - from the early 1900s all the way up to the 1980s.
In the US, the rod brake bikes came in two distinct generations. The first generation would be those from the 1940s and earlier. This includes the classic pre-war roadsters, and the somewhat more luxurious roadsters of the immediate post-war period.
During the course of the 1950s, and into the 1960s, rod brake bikes became less common in the USA. It was during the 1950s and 1960s that the cable brake Sports and Superbe had a "golden era" in the USA market.
In the very late 1960s, the Raleigh DL-1 was re-introduced to the US market. Initially it was a as a bike "for tall people", but this later expanded with both 22 and 24 inch frame sizes. This second generation of bikes in the US market is much more common to find today. These bikes continued to come into the US into the early 1980s.
This 1970 Raleigh DL-1 is an early second generation rod brake bike for the US market. It has the usual US market features: hockey stick chain guard, early 1970s decals, wide "north road" style rod brake bars (as opposed to the old-style narrow bars), B72 saddle, and plastic cover gear shifter. It has galvanized wire fender stays rather than the old-style painted and threaded stays. It retains the old style white patch on the rear fender with black reflector.
One thing I did notice is this bike has a dedicated, aluminum DL-1 kickstand. Kickstands for DL-1 bikes can be hard to find. Normally the Petscher/ESGE stands from the 1970s are the best bet for a regular kickstand on a Raleigh DL-1. However, this bike has an aluminum, Raleigh Industries older style DL-1 kickstand - a nice touch.
The plan is to disassemble, clean, and refurbish this bike. I plan to do a brief article on using an ultrasonic cleaner to deep clean a Sturmey Archer AW hub. This is not always necessary with an AW hub (often a more basic cleaning is sufficient), but it gives an opportunity to show those who want to go the "extra mile" how to get a deeply cleaned hub.
Interestingly, I've had fairly good luck with Craigslist bikes over the years. Last year, I bought a nice 1957 Schwinn Traveler off of Craigslist, and 20 years ago (2004), I bought a nice 1978 Raleigh DL-1 with a 22-inch frame. I like how 20 years after that first DL-1, I've got another DL-1 from Craigslist.
One more shot of a ride this week - good weather. Better get out and ride before the season ends! October or very early November is the end of the riding season for me usually. September is the last "good" riding month when we have ample daylight and relatively warm weather. October can be OK, or can be cold and rainy. By November it's getting dark pretty early in the evening and then the clocks change to standard time, effectively ending my ride season.
1940s Raleigh Model 35 Sports:
So far, the weather has improved for the first week of September. We're have a dry, cool week with excellent riding conditions. A look back at August shows a very unsettled, wet month compared to what we usually have in the late summer. Hopefully September will be better. So far, it is.
I took my 1953 Raleigh Lenton touring bike out for a ride last evening. The days are starting to get noticeably shorter. I love the long days at the end of spring and into the summer - lots of daylight for riding and doing repairs. But as expected, the summer is ending and fall is approaching.
