Folding Bikes - 1975 Kingpin

Hi Guys

After 20 years of working in a bike shop i`ve bought a folding bike (after seeing all the modded Twentys on the web):thumb:

It`s a 1975 Dawes Kingpin in a fetching shade of faded gold:rolleyes: which i bought from another local cycle shop for £25 complete with flat tyres and a basket,
However it`s soon to be modified with alloy rims/bars/seat pin and deralliuer gears,

I was really pleased to find a Kingpin as they seem to be a lot rarer than the Twenty,

But have come across a problem,Because of it`s rareness i cant seem to find any insperational photos (except for the "Campy Kingpin)"

Can any of you guys help with photo`s of modded Kingpins??

Many thanks
Adrian

The Kingpin seems to be a nicer bike than the R20... I have seen some photos but where? Google it is my best answer. :)

Someone once told me all Dawes bikes were made of Reynolds tubing. Is that true of the Kingpin? Probably not, but still... a 531 DB folding bike, now that would be cool.

That Campy kingpin is legendary! I've lusted after it many times...

http://www.hpv.on.ca/hpvso/images/mvc-006f.jpg

To be honest - I've not really seen any other modded ones (besides the utility bike with user-added cross bar pictured below) on the web - which means you'll have to go out and be the only other famous one with your own legendary mods.
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/%7Ehadland/kingpin.jpg

They're so similar to Twentys in terms of size and geometry - that pretty much any known Twenty mod is pretty likely to translate to the Dawes platform.

Good on ye for being different with a Kingpin!

Ive had a few Kingpins
think there might still be a frame lying about some where.
Always liked the brace tubes at either end of the crossbar.
And the Stainless steel mudguards they have are nice. I fitted a pair to Lil Blue Bike. They will migrate to my 20s since Lil Blue Bike is no more.
That Campy Kingpin is nice. Would route the cables neater though. Maybe aero levers and a brake noodle on the rear brake.

Hi Guys
Thanks for the replies,
I thought i`d post a couple of before shots to wet your appetite lol

http://i470.photobucket.com/albums/rr61/KernowKrawler/pets003.jpg
http://www.bikeforums.net/%5BIMG%5Dhttp://i470.photobucket.com/albums/rr61/KernowKrawler/pets001.jpg%5B/IMG%5D
http://www.bikeforums.net/%5BIMG%5Dhttp://i470.photobucket.com/albums/rr61/KernowKrawler/pets002.jpg%5B/IMG%5D
http://www.bikeforums.net/%3Ca%20href=%22http://s470.photobucket.com/albums/rr61/KernowKrawler/?action=view&current=pets003.jpg%22%20target=%22_blank%22%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://i470.photobucket.com/albums/rr61/KernowKrawler/pets003.jpg%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22Photobucket%22%3E%3C/a%3E
http://i470.photobucket.com/albums/rr61/KernowKrawler/pets002.jpg
http://www.bikeforums.net/%5BIMG%5Dhttp://i470.photobucket.com/albums/rr61/KernowKrawler/pets001.jpg%5B/IMG%5D
http://www.bikeforums.net/%5BIMG%5Dhttp://i470.photobucket.com/albums/rr61/KernowKrawler/pets002.jpg%5B/IMG%5D
http://www.bikeforums.net/%5BIMG%5Dhttp://i470.photobucket.com/albums/rr61/KernowKrawler/pets003.jpg%5B/IMG%5D

Since these pictures it`s been stripped down,Chainguard and pump mounts have been removed,
Rear end has been cold set and realigned to take a 130mm spacing shimano road cassette hub,
And i found in our old stock a pair of chrome forks almost identical to the original Dawes forks but with proper dropouts rather than the squashed ends that Dawes did,
Cheers
Adrian

Hey thats a nice bike
only see the 1st and 5th pictures.
Thats a sturdy looking basket.

Hi

I`ve only posted two pictures,I think it`s just using there jpg numbers,

Yeah the basket is huuuuuuuuuge!!!!!


Cheers
Adrian

Hi Guys

Just got to weld in a rear brake bridge,(lower down so it`ll fit offcentre pivot road calipers and 406mm rims)
and also remove the horrible pressed steel standard brake/mudguard bridge,

Then it`s off to the powdercoating shop,
Only thing is it has a couple of tiny dings that i`d like to fill with body filler before it gets powdered,
Will that be ok or will it effect the process in anyway??

I`ve never had powdercoating done before so am unsure of the exact process and would hate the filler to drop out or anything,

Cheers
Adrian

the powder is electrostaticaly applied to the bare metal
the frame is hung up and the gun is waved near it.
it cant go on over filler.
think you can get the dents brazed or welded, maybe even lead loaded.

some people like that pletcher carrier rack you have. Ive got a few, some are terribly corroded though. Are you refitting it? As you say youve changed the brake bridge that it fits too.

