optimusprime8

Hello,

I'm new here but hoping someone can give me some advice. My mom gave me this old Rudge bike that she said my dad gave to her in the mid-late 60s. I spoke with my dad about it, he says he got it in an antique shop, tweaked it a bit to get it working, and gave it to her. I don't think she ever rode it much.

I plan to sell it and am trying to get an idea of its value and year of manufacture. I am wondering if it would be worth more if I fixed it up, put new tires on it, and got it running, or is it better to leave it as-is?

I would also consider trading for a mountain bike of comparable dollar value that would fit a 6'2" rider.

Located in Denver, CO.

Thanks!

optimusprime8

I found this article about Billie Fleming who rode a Rudge bike to a long standing world record in 1938.

Billie Fleming was a cyclist who in 1938 pedalled nearly 30,000 miles around the British Isles, setting a women’s world record

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obi...-obituary.html

wrk101

Just check the date code on the rear Sturmey Archer hub, they are all dated.

Denver market is weak. Great for buyers, not too good for sellers. Every time I go to Denver I come home with bikes. I had to donate three that I bought last time as I kept finding better ones and ran out of space! Women's 3 speeds tend to have very low value, buyers want the mens style. Rotten tires, rusty rims, dirty.

3 speeds are an urban market bike. Maybe Denver has a bit of a following.

The problem with fixing it up, the cost of the fixing up in parts will exceed the price you get for it. This assumes you do all the work. You should certainly wash it.

In my market, the time and effort to sell would exceed the money received. So I donate bikes like this. Hopefully Denver is better.

Chevrolet won the Indy 500 this year, does not make my Chevy more valuable.

Early Rudge had a cool crank, this one doesn't and looks like a Raleigh Sport. Trade for a MTB or road bike? Would not happen here.

littlevikingca

This appears to be the woman's version of the Rudge Pathfinder model 128, part of the Raleigh Lenton family. I acquired a 1953 Rudge Pathfinder here in Canada, complete (fenders, Dynohub) in fairly good condition for $300. It will never be a high value bike, so I assessed the mechanical condition pretty closely -it required a new LH crank arm, bottom bracket axle, new crank cotter pins, planet pins, clutch and bearings c/w dust caps(in the hub), cables and hard to find 26X1-1/4 tires. Many of these parts I had "on hand". It is cleaned, greased, fenders stripped (removing years of brushed on paint). I already probably have too much time and effort into this to ever recover the cost.

Centre stand damage to the chainstays was "rolled out" as much as possible but replacement by a specialist would add another $400 - rationally this makes no sense.

So, it is already a "labour of love" conserving a 34 lb bike that, at the time (1953) reflected 1930's technology and "good value". I'll get it to a rideable state, assess whether the enjoyment of riding the conserved bike justifies going any further. If the chainstays were replaced, I would have maybe $850 into a bike that would be hard/impossible to sell for that kind of money (with no value assigned to the time spent overhauling/cleaning, etc.)

Although I hate to say this, sometimes the greater monetary value is parting it out on the popular auction site -somewhere there may be someone looking for a frame to dress with the parts from their damaged frame, or a crankset with straight crank-arms, etc. I suggest this most reluctantly because, unless there is significant damage or deterioration of a critical component of the bike, the intrinsic value of the "complete" bicycle is lost in a historical context (an example of 1950's affordable technology, the bike your dad bought for your mom, the type of bike "sports minded" woman would ride in the early '50s, the end of the hub gear in sporting cycling, etc, etc. )