Originally Posted by paulb_in_bkln (Post 20291515)

Looks like tomorrow I will collect the black '63 Rudge Sports I bought a week or so ago. I paid probably 20% more than I felt comfortable and am just hoping there's not any big problem with it, like damage to the frame or rims so rusted they're not even rideable. (The photos weren't great quality.) Although if that happened I'd probably have some recourse through eBay.

Originally Posted by agmetal (Post 20291051)

Do you have any close-up pictures of how your B&M headlight is attached to the heron bracket?

Originally Posted by JaccoW (Post 20291196)

That is a fine looking bicycle. :love:

How well does the dynohub work with the modern LED B+M? Does it offer enough juice?
And is the rear light also connected?

Originally Posted by clubman (Post 20290506)

It is but you can go with lower gearing up to a 22 tooth rear maybe even 24. The hockey stick chainguards are easily adjustable, the enclosed ones can be fussy but I think they will clear 22 teeth. Anyone?

Originally Posted by Salubrious (Post 20292509)

Yup- even larger if you are careful, but IME better to go to a 44 up front instead.

Originally Posted by restlessswind (Post 20292576)

Changing front chainring/cranks sounds like an expensive and hard to find proposition. Anyway, my wife loves her Heron chainring.

Originally Posted by paulb_in_bkln (Post 20291515)

Looks like tomorrow I will collect the black '63 Rudge Sports I bought a week or so ago. I paid probably 20% more than I felt comfortable and am just hoping there's not any big problem with it, like damage to the frame or rims so rusted they're not even rideable. (The photos weren't great quality.) Although if that happened I'd probably have some recourse through eBay.

Originally Posted by BigChief (Post 20292853)

Pre 65 3 speeds are getting more rare all the time. Even more so if you want something as cool as a Rudge. Luckily, most sellers don't value these bikes the same way we enthusiasts do. Bargains can still be had but you could scan Craigslist for a long, long time before you found a bargain priced 63 Rudge.

Originally Posted by curbtender (Post 20293108)

Haven't heard of a 'Scandia' https://sfbay.craigslist.org/scz/bik...543692836.html

Originally Posted by BigChief (Post 20286902)

The lists of serial numbers you'll find isn't very reliable. Many anomalies. We can find a reasonably close date with frame features, graphics and accessories. That information was gathered by catalog pictures and Sturmey Archer hub dates on known examples. So not perfect, but pretty close. I can see from the shape of the steering tube lug front that the frame is 1955 or later. I think I can see a bit of the joint from the steering tube lug and top tube enough to see a shape that is 1957 or later. The next frame feature in the timeline would be the shifter cable guide wheel. Is it brazed onto the top tube or clamped on the seat tube? All through the 50s, the wheel had a mount brazed on the top tube. Then around 1960-1961, they changed to using a clamp on steel wheel with a gray finish and 2 piece band. Somewhere around 63 they changed to a plastic wheel with a one piece band. Also around that time, they eliminated the oil port in the bottom bracket and the full chaincase mounting lug on the drive side chainstay. The fork is a bit less conclusive. Safe to say that if it has the bullet shaped ends where the dropouts are brazed in, it would be 1964 or later.

Originally Posted by oldveloman (Post 20293416)

Thanks BigChief, that' s a lot of help !

As I said before, this Triumph Sports was a single speed bike when bought 25 years ago and I fitted a '77 3-speed wheel a few years later. So no clue there.
It has alloy Weinmann Type 810 brakes.
The oil port ( with plastic cup ) in the bottom bracket and the full chaincase mounting lug are there, as can be seen from the pictures below.
It has wire mudguard stays front and rear bolted into brazed-on lugs.

Would be nice to find a list of serial numbers too though, as XY8567 doesn' t fit in the Raleigh numbering system as far as I can see.
I have a mid-sixties ladies Triumph that has a normal Raleigh number ( 1915219 ) for that era and I had others that fitted in too...

Peter

Originally Posted by Ballenxj (Post 20292924)

I'm sure knowing what to look for, as well as having a trained eye can't hurt either. ;)

Originally Posted by BigChief (Post 20293448)

The brake levers are contemporary with the 1977 hub.

Originally Posted by paulb_in_bkln (Post 20293519)

Can you work that BB fixed cup out if you need to?

Originally Posted by paulb_in_bkln (Post 20293527)

I have to get some perspective on this. It's not like I'm meeting my mail-order bride.

Originally Posted by oldveloman (Post 20293416)

Thanks BigChief, that' s a lot of help !

As I said before, this Triumph Sports was a single speed bike when bought 25 years ago and I fitted a '77 3-speed wheel a few years later. So no clue there.
It has alloy Weinmann Type 810 brakes.
The oil port ( with plastic cup ) in the bottom bracket and the full chaincase mounting lug are there, as can be seen from the pictures below.
It has wire mudguard stays front and rear bolted into brazed-on lugs.

Would be nice to find a list of serial numbers too though, as XY8567 doesn' t fit in the Raleigh numbering system as far as I can see.
I have a mid-sixties ladies Triumph that has a normal Raleigh number ( 1915219 ) for that era and I had others that fitted in too...

Peter

Originally Posted by johnnyspaghetti (Post 20294298)

This bike is around 1962. mabye 1961. The paint scheme is a 1961 American Raleigh but I don't know. The plastic oiler bb is post 1960. The barrel end front fork dropout seems to have discontiued in 1963 then turning to blade type. I have 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1985, Raliegh built bikes.
This is a 48 state 1961 sports I got for $75

Originally Posted by oldveloman (Post 20293696)

back in 1997, this and some other bicycles were used as “models" in one of my paintings, so I had a look to see what was fitted back then.
Below is a picture of that painting and a detail of the Triumph. Peter