Classic & Vintage - Dunelt Photos

Here are a couple of photos of my 1954 Dunelt 3-speed that I modernized a little bit. Rims are Sun CR18 700c (32h ft, 40h rr), DT spokes laced to the original S-A AW 3-spd hub and a NOS Suntour Sprint ft hub. ( I had to "cold set" the fork for it to fit!). Conti SS 700x28 tires. Not shown are an old Dura-Ace long reach ft. sidepull caliper and a Wienmann 610 centerpull rear. Some Rivendell stuff - Cork grips on new Wald h/bar, Dia-Compe SS-7 brake levers. Brooks B72 saddle (which will be replaced with a B66 Honey model I'm getting for X-mas!) Paint is PPG Delthane British Racing Green I did myself (I'm a professional painter by trade). Rear fender is original but front fender is from a '62 raleigh-built Huffy!

I'm wondering if it would be worth it to get the cool "Dunelt" cutout crank rechromed?

Good project, I think the crank/chainwheel set would look great chromed , maybe with the chainwheel high polished & the crank arms done in a brushed/satin finnish perhaps ?

Dude I work with has a all-crhome Rudge with silver Velocity Deep-V rims, C-record crank, Campy high-flange front track hub, and a honey B72. You'd think there'd be too much chromey stuff going one, but it looks awesome and is light for a three-speed to boot. Plus, it's drilled for a chain case--can you imagine one of those chromed?

I like that Pletscher rear rack. (I have one on each of my Peugeots.)

Classy looking even with the few "modern" parts. Good job.

Wow. I'm putting together a old Dunelt myself. Not sure of the year, but it's got Raleigh threading. I was wondering if i could get 700C wheels on it since I'm thinking about making it fixie, I'm glad to see they fit on yours. :)

Wow. I love that chainring!! I hope I come across one of those one day. :)

Speaking of things like that, any idea where I can get Dunelt decals? I've been looking around on eBay and such, but no luck so far. I want to paint it since it could use it, but I dont want to mess up the branding. :(

Nolageek,

I just got a digital camera last week so I will be taking some better pictures than the crappy ones you see here that I took with a "one-use" camera! Stay tuned! (A Brooks B66 brown saddle has been fitted since these pics were taken).

Yes, I got 700c wheels on my Dunelt and 28c tires. I'm also building a '73 Raleigh Sports step-thru 3-speed for my wife which will have Mavic MA2 700 wheels (that bike is not yet completed). Unfortunately that bike will not accept tires larger than 23s (or maybe 25s).

As far as decals are concerned, I didn't even try to find any for this bike. I might get brave and paint them on one of these days when I get around to it. Several years ago I painted the frame and fenders PPG Delthane British Racing Green. It does, however, have extremely cool head and rear fender badges that I will take a pics of!

Smurfy,

Hey Smurfy, how does that B66 saddle compare to the B72 you used to have? Quite a bit more 'give' over the bumps?

About replating that chainwheel; I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that bike originally had an enclosed chain. If you could locate another, the plating issue would be moot. But if it's going to be out in the breeze, heck yeah, I'd replate it. Of course you'll always have to park with the chainwheel in the right-reading position... ;)

very nice.

Actually, the B66 is really no better than the B72 over bumps because the springs are so stiff. I was told by the LBS, a Brooks dealer, that these saddles are now very hard to get and that I'm lucky to have one. I think the B72 might be gone altogether, I'm not sure (I know the black one is).

There's a guy from the Netherlands on eBay who's had a couple of them recently, and alludes to having more. Odd about the coil springs being so stiff; sort of defeats the purpose of upgrading from the hairpin springs on the B72.

Smurfy, Got kiced off line when last reply tried to go thru. Bike looks great and even better in person. I must say your projects that I have viewed in the past came out alright.

My everyday bike is a big black 68 Robin Hood with 26" CR 18s and Raleigh calipers. I'd never really thought about using larger rims and tyres, I'd figured I'd have to change the fenders and I'm not going to do that. Did you have any trouble getting those new wheels to work with the fenders smurfy? What new calipers would work on a Raleigh sports with those wheels?
I've seen some modern sidepulls that will apparently fit Raleigh Sports with 26" rims but I'd have to go to Holland for those. The way mine is set up is just fine, but if I were to restore and repaint a Raleigh sports I'd like to try out new calipers and larger wheels.

My next project, after the 48 Rudge and pre-war hercules and the half dozen roadsters I need to overhaul and sell to portland hipsters, is going to be an old Raleigh Roadster 28", restored with a new full chaincover (from denmark where all these raleigh designs are still in production) and rod operated drum brakes.

How are those cork grips holding up? I've still haven't used mine, I did see a photo of a pretty ANT light roadster on the internet somewhere and the cork grips on those hadn't aged so well.

I first heard about using 700 wheels on English 3-spds from the book "Effective Cycling" by John Forester. He says you can do it on, at least Raleighs anyway.

The cork grips are holding up just fine. One of them actually broke but I got lucky and glued it back together again and it worked. I did shellack them, which probably toughened them up a little.

