Originally Posted by
clubman
This is not one of the Raleigh rebrands. It's a Birmingham bike and the Williams crank will have the date code, likely around '57 imo. Also, it's not double butted but plain gauge Reynolds.
OP, do the rims have any markings? They look like stainless.
Originally Posted by
3alarmer
...I assumed they were probably the 27: stainless Dunlop rims that were used on most of these. The "all authentic and original" guys apparently pay a lot for them on the used marketplace. I tried to ride mine for a while using them, and found them hopelessly slow wheels. They are much heavier than the alloy rims I used as replacements, and they have no bead hook. That was about as good as you could do in the late 50's, unless you went tubular. But you can so improve the ride and performance by replacing them with a 27" alloy wheel, with a bead hook and 27" Panaracer tyres, it wasn't at all difficult to let them go.
I agree that the TI Raleigh company was still making bikes in Birmingham, at the old Raynal facility, when this was probably made. Kind of a standard club bike of the times.
The Williams date code is 1960 which is the cusp of the Raleigh-Birmingham takeover. It's happened on many occasions that Birmingham-specific inventory was sold by Raleigh after that date. When the stock was gone, you would have seen England on the Dunelt badge and the rear mudguard eyelets would have been behind the axle and not above, as seen in the OP's frame. I've never seen those serrated shorelines on any Raleigh lugs. It was a transitional time for these bikes.
Once Raleigh had full control of inventory, they changed to this badge, from the Birmingham.
