noglider 

What are the differences between this bike and the Twenty we got in North America?

Sixty Fiver

Taller and skinnier 451 wheels, better steel Raleigh brakes and levers (that work quite well with Matthauser pads), it has a slightly longer wheelbase, and a cleaner and nicer looking build.

The lower struts wrap under the bottom bracket shell and are actually part of the chain stays.

On the other hand, the 36 spoke 406 wheels are nearly bombproof whereas the 28 spoke 451's are a little lighter and probably could not withstand the abuse of the smaller higher spoked wheel.

Have an AWG hub that needs to get built into a wheel and was thinking a 36 spoke CR18 rear and a 28 spoke CR18 up front would be a nice combination.

jedge76

65'er, is the twenty able to be modified to take the 451 over the 406 mm's?

I love the folder that you found. A beautiful bike.

mkeller234

Wow. I had no idea there were that many differences. It's a nice looking bike, i'd like to try one out someday. I've passed up a lot of the cheaper vintage folders holding out for a Raleigh Twenty.

Sixty Fiver

The original design was for 451 wheels and it seems that the export models got 406 wheels and fatter tyres and also got crappy long reach Weinmann brakes and alloy levers.

This is why export models have so much room between the tyre and fender.

Was hanging out with my friend tonight and he has been riding his 406 bike and it is missing a rear spoke and the wheel is still true... would not expect the stock 451 to be able to do this as it is only a 28 spoke wheel.

Anyways... 451 wheels could be built up and fitted to a 406 equipped bike and this would allow one to run better brakes... the steel Raleigh brakes are forged and are quite stiff and only suffer from being rather heavy.

Sixty Fiver

The cheaper vintage folders are that... cheap.

The Italians cranked out tens of thousands of U framed folders that have poor quality parts and a poor hinge while the twenty is built like a Raleigh... it is a solid and well made bike that can take heaps of abuse but at 36 pounds it is heavy and doesn't fold up like a Brompton.

But it is a better riding bike than almost any other small wheeled bike except a Moulton.

Biggest issue with riding a Twenty is that people will stop you constantly and ask you about your bike...

Sixty Fiver

A Twenty can be turned into a lightweight bike that comes very close to a Bike Friday in the performance department too... this was Sheldon Brown's super modified 20.





I know that some of his bikes were sold but have not seen this one... if it was to ever come up for sale I bet it would sell for a fairly staggering price since it spawned so much interest in these utilitarian bicycles.

Sixty Fiver

My new Twenty... fitted a modern rack so I can carry panniers and re-purposed a laptop bag into a clip-able pannier bag as well.

AL NZ

you guys got me all going about my upcoming next project once container arrives from UK to NZ

I have

- old frame, with minor braze break that needs re-brazing (rear brake mount between seat stays). I'm not sure if it is a 28" or 26" wheeled frame until I get it from my sister this weekend

- matching pair of rebuilt SA brake hubs from UK (in container) with 3 speed rear, with levers and black cables - all perfect
- some NOS 28" Westwood rims - but re-reading older posts in this thread I am wondering about 700c rims. I guess frame size, once known, will help determine this
- a new Brooks Flyer (black) to go on my BSA "pathracer" (sorry Picchio), which will liberate the tan B66 from the pathracer for this project
- an old crankset (Williams) in very good, lightly used condition, 52 tooth, with the 5-bolt detachable chainring which should interchange with the 2-piece 5-bolt ring on my old BSA (I paid too much on UK ebay for this Williams - about 65 pounds)
- some NOS black 26" mudguards (semi-circle section, not Raleigh) which might just stretch over 28" or 70c rims, but I wont risk wrecking them if they don't fit (they were bought in NZ for about 60 USD)
- some spare cream 28" Delta cruisers in NZ storage ( I needed 2, so I bought 4 - you never know when things you want will be out of stock)
- a set of NOS lights (British) - can't remember the brand, but the headlight is the larger size. In UK container
- a Major Taylor stem that came on the frame (the only reason I bought the frame).

I have just bid on a set of rusty Lauterwassers. the guy doesn't know what he's got, so I may finally get a bargain after assembling all these expensive bits.

I am thinking a deep green or British Racing Green frame spray job, chrome rims (my BSA has black rims, so time for a change), and I may go silly if I get the Lauterwassers and have them and the Major Taylor nickel-plated instead of chromed. Not 'period', but I love nickel silver - it is on my dad's 1928 Alvis radiator, and at 82 years of age it polishes up like new.

I also have an old brass-bodied SA 3/4 speed trigger.

Any suggestions to improve my concept?

When it all finally happens (months) I will post photos

advice from the experts is, in the meantime, thoroughly appreciated!

Fir

Hey Tom!

I foound a 3 spd for a great price with your system :-)

A little out of my area, but cute. I will try to figure out how to narrow the search down to my citty. Thanks again for the tip!

Vintage British 3 Speed Bicycle, Very Nice! - $30 (Dover)
https://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/abou...997600199.html

noglider 

Haha! That's so cute!

Mike from Iowa

I joined last month and have greatly enjoyed seeing everyone's bikes. Here is my 72 Humber Sports that is my daily commuter:

David Newton

Mike, that is a great looking bike! Could you post bigger pictures? I know we would all love to see the details.

flammenwurfer

Well, I can tell you have to set it up to search a specific CL city. In your search terms field put... "3 speed site:yourcity.craigslist.org" instead of "3 speed site:craigslist.org"

In my case it would be "3 speed site:topeka.craigslist.org". I haven't figured out how to do more than one specific city in on alert, but you can always create a few separate alerts for each of your local area CL cities.

Mike from Iowa

I'll see if this works:

And for good measure I'll show my banjo brothers bag with one of my banjos in it...

gna

Beautiful Humber. Is that an Elite lamp? I got one with my Raleigh Twenty.

Sixty Fiver

Am just having a coffee here at The Cup with my Twenty parked outside... half a dozen people have stopped to ogle it, one guy tried to pick it up and two different people came in to ask me if this was my bike and ask some questions about it.

It is something every 20 owner needs to get used to methinks...

Fir

Thanks, Flammenwurfer, I couldnt fetch any results with "bike site:saskatoon.craigslist.org." Then I peeked at the URL and I suspect "bike site:saskatoon.en.craigslist.ca" might answer. I will try it and await.

jedge76

I wish I lived in this area...I'd have been at the fellow's door by now:

https://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/bik/1925821441.html

banjo_mole 

Gorgeous bike. I play banjo, too. Lucky. You're a future me.

noglider 

Fir, just type your search terms into google. If they work there, they will work as an alert.

mkeller234

Nice bike! I haven't seen many Humbers before yours. I like the color and the head badge a lot.

Fir

Argh, why didnt I think of that? It isn't like they would re-invent a part that already works elsewhere...

flammenwurfer

After some fiddling around I've figured out a better way to setup google alerts. Here is one of my current alerts:

bike|bikes|bicycle|bicycles site:topeka.craigslist.org/gms

The | symbol is interpreted as OR so you can group a large number of search terms in one alert. Also, you can specify a specific category of Craigslist if you like. This alert is searching the garage sales section. I haven't been able to figure out how to use the OR operator in the site part of the terms so I can search multiple specific sites at once without creating a separate alert.

Mike from Iowa

Yes, I bought the Elite lamp recently on Ebay, my very first good bike, new in 1972 when I was 12 had a fork mounted Elite. I wish I still had the bike and the original lamp!