Originally Posted by
Howard
At the risk of going slightly off topic ...
Do we know of Hercules that used SW hubs, or did they continue with the license built AW during 57-58?
Also, I'm a little curious about the evolution of the headbadge. I have a Nottingham Hercules (66 on the hub) with the slightly shield or wedge shaped head badge. I'd always presumed those were post-Raleigh badges, but I've seen some from the fifties that were that style instead of the superimposed H and C.
Hercules did have one of their own branded SW hubs. A friend of mine in England has one. There was recently an auction on eBay for a leaflet/owners manual for a Hercules SW.
For the headbadge, they were all over the place with them, early ones having a round "sticker" or metal (brass, I think) badge on the headtube, then later the model name on the badge, and finally settled with the brand on the shield as you mentioned. I have a bike in my collection that has a Birmingham headbadge but with Raleigh style dropouts. It's a confusing machine for sure.