Here are some updated photos of the Dunelt, with pics of the headbadge and rear fender badge. In case you were wondering, I gave away my Dura-Ace ft. caliper to a friend and I'm using these Tourney centerpulls from my wrecked Peugeot!

Is the Dunelt a Raleigh built dunelt or a real Dunelt or a Phillips built dunelt? I ask because it has a proper dunelt chainwheel, most Raleigh built dunelts, except for maybe the earliest had the generic chainwheel used on Robinhood, Triumph, late Rudges, BSA etc and were downmarket bikes. Regardless it is beautiful.

on the sheldonbrown/Harris cyclery webpage two extra long reach BMX calipers, Odessey and tekro are listed as upgrades for 3 speeds, has anyone tried this on a bike with 590s?

Thanks Rudgey,

I believe it is a Phillips built Dunelt because the adjustable cup of the bottom bracket has Phillips stamped on it, along with the original BB axle and it has a Phillips headset (by the way the headset is not a cup and cone type but has a kind of "troft" or depression in the metal where the bearings roll around in - never seen this kind before!

The original brake calipers were Phillips, too, but they were shot.

The nuts and bolts on this bike are neither English or metric but the old English numbering system (starts with a "W" Woodridge, I think!) like an old Triumph motorcycle. I have to use an adjustable wrench on these since my other wrenches will not work!

A while ago a bike collector friend of mine gave me some old Raleigh rubber-block pedals without reflectors that are rebuildable (shown in the picture). The pedals are designed to receive new rubber treads when the original ones wear out without replacing the entire pedal. Back when the Brits relied on three-speeds for transportation!

I have a 1930s Hercules clubbike, also phillips built with an odd headset, there is no top crown race, the top tube opens up in the shape of a crown race and there is a "floating crown race" that sits on that, I've spent the last few days fiddling with that bike, haven't been able to get a good headset adjustment yet, there is no damage at all, I must be doing something wrong. Today I discovered its Bayliss Wiley flip flop hub is bad, the "cup" on the fixed side is not fixed and it won't hold an adjustment, so I guess that's bikes going back into the basement for a while.

sounds like your bike has whitworth nuts/bolts, whitworth was the motorcycle standard I believe, though I think Phillips built bikes don't have whitworth threading, like Raleighs, but their own threading which is close to regular english/BSC threading. What funny is that BSA apparently came up with standard english threading and nut/bolt sizes for bicycles but wound up using the Phillips and then Raleigh system as the ownerships changed and by the 1960s just about every british bicycle was back on whitworth thanks to raleigh. I still get confused about the nut/bolt systems and threading, english, whitworth, Raleigh whitowrth, BSA, BSC etc. all I know is that Chatter Lea is completely different.
I bought a few Rudge motorcycles spanners 1920s? on ebay those sometimes work.

I recently built a modern 3-speed lightweight on an Raleigh International frame, take a gander:

http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/dafydd_williams/my_photos

Sorry about picture quality, I'm a terrible photographer and new to digital cameras to boot.

What a great ride! I originally wanted to keep componentry a little more "period correct" for the frame (all Campagnolo when possible), but impatience, lack of funds, and desire to keep it light led to more of a hodgepodge. But can I say how great the combination of centerpulls, Matthauser pads, and V-brake levers is?

Current weight is around 21-22 lbs. With the additional of alloy Bluemels Tour de France fenders and a small dynamo I hope to keep it under 25 lbs. Funny how the only bike I've ever worried about weight on is a three speed!

Dafydd,

Wow, beautiful bike! Is that an S-A 3spd? That will look great with those Bluemels. Is that a new B72 saddle? I heard that Brooks is not making the black/chrome rail B72 anymore but just the kind you have.

You'll have to show up a photo with the fenders and dynamo on.

Yup, it's Sturmey, 36-hole steel shell. The frame shows its age (73 or 74, I forget) but it adds to the charm and makes it not quite as conspicuous for a rider.

I also have a Raleigh sports built similar to your Dunelt (which I think is most tastefully done), albeit on 26 1 3/8 Sun AT18 rims and a dynohub in front that I never hooked up.

Thanks for the photos. Nice looking bike! I'm new to this site and new to this internet stuff too. I found a Dunelt in a garage that I was working on in Birmingham MI. When I saw the Dunelt gear I flipped out! I have never seen one before. I thought the gear was a casting not a cut-out. This bike is a 3-speed with old style drop handle bars, dark green with pinstripes (looks original factory paint). It also has tags from MSU 1967. It also has what looks like a Raleigh crest with the number 49 under it.

I plan on putting new rims and spokes but other wise preserving it the way it is.

Hey Smurfy - I realize this is a really old thread, and the pics have dropped off, but I am really interested in how your project bike turned out. A neighbor of mine just gave me a Dunelt and a Phillips (both 3 speed). They are very rusty and dried out, but beautiful bikes underneath all of that! I'm trying to figure out how best to clean and restore them without messing up the awesome original decals, etc. Thanks!