I am gunning for a 1961 sports that didn't sell for $100 from my October budget which was blown by unforeseen obligations. I caught up slim but this just popped up a couple miles away from me. This one popped up for $75 small but complete stellar shape. I inquired.

https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/d...450436241.html


https://images.craigslist.org/00l0l_...O_1200x900.jpg

That looks like a good deal.

Yellow isn't very complimentary to rust & scratches.

It's a very small frame. Someone will want it. Sometimes I just give them away. I have communicated & tomorrow will get this. I have to do this under the radar of the woman that doesn't understand. She goes to church at 10:30.

I like this one. It's a 21" frame. Good condition, good price. If you do sell it, I'd hang on the the wire bottle cage.

I don't buy them to sell them. I have to love them first. They don't sell that well. I would be a failed salesman which I already know is true 44 years ago trying to sell siding windows & aluminum soffets by phone. Phooey. I see a good bike & that's the bottom line.

This is astonishing.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Ral....c100338.m3726

Attachment 594717

It looks ancient, but the seat tube metallic strips put it well into the 60s and it's missing it's Jetsons chainguard. Cool little bike though. Don't see many of em.

I have to sell off my projects. I figure I'd have over 30 of them by now if I didn't. But, that's the nature of my particular hobby. I look for wrecks and make them as mechanically perfect as I can. A few of them were clean enough to be of interest to collectors, but for the most part they end up being cool old bikes that still look a bit ratty but ride beautifully. They aren't piling up so fast these days. Project bikes that interest me are getting harder to find.

This is a 21" frame with an extended seat post and stem. It's quite comfortable.
Attachment 594735

I "flip" bikes as well but only at cost.
Usually someone comes to me looking for a bike and I'll find a suitable project for them.
I'll do a complete strip down, re-pack, new tires, pads, cables etc and then just charge for the bike + new parts.
The last one I did, I traded for house sitting services to a young woman across the street.
A 3 speed Iverson...


Attachment 594736
I find the work relaxing and it keeps me out of trouble.

Yes! This does work. This 21" Rudge is one of my favorite riders. It has a different feel than a 23", but turned out to be a very nice ride.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4690/...aac8cc25_b.jpgrs by Billy Bones, on Flickr

I would label this a "Semi-Scorcher"
i.e. no fenders, no chain guard and upright handle bars.
Here's my "twin", with a tall frame.
Attachment 594742

Yeah, you're right. They are semi scorchers. Concessions to my advanced age. Mine also has the rather unscorcher like features of a kickstand and 48x22 gearing. The Tektro R 559 brakes did work out though. On the rear brake, just barely travel wise with the original Raleigh levers. And only then because of nogliders suggestion of top tube cable stops. The light touch on the levers gives the brakes an elegant feel. I like it.

That's pretty much the bike I learned to ride on in '62. Raleigh Mountie, 16" wheels?

That kids' 3-speed reminds me of this 1957 Raleigh Wendy w/ 24" wheels that I trash picked some years back. Sorry for the lousy photo, but it's in quite remarkable shape with the exception of the grips. Anyone want to take a road trip to Boston, you're welcome to have it for free.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4601/...3ce82627_c.jpg

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4731/...c7b034f2_c.jpg

Not an English frame (American) nor hub (Japan), but I spotted this Rollfast three speed yesterday. I rarely see Rollfasts in Portland, and don't think I ever came across a three-speed! I like that it's called an "Ultralight". ;)
Shimano three speed hub with grip shift. And is that front fork tweaked?
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4738/2...fb3d94bc_z.jpg
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4599/2...cca5640e5e.jpg
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4725/3...56797591e0.jpg

I have a similar step through frame as the blue one from the same period.It has the same chain ring that i thought was odd since its a badged raleigh and doesnt have the Heron.

