It is odd how such similar bikes can feel so different. I really like the Glider. The all black frame, the chainring has a lighter design that looks good on a scorcher, a steel guide wheel and topped off with a B66 saddle. Really nice!

My 1954 BSA 3-speed still has its original rubber grips and allthough there' s some cracks, they still feel okay and non-sticky...
I' d love to keep them in good shape, so can anyone recommend anything to do so ?

Peter

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...5fd7d0b736.jpg

Thanks! Another photo for my reference collection. I'd like to hear tips on preserving them too. In case I ever find some. I am noticing that, in general, grips from this period are fatter than the more modern ones. I can see this in the catalog pictures also, but you get very little detail from the old catalog photos.

Well, here' s another one for your collection :)
Looks like I will have to clean it once more ( using soapy water ), but I do not want to overdo that. Maybe the rubber doesn' t like that too much ?

Peter

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...456a8c6145.jpg

I'm just dismantling it actually pre refinish...
So I took a couple of photos.
I've not found much evidence online of the motif, looks like a fish/serpent?
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e0dfa748e2.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...88e220b5e8.jpg



Maker is Diamant Francaise, (Not the other German & Belgian Diamants) who have a long, illustrious history, I recently learnt!!
Chain-wheel is pretty 'normal' Nervar of the period. I'm guessing mid/late 60s, because of the twin rubber pedal type.

This bike has lots of great, small details for me, unseen on familiar English bikes of the period. (Built in dyno lights with individual cable guides for the thin wiring front & back, threading under the mudguards, for example: )
Brake callipers are not very effective though, with non 'standard' fixings....

I've been giving quite a bit of thought to the colour scheme... It's important for me, because I know it'll work well mechanically, but I want it to look 'right' as well.
I want emphasise the lugs, but in a subtle way. The 'Coffee & Cream' combination, in the right shades, does it for me. (Decals unobtainable methinks...)
Detail on the chain guard is 'under consideration' &, as you suggest, it is a consideration on the final result.

You raise an important point here: )
Two outwardly looking similar bikes can ride so differently.

I've had many experiences of this, & sometimes the difference is in a minor adjustment or component.

Always experiment, is my motto now.
Always check the options....

Took me a while to 'get that'.

A wise ex GF did explain it to me once, without me realising it applied generally, not just to GFs & bikes....; )

I like John Deere Ultraguard Tire and Rubber Protection spray for cleaning and preserving old rubber parts.

Is this another Raleigh Off brand?
A Premium Bicycle.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...437ed67674.jpg

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...a42bcb3da0.jpg

I visited a bike enthusiast yesterday in search of a longer steel stem for one of my roadsters. He had a nice looking single speed 22" Raleigh DL-1 that had some interesting decals including 'Special' and 'seven-up'. He said it was made in the US, but all US Raleighs were still 'Made in England' as far as I know. Maybe he meant made for the US market. The headbadge was a bit off though - weird shaped heron on a flat badge, and the headtube was a one-piece pressed part. With the tyres being made in Malaysia I wondered when I got home if it was perhaps a Malaysian made Raleigh. Or not a Raleigh at all - I should have taken a photo of it. He really didn't wan't to part with it :(
Although we couldn't find a stem I did come home with an Endrick rimmed roadster front wheel, so that will get what was a parts roadster back on the road, and on to a new owner.

How about some opinions on tire treads. I'm going to be buying four tires for my Sports and for the Sports I'm building for my daughter. Neither of the bikes will be the main bike in the stable, so I've been looking at a couple Kenda models. The basic difference is that one is a smooth, ribbed tread and the other is a more aggressive semi-block tread described as a "hybrid" tire. Any preferences for tread style?

Thanks!

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...cb86daae4a.jpg

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e67b8f7610.jpg

I'm a block tread fellow myself, but I've never been keen on gumwalls for anything. Skinwalls yes, whitewalls yes, gumwalls no.

Funny thing, the ISO 590 market (and block treads) are presenting a bit of an issue for me too. The block tread whitewall Duros that I bought back in 2006 for my '51 Sports are no longer available in said block tread (from F&R Lowrider Company, the supplier who carried these). I've been playing around with the idea of solid creme tires too, but I can't hack the Schwalbes if they have reflective sidewalls, which current production seems to have.

There are also these for sale on eBay, but they're in Germany - and just seem to be run-of-the-mill old stock Chinesium:

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...dff1780425.jpg

-Kurt

I would go for the smooth ribbed pattern on the tyre, no doubt. I aim for summer riding and I havent' had any problem with them in either wet or dry conditions. The rubber and patterns can make a difference though, some are harder and more prone to loose grip under certain condtitions like dry asfalt with sand on top. My Raleigh 3 speed is for easy going rides, no top speeds when turning corners, and issues like this doesn't apply much. You know all these factors best your self :- ) On the Sports, Schwalbe Delta Cruiser has turned out to be a favorite for me, the cream color looks very good them. It's a good tyre, not too expensive either. I'm looking for white brake blocks !

