Hello All.

I have posted about this bike before but can't find the original thread so, a new one.

I now have some photos to post of the poor old thing and can start to think about where I should start.
A local guessed that it is pre 1960's and I hope the photos show that the forks have never been drilled for brake calipers and likewise the rear brace is too light a construct for them. I believe that the Americans call it a path racer. My lbs owner says track racer.

The bike is complete and straight. The paintwork chipped and faded from the desert sun. Some very superficial rust and although I haven't pulled it apart yet I doubt that there will be any rust problems in the frame as it has spent its life in the Australian inland. Very dry atmosphere. What water may have gotten inside will have quickly boiled away.

The first problem I see as a noob is that the front wheel is an original with the old Dunlop valve stem. I'd like to keep it but have no idea if those tubes are available. Is there an alternative or a stock of the Dunlop tubes available anywhere? The rear rim is Schraeder hole size so it's a mix up already.

To my eye it screams to be painted, however it is definitely very rare, even most Aussies haven't heard of Bentleigh bicycles, so I'm thinking that a cleanup might have to be enough. Any ideas?

Any advise would be helpful as I am new to bikes in general and restoration in particular.

Hope the pics work.
https://server5.pictiger.com/img/8368...-before-01.php
https://server5.pictiger.com/img/8368...-before-02.php
https://server5.pictiger.com/img/8368...-before-03.php
https://server5.pictiger.com/img/8368...-before-04.php
https://server5.pictiger.com/img/8368...-before-05.php
https://server5.pictiger.com/img/8368...-before-06.php

Cheers.

Dunlop (also called Woods) valve stemmed tubes are still available. It looks like the bike is a single speed? Is it fixed or freewheel? The bars definitely need to be turned back down from their wino rider location I would take a shot at cleaning every thing up, see how the bearings and stuff are before painting it. However a proper respray and new decals would look awesome. What sized tires is it running?

Aaron

Looks like a grass track racer. I'd keep the stock paint, just clean it and wax it nicely. It is a fixed gear.

It is a fixed gear single speed 48/16. LOL if it were a freewheel hub it would only stop if you hit something. Maybe a sand dune if there's one handy. The chain is soaking for the moment. No sign of bearing problems, I actually put a different front wheel on it and rode it!! Looks way worse than it is. Having said that there are areas where the paint has disappeared through sun baking....New decals aren't an option either, the paintwork is all hand drawn including the logos and pin striping. I would need to take careful photos and have a professional redo everything by hand. The stripes alone are incredibly detailed and the thinnest pin stripes I've ever seen! The bars will be turned down. I tried to keep the bike as close to the way I found it as possible for the photos. The "dog chew" saddle couldn't be resisted, so I conditioned it. I also disassembled the back wheel and cleaned the bearings etc., It is just thrown back together for the photos. The bike hasn't even been washed or dusted yet...

It's on 27" X 1 1/4" Tyres and I think the front is probably the original rim. So if I can get the tubes I would look at replacing the rear with an original type rim as well. I just don't know. That's the type of thing I could use the advice on.
Where are the Woods/Dunlop tubes sold? I have been looking on the net but not seen any.

btw. I haven't measured it but it's a large frame. I'm 5'9"+ a bit and can only just stand across the bike if the tyres are flat. Need to be real careful how I stop if riding it

Thanks for the input so far.
Cheers

Neat, and strange it has fenders!

Oh, before you ride it too much, make sure the lockring on the hub is tight. Dont want to strip the hub!

I don't think it's a proper path racer, though many did have mounts for fenders. could it just be a fixed tooling around bike?

This bike is really beautiful! I think you should just clean it up, not repaint it. Especially since it's hand painted! Maybe you can touch up the paint somehow rather than redoing it all?

ozylynx,
Dunlop tubes are still available thru India, they use them on the rod brake bikes. In the US I can get them from Yellow Jersey in Madison, WI. His website is a bit strange but the search feature works and they do respond to emails.

Aaron

Cool bike, wish it was mine!

Thanks Wahoonc.

Seems the tubes are 28". I'll email them in due course about 27s. Perhaps the originals were 28s? I'll need to do more research. Still no leads on who made it or when, at this stage. There is a Bentleigh Cycle Shop here in Victoria Aus. I've emailed them but no reply.

28c: I remember one of my school mates, who was from a bike racing family in the '60s used something similar to this for 'tooling around'. It had alloy rims by then, and no mudguards (fenders) as I recall, the other kids used to laugh 'cause he couldn't ride on gravel roads. It was essentially a training bike, he and his 2 brothers and father rode the 100 mile round trip to Gosford almost daily on them. The whole family raced Velodrome and Road. Unfortunately I wasn't interested enough at the time to pay attention to the bikes.

Couple of other 'strange' things: Very long pedals and no toe clips on a fixed wheel racer with no brakes? Death defying!! Oh, and I've been told that it's what was referred to as an 18 pounder. Very lightweight for the era apparently.

Cheers.

How important to a collector are the authentic wheels? The deeper i look into this bike the more likely it seems that it probably had 28" wheels when first built.

Wheels and tires are obviously upgraded and changed as time goes by and better materials become available. Racing bikes in particular. Is this an area that a collector would be looking for original authentic equipment? Any collectors with suggestions?

p.s. have decided to clean and wax without repaint.

Cheers. ozylynx

ozylynx,
I think Bentleigh bike shop is just a bike shop with the Bentleigh name, they may or may not have anything to do with the Bentleigh Cycle Manufacturer.

As far as the tubes go try The Old Bicycle Showroom they are out of Great Britain but list tubes in varying sizes.

Aaron

Looks like my LBS can supply tubes and tyres. I showed him the bike last year, not his thing, and he didn't volunteer that info even though he knew I was looking for them. Apparently he can even source NOS rims. It has different rim types on the bike atm and both of them have badly flaking chrome. Again the originals were likely to have been painted. That's why it's so important that I know exactly what I'm looking for size wise and spoke wise too. Or is it? May be looking for 28" 32/40 (4 cross) complete wheels.

I wont be keeping the bike when it's finished. I rent and move around too much for that unfortunately. I only got interested in bikes 'cause I want to finish touring Australia that way and this bike wont do that job.... .

Cheers.

Actually MANY Aussie bikes seem to have come stock with the "bum bike" bar set-up. For proof just do a google image search for Malvern Star for example.

That's where the GF sits on Saterdy Night when Ya goin' ta da flicks.