That is rather cool.

a real beauty

I went ahead & picked it up for $70. It does have a mismatched 36 spoke front wheel or maybe Its the rear that came off something else? Looks real good though.

https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&i...3440-local0&zw

you stole it, thats a great price, i was looking at simlilar 61 in the 180 range and i thought that was a decent price.
its good to see there still good deals out there

Early reference to "Scorcher" from the book Canada Cycle and Motor, The CCM Story (John A McKenty)


"By the time John Moodie ordered his bicycle in 1878, frames were made of tubular steel and the wheels covered in rubber, improvements that made the machine both lighter and faster, a fact that pleased Moodie and countless other young men whose competitive spirit compelled them to travel at ever increasing speeds. Looking to outdo each other, these young "scorchers" often drew the wrath of club members seeking a more leisurely pace, a fact that led the older riders to often insist there be no "scorching" on club runs. Forced to find other outlets to vent their zeal, the younger riders began to organize various racing events. In 1881, when Canada's first official bicycle race was held in the Toronto Industrial Exhibition, it featured John Moodie and two other contestants who went head to head."

This one is 300 round trip away and looks excellent super clean and listed as a single speed you can clearly see it has a 3-speed IGH with no shifting hardware present. $65

https://lacrosse.craigslist.org/bik/...396417126.html

https://images.craigslist.org/00C0C_...Jy_600x450.jpg

I've only had one bike with drum brakes, a mid 60's Dunelt, the drums were very effective but very noisy, I changed the shoes once. The new shoes were grabby and hard to feather to a smooth stop but the rest of the mechanism was worn pretty bad. The whole bike had been well used long before I owned it. The new shoes didn't stop the extreme moaning noise they made when stopping. They would vibrate the whole bike. They sounded worse than any noisy caliper brake you could ever imagine. I was a kid when I owned that bike, I used it to deliver newspapers and it got quite a workout, often on dirt roads fully loaded. After four years I had to retire the bike after the frame developed several cracks, one of which was around the circumference of the right bottom bracket cup threads. It got so bad that the only fix was to tack weld the cup in place. Soon after I noticed the rear dropouts were coming loose from the chainstays, thinking it was just the dropouts being loose inside the tubes, I brazed them back into place, touched up the paint and kept using it. About five months later one dropout cracked again, this time letting go of the chainstay tube all together. I welded it but the reality was that the frame was doomed. Metal fatigue was taking its effect on the steel.
Later that year, while riding it on a snowy road, I turned up a steep driveway and the front wheel slid out from under me. When I got up, I immediately stood the bike up and noticed right away something was amiss. The right fork tube was separated from the crown, it had broken off flush with the crown cap casting.
I dragged the bike home, hung it up and forgot about it. A few years later I stumbled across a similar vintage Sunbeam bike which needed a lot of work, but it was free. The Dunelt became its parts bike, donating its super clean rims, (since it had drum brakes, the rims had perfect chrome), stem and bars, saddle, and rear rack.
I stripped down the Dunelt at that time, kept all the goodies I figured were worth saving and hung the frame up out back behind the garage in a lean too where we kept firewood. That was in the late 70's. I left home in the 80's, that place eventually became my uncles house, which I just inherited. Out of curiosity, I looked to see if the frame is still there but its gone, the lean too is nothing but rotted wood, the firewood pile all but melted into the ground. If its still there, it buried.
I kept and rode the Sunbeam with its mixed bag of parts for several years, eventually giving to someone I worked with who was looking to turn it into a club type bike. By that time it too was well worn, a bit rusty here and there and had been through a few moves through several states. The last I saw the bike it was in Florida. I never took to the Sunbeam like I did the Dunelt. The Sunbeam was a smaller frame and didn't fit me as well. The Dunelt was a full 24" frame, much like the Robin Hood I found just recently, which I think will soon become one of my favorites.

That Supercycle is a beauty, my first bike i ever bought was a Gold 67 supercycle just like this, though not as nice as shape, i love how the gold on these glows.

I've got a single speed version of that bike hanging in my basement here, it belonged to my father. It was put together out of several others just like it in the 70s while he was home recovering from a surgery back then.
Its a red bike, with several different color bits and pieces. The original fenders were painted on that one but they were rough, a few years ago I dug it out and replaced the fenders with a chrome set I found on a trash picked ladies bike. The bars were also changed out for a pair from an old Mixte road bike. I'll have to dig it out and snap a few pics one day.

Hey it got close to 30F today and it was nice out. I stayed in the house 3 days til yesterday. ST..GD..MF

Lower that stem when you go to fetch the bike.

+1, it looks like it isn't even in far enough to be straight with the steerer tube. :twitchy: