Over the long weekend, I was fortunate enough to meet up with a fellow Raleigh enthusiast and to buy this very nice, 1951 Raleigh Clubman, along with some extra wheel sets and parts.
This Raleigh is in fine shape. It has most of its blue paint and frame graphics. The Bluemels fenders are in good shape and the chrome is clean.
I've owned several Raleigh Clubman bikes before. The best of them were a re-painted (professionally, it seems) 1951 Clubman and an original paint 1949 Clubman. Those bikes have since moved on to other Raleigh collectors, but I've always wanted a nice, blue Clubman.
This one was relatively close by, so I decided it would be a good one to own.
A nice feature of the 1951 Clubman is the use of 27 x 1-1/4 rather than 26 x 1-1/4 rims, which makes finding good quality tires easier today. This particular bike came with two spare wheel sets. All three wheel sets use the very nice, Dunlop Special Lightweight steel rims of that time period. One seat of wheels features a 1951 Sturmey Archer AW hub and the other a classic flip-flop single-speed fixed-gear and freewheel hub. The bike currently has a Sturmey Archer FM four-speed, moderate-ratio hub.
This 1951 Clubman has a 22-inch frame on 27-inch wheels, which is a of a moderate size and should fit me pretty well.
Even with steel rims, this bike was very light weight for its time period. I had it parked alongside an old-school Phillips rod brake roadster I was cleaning. It's quite a contrast.
I have been finishing up a very basic refurbishment of my re-purchased Phillips roadster lately. The Phillips was a bike I owned for a few years, sold to another enthusiast, then bought back when he no longer wanted it. That bike is nearly ready, so I have to decide whether to proceed next to the early Raleigh Dawn or to the Raleigh Clubman. We have maybe 45 to 60 days left in the riding season here, before the cold weather really starts to bite. We will see...
The Clubman also came with a number of nice parts, in addition to the extra wheels. These Shockstop grips are in nice shape and very pliable.
The bike also comes with a lightweight pump with a Robin Hood logo on it.
I don't know if I will get to this bike this season or not. I'd really like to, but it depends on whether I start work on the early Raleigh Dawn roadster I picked up last winter. They're both nice bikes. "Good problems to have", as the saying goes...
Nice bike, Sir Mike.
ReplyDeleteI’m working on a 1951 Clubman, myself, actually in que behind a UK only spec Raleigh 26” wheel Superbe, that I bought as a bare frame and gussied up as a Triumph.
Alas, my Clubman was purchased as a bare frame, it did come with a clip stem, and the little metal wheel for the shifter, that with its bracket, bolts onto the braze on fitting on the frame. Whew. Either of those would have been a long, frustrating, and expensive search.
The frame was sprayed black, it is supposed to be the same color blue as yours, but, I’m getting to be over trying to bring parted bikes back to stock. I’ll buff the paint, apply new graphics, put a few stripes down and call it good. It will get modern Kinlin 27” alloy rims, a beautiful set of Suntour Superbe side pull brakes out of the inventory, and a Shimano bottom bracket in Phill Wood locking rings, with an alloy crankset and ring. I have to think about drop bars, not my favorite at the moment, or, an alloy mustache bar. I have period FM and Race Lite hubs for it, with period (in England, anyway) wing nuts for the hubs. Black Bluemels, also, which, factored into the decision to leave it black.
Nice score you got there. Be a shame if you got tired of looking at it, and shipped it off to Minnesota.
Ted
Thanks for the kind words. I have a feeling I won't get a chance to tinker with the Clubman until winter. I usually am able to finish one last bike in September-October each season, but it's shaping up that I won't have that kind of time this year. The price was fair, the color was one I liked, and the seller was a very nice fellow Raleigh enthusiast who was able to meet me at a reasonable driving distance. A really good set of graphics on these bikes makes a big difference. I had a Clubman that was re-painted grey/graphite sparkle and when I added the H. Lloyd decals, it made a huge improvement to the bike's appearance. I have to believe if you buff the black paint so it is shiny and even and then add the graphics, it will look pretty good.
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