Early 20th century Armstrong
07-05-20, 07:57 AM
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Early 20th century Armstrong
Hi,
I recently found this bike (see link below to photo) that had been dredged from the River Cam in the UK. I think it may be an Armstrong Path Racer (based on chainring and seat post) or Moth (based on dropout, hub and brake set up). I’d be grateful to hear from anyone who might have further insights or advise. It’s completely seized up with limescale so I’m not planning a renovation but I have found chrome and paint so hoping to make it in to some kind of art piece.
Cheers,
Ste
photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipNj25LSXJtB6J1-vOLmYiKJk6i3HAgQFyggzov6
I recently found this bike (see link below to photo) that had been dredged from the River Cam in the UK. I think it may be an Armstrong Path Racer (based on chainring and seat post) or Moth (based on dropout, hub and brake set up). I’d be grateful to hear from anyone who might have further insights or advise. It’s completely seized up with limescale so I’m not planning a renovation but I have found chrome and paint so hoping to make it in to some kind of art piece.
Cheers,
Ste
photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipNj25LSXJtB6J1-vOLmYiKJk6i3HAgQFyggzov6
Last edited by Schteeviela67; 07-05-20 at 08:10 AM.
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07-05-20, 10:31 AM
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It's not a link. Even so, you have to have a Google account to access the site, which I do not have and will not get..
07-05-20, 11:26 AM
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Hmm, ok, since I am new to the group the system won’t let me post full URLs or attach photos until I have posted 10 posts!
If you email me at stephendbentley@gmail.com I can email you back with photos.
If you email me at stephendbentley@gmail.com I can email you back with photos.
07-05-20, 11:37 AM
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New discovery- on cleaning up the saddle leather ( yes it survived!) I can see it’s a Wright saddle, not a Brooks as I had first assumed....
07-05-20, 11:38 AM
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Do you think just sending separate messages like this it will take me towards my 10 posts or do they have to be 10 separate threads?
07-05-20, 11:42 AM
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It is 10 posts with a limit of 5 posts per day. Make a new post acknowledging this one, and then another saying "Hello". You'll be halfway there.
07-09-20, 07:25 AM
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This, message number 10, can hopefully be followed by photos! Hope I haven't lost everyone's attention in the meantime...
07-09-20, 07:44 AM
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Can people see this link without a Google account
https://photos.app.goo.gl/8pDoL2tFKjNNYJAr7
https://photos.app.goo.gl/8pDoL2tFKjNNYJAr7
07-09-20, 07:58 AM
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Yes. The link opens an album with one photo in it.
Brent
Brent
07-09-20, 08:09 AM
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Cool. So just as a reminder here's a summary.
I recently found a bike dredged from the River Cam in the UK. The beautiful chainring caught my eye.
I think it may be an Armstrong Path Racer (based on chainring and seat post)
or Armstrong Moth (based on dropout, hub and brake set up)
It’s completely seized up with limescale so I’m not planning a renovation but I have found chrome and paint so hoping to make it in to some kind of art piece.
After cleaning up the saddle leather ( yes it survived!) I can see it’s a Wright saddle, not a Brooks as I had first assumed....
It’s got red paint (just patches have survived), incredibly good chrome on chainring, fork crown and stem (so far revealed)
Grateful to hear any insights or advise. I can't find much on the internet.
Here's a link to an album of photos so far (I will take more as the project progresses)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/1KRoesZhZNFZzpff6
Cheers,
Ste
I recently found a bike dredged from the River Cam in the UK. The beautiful chainring caught my eye.
I think it may be an Armstrong Path Racer (based on chainring and seat post)
or Armstrong Moth (based on dropout, hub and brake set up)
It’s completely seized up with limescale so I’m not planning a renovation but I have found chrome and paint so hoping to make it in to some kind of art piece.
After cleaning up the saddle leather ( yes it survived!) I can see it’s a Wright saddle, not a Brooks as I had first assumed....
It’s got red paint (just patches have survived), incredibly good chrome on chainring, fork crown and stem (so far revealed)
Grateful to hear any insights or advise. I can't find much on the internet.
Here's a link to an album of photos so far (I will take more as the project progresses)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/1KRoesZhZNFZzpff6
Cheers,
Ste
07-09-20, 08:32 AM
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It's a pre-1957 (pre-Raleigh/Tube Investments takeover) Armstrong roadster. It would have looked something like this in its day:
The fork-mounted lamp bracket suggests it might be a slightly more upscale club-type bike, but it doesn't really matter. At best, it was a slightly interesting 1950's bike when it was intact.
Now that it's a barnacle, it's irrelevant - and the one interesting thing on it - the Sturmey DynoThree (or DynoFour as it may be) - isn't worth removing and would probably ruin the look.
Turn it into the art project and close the book on its chapter as a bicycle.
-Kurt
The fork-mounted lamp bracket suggests it might be a slightly more upscale club-type bike, but it doesn't really matter. At best, it was a slightly interesting 1950's bike when it was intact.
Now that it's a barnacle, it's irrelevant - and the one interesting thing on it - the Sturmey DynoThree (or DynoFour as it may be) - isn't worth removing and would probably ruin the look.
Turn it into the art project and close the book on its chapter as a bicycle.
-Kurt
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07-09-20, 09:07 AM
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The right angle seatpost is probably much earlier than the bike itself. Perhaps the rider didn't fit the frame that well (the fact that the seatpost is at its lowest position would correlate this) and the old right angle post was an attempt to getting the rider closer to the handlebars.
See if you can scrape off enough barnacles to read the date code off the Sturmey-Archer hub.
-Kurt
See if you can scrape off enough barnacles to read the date code off the Sturmey-Archer hub.
-Kurt
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