gthomson

I bought this bike for my daughter who hasn't ridden much since she was a little girl so I thought she might like something a bit different to ride when she lives in the city. A Road King sold by the iconic Canadian retail company, Eaton's. I'm guessing this would be late 1960's based on the design? Interesting it has 26" wheels, would that have made it a kids bike? I have a bit of work to do to it but would like to replace the wheels but keep the white wall tires. It's a bit big for her so I might have to replace the saddle to bring her a little closer to the pedals. She's quite petite.
Any thoughts, suggestions would be appreciated.

T-Mar

Based on the Eagle rear derailleur, I'd place it slightly later, early to mid-1970s. I'd be leaning towards the earlier half of that period based on the fact that it's a ladies' frame,as oppsed to a mixte, but that could vary somewhat from company to company. The serial number of the frame may allow us to determine the manufacturer and year.

During this era, a 26" wheel bicycle could be considered either a juvenile or adult bicycle, depending on the frame size. For instance, CCM paired 26" wheels with 20" frames on their adult female bicycles. while pairing 26" wheels with 18" frames on their juvenile female bicycles, This looks like a taller frame, so I'd say it was intended as an adult female model.

You can lower the saddle a bit by turning the rail clamps upside down, so that the saddle rails are below the bolt. This should lower the saddle by about 1" / 2.5cm. Between that and a slightly less tall saddle, you may be able reduce the saddle height sufficiently. In a pinch, there's also the old standby of pedal blocks, which would not look at all out of place on a bicycle of this vintage. Or you could source some shorter crankarms.

gthomson

Thanks T-Mar, I was hoping you might weigh in on this bike. I do believe it's an adult frame as the seat tube is actually 20" but when looking at it from a glance, it appears small. I'm going to try what you mention by turning the rail clamps upside down or getting a newer seat which would have have less height before adding pedal blocks or looking for shorter crank arms. She's 21 so I think pedal blocks might be a bit embarrassing.

It's crazy but it's really hard to find bikes for women who are around 5' tall without looking a kids bikes.

I'm guessing I might be able to find newer 26" wheels with a narrow width that I could use to replace these steel rims?

52telecaster

Are those 650a wheels? Nothing wrong with 5 ft. I had a 4'11" boss who was my favorite boss of all time.

oneclick 

I have a 150mm cottered crankset, three-arm pattern so loads of alloy rings will fit, has steel 45 and 40 rings on it now.
It's in nearly new condition.
And I'm also in the GWN so you can have it for (cheap) postage.

Check exactly *which* 26" wheels you have, there are at least half a dozen different sizes.
The most common and likely cheap ones will be 559 which is the smallest, so you may have brake reach issues, and they'll look funny.
Steel rims are no good for braking when wet, but how likely is she to go out in the rain?

T-Mar

Given the era, I imagine they are 650A / 590 BSD / EA3 / 26 x 1-3/8" ( don't you just love all the tyre/rim nomenclature). If so, the last time I was in the retail side of the business (about 10 years ago), Sun had a couple of offerings, both of which would be about 8mm narrower. They were also aluminum, so you'll save some weight and have better braking. The other option would be a 650B conversion, which would only require the brake pads to be lowered 3mm.

Yes, short people had a real stigma about riding non-adult bicycles. It allowed Terry to create a whole niche market around the issue. So, the other alternative would be to find a women's proportional bicycle.

I also imagine that it wouldn't be too hard to find an old, juvenile girls' bicycle with 26" wheels and a smaller frame size. They're garage sale fodder in my region.

gthomson

I'm going to defer to T-Mar on the wheel size as I assume it's all original and the tire indicates 26x1 1/8. I would like to replace those steel wheels with aluminum if possible but I know my daughter would want the white wall tires. Riding in the rain? probably not but the working front brake gives a heck of a squeal but that might just be the 50 year old brake pads! I will replace those. If anyone knows of a source on where to buy new wheels that size let me know, otherwise there's a bike coop not far from me I can check it out as they get these kind of bikes all the time.

I pumped up the tires and took it for a spin around the block and rides very nice and smooth. I forgot how fun it is to ride those cruiser style bikes and definitely a more relaxed fit then my road bikes or 90's mountain bike. I might be converted.

oneclick, I'll get back to you in a PM.

Velo Mule

The EA3 / 650A / ISO 590 / 26" x 1-3/8" wheel size was popular the the time of this bikes sale. This is because most Raleigh and similar 3 speed bikes were this tire size. I don't consider it juvenile. It sounds like you are preferring buying wheels over building wheels. I didn't look but the popularity of this size is way down nowadays. It should be possible to find them because three speed bikes are still popular as vintage bikes. Just look at our three speed thread.

I build a bike for my wife a while back. It originally had 27" x 1-1/4 tires. I purchased Sun CR-18 rims in the 590 ERTO size and laced them to the original hubs. Then purchased Schwalbe Delta Cruiser tires in White (or did they call it Creme?). So, it is possible to put this combination together.

Schwalbe Delta Cruiser

I like this tire size and hope it continues to get support. It is not too fat, not too skinny and has a good overall diameter. This is why it was popular on three speeds and other bikes of the day. This is also why it ended up on my wife's bike. Viva la EA3 / 650A / ISO 590 / 26" x 1-3/8"!

+1 on T-Mar's flipping the seat clamp advice, we used to do that and sometimes we would even turn the stem so that it was closer to the rider for smaller riders in the bike shop that I worked in.

This could be a tricky project because of the availability of parts. I was also able to get my wife a older Raleigh brand hybrid bike with an aluminum step through frame and 26" x 1.95" tires. A bike like this might end up being less expensive for now, only because the wheel sets are hard to get for the bike you have now. My wife's Raleigh lacks fenders, but at least you can get fenders. I wish I had a picture of it. It looks similar to this bike below. The seat can be adjusted from way down to also accommodate a tall rider and the stem is adjustable. This particular bike looks like it has 700C tires, but the one that I got for my wife has 26" x 1.95" tires.

Velo Mule

Here is a picture of the Raleigh Venture that I mentioned in post #8 above.



Keep the Road King and keep an eye out for the right parts. It is in good condition. It has nice chrome fenders and it is has the full vintage look because it is original.

While many others like the vintage racing bikes that are on BikeForums. Your Road King is an everyday vintage bike and it is good to see that this can be back riding again. Just to make sure that you have something that can be ridden, incase the project is stuck waiting for parts, I am also offering that something like the Raleigh Venture can be a good choice for a petite rider.

Keep us updated on the progress.

gthomson

Thanks Velo Mule, good options for sure on the modern bike front. My wife is also petite and we found her a nice Liv hybrid bike which she loves and is a good fit for a small lady. The Road King is a classic everyday bike and the reason I picked it up was that it was in really good shape for the age. Well taken care of and stored indoors so it requires little work to still be used as a functional every day bike that I hope my daughter enjoys for many years.

I need to fix the rear brake and shorten up that cable and mount it better along the frame as well as get that front fender bent back to shape. Further options would be to replace the grips, wheels and tires but will do that in due time.