Ninetimes

Would like to hear what Handlebars everyone is using!

carbomb

@mkeller234 that Fuji Finest is stunning

mstateglfr 

For my older bikes, I use Soma HWY1 and the VeloOrange Grand Cru Course.

different drop and reach, but both are full bend which is what i like.

carbomb

My touring Surly and my Eroica bikes all use the Nitto Noodle (Mod. 177) in 44cm. I like the engraving near the clamp, the fact it sweeps a little closer to you on the flats, but still has a rather classic profile. The subtle flare on the drops is also a nice touch without being so great that it stops looking retro.

BikeWonder

SR Sakae Randonneur

TiHabanero

The Cdale ST500 was a spectacularly good heavy touring rig. I do hope you are touring on it!

3speedslow

mkeller234

mkeller234

Mr. 66

Glennr134

My 1987 Bridgestone 300 Sport touring, was put out for scrap, had bent rear wheel and derailleur dropout . Went through it and updated a few things.

Cyclist3098765

Ross Signature 1981.
My favorite bike.

merziac

H**Y CRAP!!!!

Where in H**L did you get that man!

Between you, @mpetry912, @pcb and @obrentharris, you'd think anyone could get their hands on one.

That is so awesome.

Kovkov

The normal red (Tigra)


The yellow (Chiorda)


The orange (Mondia)


The gold (Tigra)


The dark red (Mondia)

gesta

Quick photo of my 1980 Peugeot PH8M after dynamo light install. It's my daily driver / randonneur / do-it-all bike. Built from Carbolite 103 tubing, so longevity should be more than built-in.
I'm pretty sure if I ever need to replace this, it's going to be a custom build with exactly same frame geometry, as this is spot on for me.

bikemig 

Are you running 650bs on this? It's tough to beat the geometry on the low end Pugs. They had a nice long wheelbase and relatively shallow angles much like a touring bike. That makes for a bike with stable handling that can take a load. They're all nice riders and classic bikes. Nice job on this bike. I have a UE 8 I need to get rideable . . .

gesta

No, 32-700c Paselas. This had originally 27" (or, 630mm ISO) wheels and caliper brakes, so 650b was "out of reach", so to speak.

bikemig 

Right, it would be tough to find brakes that could reach that long. Those tires just look fat and there is a lot to be said for plush tires!

Road Fan

This is a Clubman-style bike made by Rudge (has the white hand of Ulster on the head tube!). They were owned by Raleigh at the time. With sibling models in Raleigh and Humber branding, they were made at Raleigh's huge plant in Nottingham. The Raleigh was rather famous, the Super Lenton. These were Raleigh's top model in the road performance line, save the special-order Raleigh Record Ace.

Features:
all-531straight-gauge frame, pinned brazing
laid-back low-trail geometry, fully lugged
mainly aluminum parts, except hubs, chainset, chain, stem, seat post, and pedals
S-A A-W hub
27x1 ¼ rims and tires
48 x 17 main gearing
long-reach GB sidepulls
fenders (not shown)
Aluminum handlebars Sylvere Maes
Originally Broois B15 saddle, now showing a modern Brooks B17 Imperial with lacing.

Clubman bikes were made for performance, comfort, versatility, and durability. Riders used them for endurance rides, clubs, commuting, and just about anything else.

She's not built up now, all the bearings but the AW need overhaul. The rebuild wil probably have a TA chainset. I have high hopes for a great ride. I'm considering ways to provide a wider gear range, improve braking and reduce weight, but first I need to just make sure I can ride it.

I think these bikes pointed the direction for what we now call a sport-tour, providing inspiration for Raleigh and Dawes, and later Trek.



1952 Rudge Aero Special

88Tempo

I really like that Rudge I keep hoping to come across something like that.

Road Fan

I'm hoping to have it rolling in a month!

88Tempo

What size tires does it run?

I've toyed with the idea of making a faux clubman out of a midrange 70's bike even if just for the looks all the serious cyclists would give it..

Road Fan

The original wheels are for 27x1 ¼ (these numbers are called out in the original sales literature and in the British reviews that were done), aka 630 x 32 mm. The tires I have on it now, Specialized Road Sport, are a perfect fit for the original rims and for the frame clearances. I have my eyes open for a Compass or similar tire with smoothish tread and 630/32. The diameter is 694 mm, so it's significantly larger than a 700c with correct 28's (622 + 56), 678 mm. If your frame is tight with 700c/28s, these wheels will not be a good fit, and similar for a conventional English 3-speed.

But I actually made a Clubman-style when I was in high school, around 1966. I didn't know what the word "clubman" meant, but the 10-speed thing was just beginning in Chicago and as an avid Lakefront rider I wanted to get with it. I had a mens' pre-Raleigh Phillips or Hercules 3-speed with a Sturmey Archer AW, that I bought from a neighbor boy maybe 5 years older than me - $12, a fortune! As riding went on I had the LBS put on a set of steel drop bars and later a Miller generator lighting set. The tires were the standard British 26 x 1 ⅜, but I don't know the correct designator today. After all that, all it needed to match the spec of the late '1940's Clubmans' like the Rudge Pathfinders, was Bluemels fenders (plastic, lighter but more fragile), a Brooks B17 or B15, and well, a frame made of straight-gauge 531. In some model years there were double-butted frames as well (see the blogging by Peter Kohler). There were some more exotic specifications as well: alloy rims, Sturmey Archer AM hubs (with medium spread of gear ratios), alloy shells, and even an alloy FM which was a four-speed medium-range IGH.

A similar conversion could be done with any Raleigh-designed 3-speed. Key features include a laid-back seat tube to properly install a Brooks saddle and a frame built for a Sturmey-Archer IGH.

If this bike is a good enough fit for me (seat tube is a little tall), I would want to hot-rod it! I would go for an alloy hub, alloy rims, seat tube, and stem. I'd also work on adding a granny capability, either make the TA into a 48/32 or add several cogs to the SA rear hub, and a rear derailleur. It should be possible to take 5 pounds off.

So this Rudge represents the next step forward for Rudge/Raleigh/Humber toward the 1962 Grand Prix, which had alloy hubs, 8 speeds, fully double-butted 531 frame (except the seat tube), and was very similar to the late-60's International. At least that's how I see it.

And BTW, this bike and others such WERE what serious cyclists used back in its day.

88Tempo

That head tube angle looks fairly conventional, but until you mentioned it I hadn't really noticed the seat tube angle. I can get by fairly well with 3 gears where I ride mostly. The couple of hills that would punish me are routes I only ride occasionally since they are on the way in to town and I usually head away from town when I leave the house.

Road Fan

Check out this in the C&V for sale: FS: 1951 BSA New Hudson Silver Arrow (23", 531 tubing)

The Brooks saddle, then and now, has a rail that is roughly 10 mm longer than the clamp of a modern seatpost, and a vintage seatpost. I can't say exactly how the seat tube angles were or are selected, but for me I like a deeper setback like this, if I want to use a Brooks. Earlier Club-styles were deeper yet.

The head is conventional, 73 degrees.

For me what's important in gearing is having a gear I can use. That Hercules with AW had a gear for every occasion I needed, considering my teenage legs. Now at 65 I think I need more range, but I think frame dynamics might have something to do with it, within limits. In my area of Michigan we definitely have hills where I need a 35" granny, but I just want to see what I can do. British champions rode the full length of the United Kingdom, from the north end of Scotland to the southeast end of England (Land's End to John O'Groats) on gearing narrower, hence not as low as, what a Sturmey AW affords.