Rudge Balloon info
 

Hi, first post, concerning my second Rudge. Picked this up last week, and can't locate a pic of an original anywhere on the web..

Rear SA hub says 58. Wheels are 26 X 1 3/4.

This bike came to me a bit crusty, with kinda cheap seeming chrome fenders and chain guard..They don't seem right to me for some reason, maybe they're aftermarket, but I'm really just novice at this vintage thing..I've left them off until I figure this out..
For some reason I've been under the impression that Rudge fenders and stays are considered some of the better ones Raleigh put out..Am I fantasizing this?

I got it up and running and love it, and I still need to rebuild the rear hub, but I'm just looking for an original pic, and comments..
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f7...1265679164.jpg

Thanks,
~Curtis

Is that a lugged cantiever frame? That's kinda cool.

all the lugged canti frames I've ever run into were cheap crap, but this is a Rudge so I doubt its cheap crap, unless Rudge did indeed make cheap crap? anyways I give you credit for seeing luggs with that tiny pic sir! :thumb: ('cause I sure can't see 'em! :lol: ;))

Yeah, looks like English sized cotters, too.

Actually it's that white paint on the headtube. Looks just like the white paint on my Phillips (which isn't a canti frame but is lugged). That and I've seen pictures of english canti frames. I'm under the impression that they were better than the Austrian ones but I don't know why.
That gives me an idea. Try looking for images of Herculese or Triumph (or any other Raleigh owned brand name) canti frames. I bet they're pretty much the same, thought Rudge tended to be better finished and outfitted.

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f7...g?t=1265692290
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f7...g?t=1265692440
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f7...g?t=1265692527
I'm loving this bike, it feels light and nimble..

Raleigh had an equivalent cantilever model in the mid '60s, I believe it was dropped in '69 (and unfortunately, the internet isn't blessed with complete scans of the '66, '67, or '68 catalogs). This is pretty much a Rudge variant of the same.

-Kurt

That's cool. Classic lines like an American bike but nicely detailed, like a british bike. How long is the seatpost? Interesting brakes. Maybe they'd reach a 559 rim?

I like the look too. If I get time today I'm gonna try it with the fenders on.

Seat post is 18" from center of bottom bracket to top of tube.

I don't understand what's interesting about the brakes? But IDK much about the vintage world. They are GB GRAND TOUR British Made.

What's a 559 rim?
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f7...g?t=1265816376

I think Doohickie has a Hercules that looks something like this, but I'm not sure of the year.

Most 26" bikes use a 559mm rim with 1.75" tires. A 1 3/4" tire (the fractional notation signifies a different type of tire) has the same outer diameter but fits a 571mm rim, they're not as common so some folk switch to 559s so they can take advantage of the big variety of mountain bike tires available.
When I saw that front brake, I thought it looked like it had enough adjustment to use either size rim but now that I see the back one, I see it wouldn't work. Plus it's interesting to see English made balooner hardware. usually it's american made stuff and they mostly didn't even use calipers, usually, just a coaster brake.

It's got a 1960 hub. It is a Hawthorne made by Hercules. It's a resto project that hasn't happened yet. Note that it doesn't have a traditional top tube, the seat stays just swoop up to the head tube. It's a unique frame.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...e/HPIM0503.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...e/HPIM0504.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...h_HPIM0507.jpg

Cool rear hub rar hub for a department store bike. It doesn't flip flop, does it?

Thanks for posting that Doohickie.

Here the rudge with fenders..
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f7...g?t=1265977063
I'm still thinking the fenders aren't OEM.