atulkunte

Tommmmm... That's a wonderful piece of history. Man ...surprised to see that neat decal on rear fender... I think we are good friends now & you have my address already...Any shipping difficulties let me know...

noglider 

A few months ago, I sold the red Royal three speed I had, and I put the 22T sprocket on it, so my Rudge was back to the 18T. Today, I finally installed the 24T that photogravity sent me. Thanks, fella! So I have some pretty low gears. If I figure them right, they are 39, 52, and 69 inches. Really low! I don't ride this bike to go fast anyway.

I'll put a taillight on the fender soon.

In the pictures above, I had used oil to shine the bike up. It's looking very dull now. I'm going to try a bit of polishing compound and wax and see how that goes. I know Raleigh paint was of very high quality. I'm a bit worried that the polish could hurt the gold letters.

I also changed my seatpost. You'll see the one in the pictures was bent back a bit. It was too short, and it was inserted only one inch. That wasn't safe. Now it's safe.

noglider 

I now have Kenda K-40 tires on it. If I'm not falling prey to the placebo effect, I think they ride slightly less harshly. I'm saving the whitewall tires for a Hercules I plan to polish up and sell.

apg

Great bike!

3speedslow

Yes, I read this thread when I got my Rudge. Still enjoyed looking over it again Tom.

noglider 

Somewhere I have a picture of it I shot last year in Palm Beach. I should add that, but I'd have to find it first.

rustystrings61 

I had a '63 Rudge Sports identical to this one, but with one exception - mine came with a Dynohub and light set. The crankset was the same as this one. I think the cranks with the red hand of Ulster went away in the '50s, but I am not certain about that. I keep thinking I would love to find a 23" Rudge Sports frameset somewhere for a mad scientist project, but I will wait till one comes along ... beautiful bike, btw!

noglider 

Thank you, @rustystrings61. Were you born in 1961, as I was?

The bike now lives at my mother in law's place in Palm Beach, FL, so I have a bike to ride. We visit at least once a year. I also shipped down my Hercules 3-speed, but it got damaged in shipment, and my wife doesn't like the feel of 3-speeds, so I plan to give it away to a knowledgeable cyclephile.

rustystrings61 

I was indeed born in '61 - but somehow I have never quite found a birth-year bike! I did have the afore-mentioned '63 Rudge Sports, a '62 Dawes Realmrider, a c.1958 Rudge Pathfinder 8-speed and a c.1959 Raleigh Lenton Gran Prix with a rod-operated Benelux front derailleur ... but never a '61. Not yet, anyway ...

Staypuft1652

Very lovely bike. So nice to see it being used and appreciated.

noglider 

Thank you, @Staypuft1652. I'll guess you were not born in 1652.

Staypuft1652

I hardly qualify as Classic & Vintage myself, the 1652 refers to a vw engine displacement and horsepower.

BigChief

I wasn't here back when you started this thread. Beautiful bike! And the source of my Rudge Sports downtube template. I finally have a plan for that. I'm going to laser print the image on white waterslide paper, cut out each letter and apply them individually. Never saw those Raleigh dual purpose rims on anything other than A Raleigh badged bike before. But after finding decals squished under the kickstand plate of my 55 Rudge, nothing surprises me.

3speedslow

Another 61'ner here.

So the fifties was when the hand came on the crank? Looking for one of those...

Rustystrings61 have you posted pics of your Rudge Pathfinder ? Would love to see it!

noglider 

@BigChief I saw you mention earlier that you took the pattern from my picture. I'm honored, even though I had little to do with it.

I would have loved to have a Rudge with the "hand" chainring, but I don't think I'll go hunting one down.

BigChief

The "Hand of Ulster" chainrings go back to, at least, the 1920s. I've heard it said that Raleigh changed Rudge badged bikes over to the traditional Raleigh spoked chainrings after the supply from the original company ran out. I know that this isn't true because the chainring I'm using has the little Sir Walter stamp on the crank arm. So, Raleigh did produce hand chainrings for a while. It seems that Rudge, Hercules and Phillips all lost their distinctive chainrings about the same time in the early 60s.

3speedslow

Good to know.

noglider 

I have bad news to report. I stored my Rudge in the bike room of my mother-in-law's apartment building in Florida. I rode the bike when I visited there once or twice a year. Apparently, the staff removed some of the bikes that they deemed abandoned, including mine. They did the same thing a few years ago, but they had forewarned the residents that they have to label the bikes, so in that round, I was able to label the bike, and it survived. This time around, they didn't warn anyone, so my bike is gone. Of course, that's not a proper way to handle other people's property, so we are making a claim against them.

Now I have to look up what a 1962 Rudge Sports in reasonable-but-not-great condition in Palm Beach County is worth. Probably not more than $200. If any of you have suggestions, I'm open.

3speedslow

Sorry to read this. It was a cool classic Rudge!

Hope you win your claim against those bike tossers!

noglider 

I might have just gotten back all the money I lost flipping bikes. After months of unanswered correspondence, they wrote a check for $500, an amount my spouse came up with. I owe her everything.

philbob57

Not much of a punishment for stealing a bike. Good luck in finding a replacement.

noglider 

@philbob57, I don't think of it as theft. I think of it as negligent discarding. I think the compensation is fine. Someone might have gotten reprimanded.

ascherer 

Glad you were compensated, but it's a bit of a shame. It was a handsome bike, and good to have there. I hope it has a next chapter somewhere.

cudak888 

Go check Jack the Bike Man. When a "charity" (I use that term loosely, given that they price ratty Sports at $600) exists that takes in free bikes, it makes it easy for building management to call someone up that'll gladly pick up their junk.

Keep in mind that while customer service has definitely become more genial since Jack passed on, they treat the place like a car dealership and aren't always nice about access around the shop. Also, everything is documented in their inventory, so they'll probably know the source of donation. Try to get a look at the place and have proof of ownership and pictures in your back pocket...and the $500 if need be.

This is what the storage looks like, bring a flashlight. This is a UK Raleigh Cameo I photographed there a few months ago.




By the way, as I recall, the 21" Rudge was a bit small for you, right? I know of a neighbor with a 23" Rudge of a similar year, though I think that's his preferred daily. Will ask.

-Kurt

noglider 

@ascherer, they probably had the bikes taken by a trash hauler, so the bike probably ended up in a landfill.

@cudak888, I'm short-legged, so the 21" was a good size for me. We've been to Jack's place (RIP) and enjoyed meeting him. My spouse didn't like the English 3-speed I gave her, so we sold it to Jack and bought her boring hybrid there. I know a guy who volunteers there and fixes up kids' bikes for the annual giveaway. I might shop there again though craigslist is usually a better deal. I'm in Florida only once or twice a year, and briefly, so my needs are modest.