Raleigh? I would guess no. The Sports and brethren were lugged and that bike looks like EF. Also, as Sheldon pointed out, the Raleigh made bike had a rear fender mounting point on the dropout that was uncommonly low. The fenders on the Premium don't mount to the dropouts as on Raleighs.

That bike looks a lot like a Schwinn, and Schwinn did make bikes sold under different names before they obtained the market position necessary to sell only through their authoried dealers. Does that look like a Schwinn headset?

edit: Doesn't look like the way Schwinn did the top of the seat stays nor like a typical Schwinn EF fork of the early 50s. Nor does it have the ashtabula crank that one might expect of a Schwinn made department store brand bike. I think my wag of schwinn is wrong.

Good detective work.

I thought you were a Crager/BF Goodrich man! Welcome back Kurt.

Only on the quarter (or eighths) mile :lol:

Mind, I tend to lean towards the "cars are the problem, bring on the utility cycling" perception for daily life, but that's a discussion for the A&S Rant Department...

FYI, this is what those Duros I installed 12 years ago look like today. Pretty pitiful. Second pic is from 2009 - sure looked better then!

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...7355965d27.jpg




https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d9be3463c2.jpg

I've got to give P.C. Kohler's grips some MASSIVE kudos though - they've held up admirably all these years. And though it looks like the ends are about to crack, they aren't. They're still the most comfortable grips I've ever used after all these years. Much thicker than the 1960's version.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4bfb2d5175.jpg

The tubes inside them are at least 40-50 years old though, and they hold air better than any other tube I know. Rear has two patches on it, no less.

-Kurt

His and her Raleighs on Boston CL for a couple of Benjamins:

https://boston.craigslist.org/bmw/bi...599923689.html

https://images.craigslist.org/00W0W_...xW_600x450.jpg

Note that the lady's is a 5-speed drivetrain with the rad downtube dual shifters.

I'm going to pass along a nice little restoration trick I've found. Back when I was a tool and die maker, I sometimes used a dry lubricant on tooling that made tiny parts and oil would have been to sticky. I used Brownell's Action Magic. It comes in two parts, but I only used the gray powder. It's super fine and burnishes right into the steel and I've found that it offers a considerable amount of rust resistance. Sturmey Archer used a gray finish on some of their parts. Mostly the trigger cases and cable guide wheels. Once this finish rusts, it destroys the rust protection completely. If I used Evapo Rust to clean off the brown rust, it would turn brown again quickly just from the moisture in the air. So once these parts rust, they need a new finish. Action Magic will make a spot on copy of the original gray finish. It will also blend in perfectly with any remaining original finish. I've been using it for restoring old SA trigger shifters. Here, I'm burnishing it onto a rusty guide wheel with a wooden match.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...531f523ace.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...65dce7756e.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...0060c3e955.jpg

Another secret tip from Big C!
Keep 'em coming.

Pretty cool tip. Old axle nuts too, I bet.

A sometimes-harsh article about Sturmey-Archer from a few years ago, combining technical and management history. I've wondered about Frank Bowden, since he was so idealistic about the bicycle but it seems like Raleigh under his management was a monopolistic beast, absorbing or erasing any sizable competition. Which continued when TI took over. Anyway here's the article.

[MENTION=398265]BigChief[/MENTION], where does one get Action Magic?

Well of course they were, that's the nature of industrial capitalism. You either aim to become a monopoly or are crushed by others that do. The funny part is that such monopolies always become conceited and unable to react properly to changes in the things that their success relies on. Which is why Raleigh is a brand owned by a dutch marketer of imported Chinese bikes to discount shops instead of a major car manufacturer the size of GM.

Everyone dies in the end.

Great article, good find. It explains a lot.

Hope you don't mind my answering in BC's stead. http://www.brownells.com/search/inde...agic&ksubmit=y

As it goes for me in my rural location, 5 hours on the road and a new 3 speed. Silver Raleigh Sports with 23" frame. The size sealed the deal. AW hub with 5-77 date. I was thinking of what I had learned in just a few months on this thread. I remember being concerned about adjusting the shift on my first Raleigh earlier this year. When I saw this onehttps://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...6e9f96cdd0.jpg
was not going into Low I grabbed the WD40 and sprayed......spun the adjuster and in less than a minute I had all three gears. Now to find a chain guard!

I would say that hits my photo zone square in the center; old barn and old bicycle. Thanks!

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/890/4...98e57acb_c.jpg
IMG20180530170221 by arty dave armour, on Flickr

Found this at the local recycling centre, got excited, got home and realised the clamp is 23.8mm not the 25.4 all my spare handlebars are :(
This is a size used (of course) by Raleigh and also other older british bikes. Not sure what to do, it's a nice stem. Guess it might just be a waiting game for the right size handlebars...I'm still looking for a rear 'quarter door' for the DL-1 chaincase but I'm starting to think it's just not going to happen...

I don't think BC appreciates being called "Old Axle Nuts".

Actually, it does kinda fit me.