A Look Ahead - Projects for 2026

 January is a good time to take a look at the year ahead. There is no riding here now because we are deep into winter (high of 9 deg. F [-12 deg C] and 12 to 18 inches [30 to 46 cm] of new snow this weekend). I am currently repairing bicycles in my heated work room on the second floor of my house. 

 

1948 Raleigh Sports Tourist:

 This bike came from Facebook market. It was located in eastern Connecticut and though dirty from years of storage, still in pretty good shape overall. I am in the middle of cleaning and rebuilding this bike. It has received a total disassembly and cleaning. I am now in the process of re-assembling. No road testing will take place until the end of winter probably, given the weather we are having. I bought this bike in the first weekend of February, 2025. A year later, I've finally gotten to it and am refurbishing it. Sometimes it takes me awhile to get to projects...

 

 

1941-46 Raleigh Dawn Safety Tourist  (old style Model 19):

This bike came from a very kind, fellow collector in Massachusetts. It was located south of Boston. It is a very unusual bike in the US, given that it is a "Dawn" model, but has the old-style roadster frame. The Dawn series switched in 1946 to the more-familiar "Sports" style frame with rod brakes. This bike has a no-date Sturmey Archer AW rear hub with the "Patent" inscription. The headset is the post-war style. I suspect the bike is from the tail end of the war or shortly after WWII ended. It has many black-out parts. This bike will probably be my next project after the 1948 Sports Tourist.

 

 

1966 Raleigh Sports:

This bike came from a Facebook Market ad in my area. The drive was only about 20 minutes each way, which is fairly close for a vintage bike find. This area is not known for being fertile ground for good, vintage bikes. In this area, we tend to see a lot of worn-out, rusty, or junky old garage bikes and not something you would want to repair. This bike is a cut above the usual Sports, but below the Superbe. It has a locking fork and Dynohub light set. I bought this bike in the fall of 2025, when people tend to offload bikes and "warm weather" items they don't have space to keep. The price was a bargain.

 

1965 Schwinn Deluxe Racer:

This bike came from eBay. I put in a reduced "make an offer" amount and the seller accepted it because the bike was sitting. It's a tall frame model, which is a plus. It's coppertone in color, which is very much a 1960s color. The chrome is mostly good. The insides of the fenders are a bit rough, as they always seem to be 60+ years later. I'll probably clean and reassemble this bike, then either sell it at a loss or donate it to a local charity. As of now, I don't plan on keeping it. I was honestly kind of surprised the seller took my offer, but "you never know".  This bike is currently totally taken apart and needs to be re-assembled.

 

Other: 

I have some other projects at hand on bikes I have already finished. I plan to upgrade the wheel set on my 1950 Schwinn Superior, probably from standard S6 chrome rims to S6 stainless. Another alternative would be a set of USA-made Weinmann alloy rims. But I am leaning toward the period-correct stainless rims. 

I am also doing the usual maintenance. I keep a maintenance chart on-hand to keep track of what I need to do (a good idea if you build up an old bike collection). Repairing or refurbishing and old bikes is not the end of the process. Even once the bikes is in good shape and back on the road, periodic maintenance and cleaning is needed. These are not "high maintenance" bikes, but they also do not thrive on neglect.