Originally Posted by cabaray
Man where do you find all of your 3 speeds? I think your maroon Rudge is a real classic beauty. No comparison between the two bikes but I think the the rusty one has a nice appeal all of its own.The uniformity of the rust is just too cool looking. I wonder if there is a way to preserve the bike from further oxidation while preserving the existing rust.
Where do I find them? Locally. I have the advantage of being the only Raleigh collector in Miami, which helps. Unfortunately, since our first Raleigh dealer opened in '64, right after the big TI push for dealers, there's nothing from the golden era here in town...save for my '51 Sports "C" Tourist, which hails from N.Y. originally.
Thanks for the early morning laugh. No, there's no way to preserve it from further rusting while keeping the uniformity. It's too late anyway - I've already started polishing. Not much success, but I surprised myself at how much paint is still reasonably intact under all of that rust. Rims are shot though.
Take care,
-Kurt