Primitive Accessories: 1948 Raleigh Dawn

The 1948 Raleigh Dawn has a couple interesting, rather primitive accessories. The first is something common: a Wald rear axle kick stand. These stands appear on both American and English bicycles from the 1940s. They allow you to mount a kickstand where space under the bottom bracket is tight.

On this Raleigh Dawn, the rear rod stirrup would interfere with a standard Raleigh kickstand. There are indeed some kickstands that mount under the bottom bracket and allow the brake stirrup to move, but this bike has the rear axle stand.

The biggest drawback to this type of stand is that it is quite heavy and 'clunky'.

The second item is the rear rack. The later "Prestube Minor" and "Midlands" type Raleigh racks have nuts and bolts that secure them to the seat stays. This earlier type has a large wingnut, tightened by hand. The tubes on the rack also are not quite as heavy as the later racks. It's a nice addition to this bike.

Memorial Day Weekend 2016

1946 Hercules Model C

I took the 1946 Model C Hercules for a couple of rides this weekend. The bottom bracket needed some find adjustments, and I swapped the 1960s rubber grips for older-type, celluloid Apex grips. The Apex grips a bit less comfortable, but really are more appropriate for this sort of bicycle.

II. 1948 Raleigh Dawn Tourist Update

The 1948 Dawn Tourist continues. I have worked out the drive train, set up the chaincase, rebuilt both hubs, and rebuilt the bottom bracket. All parts have been cleaned and polished. The wheels are trued. I'm down to buying a set of brake pads, and doing the final assembly. This bike is close to returning to the road.

I needed to replace the fenders because the originals had been painted up with what seemed to be automotive paint. Even acetone was unhelpful in removing the overspray. However, I did locate a nice set of Raleigh fenders from a 1960s-70s era bicycle. Their condition is consistent with the rest of this bike, though they have wire stays rather than brazed stays. 

Overall, this bicycle is coming together.

On the Road with a 1958 Raleigh Four Speed Sports

A couple shots from the other night of the Raleigh Sports with the FW four speed hub:

The FW hub is really a lot of fun.  The gear ratio is a bit close, but the additional, bottom gear is really nice to have for uphill riding. The 24 tooth rear cog gives lots of help climbing as well.

I use this bike as my "hill climber" with that gearing. The weather was generally good this past week, but this weekend has been a mess: lots of rain.  I'm more than ready for the rainy weather to end so I can get back to some good, spring weather riding.