zentiques

Rare Dunelt Travel Bike.
21679 A serial number looks like Raleigh circa 1956, the SA hub is AW 63, and the BB has the oil fill cap. Lycett L66 saddle. Sears speedometer. Oak Park MI license tag 1966.
Compression joints are very well crafted, guessing mid 60s, any ideas ?
Better to part it out or sell complete ?

noglider 

Parting out a bike usually yields more money but takes a lot more time. And you'll end up with parts no one wants. If you're not disciplined about it, it could cost money or at least not yield its potential. I bought a bike once to part out, and I won't do it again.

This one is really special, with those couplers on the frame. Are you sure you don't want to keep the bike?

I don't know how to read the serial numbers. Generally, the date on the hub indicates the age of the bike, though the hub might be from 1963, and the bike might have been made in 1964.

wrk101

The three speed market really varies. In some urban markets, they get a strong response. Here, you basically have to give them away. I keep finding interesting 3 speeds, I'll buy them cheap, and then I lose money on them. I just don't learn.

Raleigh wasn't too good at inventory management. I had a Raleigh where the frame was ten years older than the hub, that was kind of the worst case inventory management. The Japanese really brought along just in time inventory management and tightened up dates a lot.


Clean it up, fix the wonky rear brake cable, and hopefully your market is better than mine. The closer you are to Boston the better.


I don't think it was a special model. People have been adding couplings to bikes for many decades.

Part out depends on what your time is worth. Sears speedo and leather saddle could have some value. If you have a decent replacement saddle, I'd be tempted to replace those two parts. Saddle + speedo in my market > total value of the bike. But someone might really like your bike with the coupler frame. Thats a wild card. Sold a men's Dunelt with typical saddle, no speedo and no couplings for $50......

People often mistake rare with valuable. Often rare just means was not popular. Rare cars often bring LESS than popular models from the same era. Fork Mustang was one example. They made over 1 million of them in the first two years. Yet they bring a lot more $$ than the rare competitor products.

zentiques

Thanks for the perspectives. Knew the bike itself wasn't anything great, more a sum of its parts. Someone's daily commuter in the Detroit area, serious enough to do a few upgrades and lay out some cash for the couplers. I find those the most interesting aspect, certainly of the same mid 60's period. They look like a forerunner of today's S&S, haven't seen anything comparable, who made these ? Easy enough to part out the seat and speedo, guessing the frame would travel back over the pond. Left with a couple fenders, chain guard, rear wheel / hub. And the crankset, oh boy. Considering a dual strategy, CL the whole bike and eBay just the frame, whichever goes first.

bikemig 

I wouldn't part this bike out. I can't imagine there's a big market for this frame given what a PITA it would be to find the parts. Plus complete bikes can be found for not much more than you'd be willing to sell the frame for.

vintagebicycle

I've always been a really big fan of English three speeds, but I wouldn't give a dime for a cut or take-a-part frame of any sort.
If it were mine, I'd sell off the frame and fine another frame and build it back up as a solid frame bike.
I would as mentioned before here, sell off the leather saddle and that Sears Speedometer, those two will likely bring as much or more than the rest of the bike.
Put a standard vinyl saddle on it.
Judging by the reflections in the photo, the wheels don't look all that perfect, I see several rim bruises and dents and a good bit of chrome wear too.
The rear wheel is also too far forward, either the chain is too short or the rear fender brace is wrong.
I'd also get rid of those Schwinn hand grips and find a good pair of original Raleigh or Brooks grips.

The bike in general gives me the impression it was cobbled together from a bunch of spare parts at one point.
Its an early frame, with a later crank chainring, (Early models had DUNELT letters around the ring). The hub is marked 1963, so likely the wheels are from '63 or '64. The hand grips came off a Schwinn, (I don't think I've ever had an original Raleigh grip go bad). Its also got an above the bar later style shifter, vs. the older under bar SA shifter, and the kickstand appears to be a Wald replacement.
The original saddle would have been Brooks, either a leather B66 or sprung vinyl.
The couplings have been added, if you notice the forward pump pegs are now useless since the coupler nuts are in the way, thus the two aftermarket add on pump pegs on the seat tube.
The original handgrips were likely white vinyl, which did turn yellow over time but they rarely fell apart.
My guess is someone came across a frame that had those couplings added and built up a bike with various parts somewhere along the way.

zentiques

Forgot the wonky brake cable.