I was out on my puch Minisprint yesterday. I have changed the wheels from the tall 451s to the fat 406. Its got 28 spoke Shimano 3 speed with a chrome twist grip. I got a other brake bridge welded on instead of the flat metal. I put a long bolt and spacer tube on the chainstay bridge so the lower part of the mudguard would fit. That bike has some problems though. The twist grip wont sit firm on the moped bars it has. The whole twistgrip turns on the bars if I try to change down under power. And it makes a grra grrra noise when in 1st gear. Will change to SA 3 speed alloys 406s, will be able to get a smaller cog on them. As its low geared on 52 to 15 it has now. It did about 18 minutes for my hilly 4 mile cicuit though. I found that the smaller wheels and the longer cranks meant my toes scraped the road a few times when peddling.
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c296/Alecw35/83orangebike.jpg

Hi
Thanks for the reply,
I guess i`ll have to paint it then,i`ve got a little compressor and spray gun,

As for the rack and all the other standard bits i`m not going to use them,
I was thinking of putting the whole lot on ebay just in case someone needs spares for
fixing up there standard kingpin(is there a FORSALE section on this forum??)

Thanks
Adrian

I'm a little surprised why there aren't more conversions for non-Raleigh 20's as standard English parts make them easier to convert. Perhaps they're overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the Raleigh 20. So would that make the non-R20's more valuable?

A pair of Dawes folders but no pictures
http://newhaven.craigslist.org/bik/1970099488.html

Someone once told me all Dawes bikes were made of Reynolds tubing. Is that true of the Kingpin? Probably not, but still... a 531 DB folding bike, now that would be cool.

I realise this statement ws made some time ago, but I just saw it. It's not true full stop; when I was first a bike fan, in the 80's, Dawes, in common with most mass market manufacturers, made I think two 531 road bikes, and 1 tourer, whilst there were lots and lots of chro-mo bikes.

Does this mean the Raleigh Twenty and other similar bikes of the era used chromoly tubing?

dynocoaster, what do you think of the price? I think it's a bit steep as nearly everyone else is fixated on the R20 and have no interest in it's competitors.

They are suppose to be in great condition and made in england and $200 for the pair is not bad.

The Dawes is a very nice bike, and that price doesn't strike me as unreasonable (I paid less for mine, but it was in need of significant work). They use standard threading, so they are easier to upgrade than a Twenty, and the ride is excellent (I just got back from taking mine on it's maiden voyage). The hinge design isn't as bombproof as the Twenty's, but so far I haven't noticed any flex, even during out of the saddle climbing.

The one issue is that they came with 500A wheels (an old French size), which makes finding tires basically impossible. Fortunately, 451 wheels should work as drop-in replacements.

Raleigh's most successful model was the 20 and it's variants that were sold under other names so they are plentiful and they are an absolutely bombproof bicycle.

Have looked over Ian's Dawes as I was there when he bought it and cut him the good deal... seems to be a very well made bicycle and with the thinner tubes would think that it was made with a better grade of steel than the 20's high tensile frame.

The Dawes is still a weighty little bike as it is also all steel.

Thinking that since Ian has his Dawes and I have a few 20's we will be able to make some head to head comparisons of the two bikes.

Sooner or later I'll get round to my Royal Enfiels Revelation, and we'll see what's what with that. My inclination is to period hot-rod it, and I have a Sturmey twin chain 5 speed hub for the purpose. That would more or less limit the other mods to alloy rims (and I'd put modern tyres on) but would preclude alloy cranks. Maybe I should look out for Chater Lea cranks? Or maybe alloy cranks were around by then. Anyway, it's so rare that taking it completely out of period or out of style feels wrong, so no 10 speed derailleur conversions, no TT bars, no disk brakes :)

Anyway, it's behind the R20 and the Mini Moulton in the queue.

There's another thread somewhere about how much more expensive these folders are on this side of the pond. And I'm not enamored with a sub 40 lb bike.

I think it is fun to have something that is a bit rarer. The seller would not ship to the left coast so I was out of luck. The bikes can be made ligthter and that is the first thing I am doing with my new Folder 20.

Even in the UK the Kingpin is rarer. Dawes are/were a small handbuild operation based in the midlands compared to Raleighs factories around the world. The build quality and materials usd by Dawes have an edge over the R20 and surprisingly the Kingpin has been around longer than the R20. Any kingpins in the US would have to have been shipped there at some point, R20's were made over there. Another interesting one of this era of folders is the Vindec (company was called brown brothers), the folder looks like the Kingpin/R20 but the non-folder has a second smaller tube underneath that the bottom bracket actually sits on top of. As these are extremely rare in the UK they might be non-existant in the US.
176035