Brand/Age of a bike ?
01-03-08, 07:16 AM
#1
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Brand/Age of a bike ?
Hi,
Can anyone help me try identify brand & age of this bike (just found it in a rubbish dump)
Here are the only labels I found:
Can anyone help me try identify brand & age of this bike (just found it in a rubbish dump)
Here are the only labels I found:
01-03-08, 11:55 AM
#2
Lanky Lass
Lucas is a very well known manufacturer of bicycle fittings, but could go as far back as the 1890s! I don't think your bicycle is quite that old. Can you enlighten us as to what the saddle says?
I see 'Rosor 105', but am having a hard time making out the rest of the writing.
Do you have a clear photo of the chainring?
Welcome to Bike Forums and C & V!
East Hill
I see 'Rosor 105', but am having a hard time making out the rest of the writing.
Do you have a clear photo of the chainring?
Welcome to Bike Forums and C & V!
East Hill
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Last edited by East Hill; 01-03-08 at 12:49 PM.
01-03-08, 12:31 PM
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And if the bike Lucas is the same as the Lucas which made the electrical systems for Brit cars for decades, one thing is true: whatever the system, it won't work. The nickname for Lucas Electrical in car restoration circles is "The Prince of Darkness".
01-03-08, 12:34 PM
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My rough guess is 1930's or early 1940's. I'm basing it on the style of seat binder attachment, which is very similar to one on the 1939 Raleigh Gazelle I've been procrastinating doing some work on.
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01-03-08, 12:48 PM
#5
Lanky Lass
.East Hill
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TRY EMPATHY & HAVE LOVE IN YOUR HEART, PERHAPS I'LL SEE YOU ON THE ROAD...
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01-04-08, 02:28 AM
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Here are two other pictures of the chainring and the rear break
01-04-08, 04:33 AM
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To be honest, all my guesses would be only that, and based on my ignorance. I know virtually nothing of bikes of this age. I would suggest you try to preserve any identifying stampings beneath the rust on any components. That might best help ID or date the bike. I would think it could date from the 1930s well into the 1950s.
It looks to have been re-painted - probably many times over. So I would be very tempted to chemically strip the frame since the paint appears to be far from original, and lacks any identifying decals, anyway. _ And, strip the rust off of any components with an oxalic acid solution bath - as others have recently suggested in this forum. This should retain any lettering on components better than steel wool which could rub them away. Perhaps here are even stampings on the brake caliper or Brake levers which could give useful clues.
Interesting puzzle!
It looks to have been re-painted - probably many times over. So I would be very tempted to chemically strip the frame since the paint appears to be far from original, and lacks any identifying decals, anyway. _ And, strip the rust off of any components with an oxalic acid solution bath - as others have recently suggested in this forum. This should retain any lettering on components better than steel wool which could rub them away. Perhaps here are even stampings on the brake caliper or Brake levers which could give useful clues.
Interesting puzzle!
01-04-08, 08:16 AM
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A: Because their refrigerators are made by Lucas.
We call Lucas the Prince of Darkness in old motorcycle circles too. Brit bikes were some of the most beautiful motorcycles ever made, but those electrical systems. . .
01-04-08, 08:51 AM
#9
Lanky Lass
Well, if nothing else I learned that 'croupon' is untanned cattlehide from which belly and shoulder areas have been trimmed.
Not much help, though, is it?
That chainring is brilliant, although I can't help with identifying it
.
East Hill
Not much help, though, is it?
That chainring is brilliant, although I can't help with identifying it
.East Hill
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TRY EMPATHY & HAVE LOVE IN YOUR HEART, PERHAPS I'LL SEE YOU ON THE ROAD...
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TRY EMPATHY & HAVE LOVE IN YOUR HEART, PERHAPS I'LL SEE YOU ON THE ROAD...
01-04-08, 09:23 PM
#10
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Why do Brits drink warm beer? Lucas Refridgerators!
01-05-08, 10:09 AM
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Am I the only person who's never had problems with Lucas electrics? This after ownership of three Meriden Bonnevilles, one Tiger and one Trident. I'll admit, I fudge - all the bikes except for the '79 had Boyer Bransden ignitions, but everything else was stock (or eventually replacement) Lucas.
Interesting story, and I got I got it from someone who worked at the Triumph Hinckley plant: Back in '89 when the designs for the resurrected Triumphs were finalized, outside suppliers were invited in to bid on the contracts for the stuff that they weren't going to make at the Hinckley plant. Of course, the representative for Lucas showed up to make a presentation - and was promptly shown the door, no presentation being done, and was told, "We can't afford to have your components on our bikes anymore, no matter how good your quality has become."
Interesting story, and I got I got it from someone who worked at the Triumph Hinckley plant: Back in '89 when the designs for the resurrected Triumphs were finalized, outside suppliers were invited in to bid on the contracts for the stuff that they weren't going to make at the Hinckley plant. Of course, the representative for Lucas showed up to make a presentation - and was promptly shown the door, no presentation being done, and was told, "We can't afford to have your components on our bikes anymore, no matter how good your quality has become."
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Syke
“No one in this world, so far as I know — and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents to help me — has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.”
H.L. Mencken, (1926)
01-05-08, 10:10 AM
#14
Lanky Lass
01-06-08, 05:13 AM
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Pictures above is the rear brake. I've found one more interesting label: "J.D.F deposé" on the chain guard which confirm bike is probably french with some english parts. Also the label on the saddle is actually "RUSCH" not ROSOR.
01-06-08, 06:49 AM
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Am I the only person who's never had problems with Lucas electrics? This after ownership of three Meriden Bonnevilles, one Tiger and one Trident. I'll admit, I fudge - all the bikes except for the '79 had Boyer Bransden ignitions, but everything else was stock (or eventually replacement) Lucas.
The Lucas jokes are funny, which I think is one of the reasons they are so enduring.
