Mine is a 1952 Rudge Aero Special. A guy employing a house he had bought to fix and flip found it in the attic, and brought it to an LBS to see if they could sell it. In I walked and noticed an interesting roadie without a repair tag. Looked it over, spun the wheels, hefted it, stood over it, looked over the paint, nothing missing other than the front fender and saddle. The owner only wanted $50, so soon I took it home!
I’ve overhauled front wheel, headset, and BB. The BB cups were all fine, rings were warped, and I damaged the spindle a little “extracting” the cotter. I found an alloy seat pin, a leather saddle with clamp, and a TA 5-pin dual chain set with matching spindle. The TA spindle bearing seats matched the original Raleigh ones so I installed the super light TA chain set. The first ride was not long, but nice. I’m now working on the brake calipers, changing to an alloy GB bar, and seeking a TA track spindle for a 1x3 with correct chainline.
1952 Rudge Aero Special, 531 non-butted, AW hub, modern saddle so it looks like a bike, modern tires, original rims. Rebuild will have repacked bearings, B15 Swallow or ???, and most likely a TA chainset 48 teeth.