dweenk 

Raleigh Head badges:

Among my bikes I have the British Raleighs that have "Nottingham England" at the bottom of the badge; I have one that has "Cycle Company of America"; and I have one that has "/////////////".

My assumption is that the "Cycle Company of America" was the Huffy built era, and that "//////////////" indicates Asian built era.

Is that accurate?

3speedslow

Yes.

3speedslow

Just so you know. Huffy did not build Raleighs, they were contracted from Japan or Taiwan.

dweenk 

Does anyone manufacture sprung vinyl saddles like the old Brooks/Persons/Messinger models?

gster

3speedslow

gster

Thanks for sharing. Are these coming from your personal collection ?

Really like the old ways of advertising bikes. Very visual graphics.

clubman 

IMO, the best side kickstand ever made. Doesn't damage the frame, has perfect balance, strong spring and nice design. All because Raleigh made it for their own models. I've got a 28" one stashed away somewhere.

3speedslow

God I love looking at this bike!

Oh, kickstand. Knowing these are around makes me never want to use anything else on any of my old English bikes. Or any others for that matter.

Did they make different sizes for the 26" and 27" bikes or did they just use the 26 stand?

Something else on my list for the CR weekend event to search for.

clubman 

Pretty sure they're identified as 26" and 28" stands. Sounds right, they're generally limited to Raleigh Sports/Roadsters and not on anything considered a road bike, from Records right up the food chain.

gster

I was trolling the interweb and found them and thought I'd share....

BigChief 

Started work on my Rudge today. This bike was painted over with stick on pin stripping added, so it's going to get new paint. I figured this would be a good time to document an original feature I've not seen before. Not easy to see in the photo are the remnants of 2 small Rudge logo decals on the chainstays near the bottom bracket. The tops of the logos facing the back of the bike. To me,it seems an odd place for decals, but, there they are. One more little detail for us 3 speed lovers.

Velocivixen

That's a good looking bike even in it's current state. What's that round looking thing on the lateral aspect of the right chain stay? Does that have anything to do with a kickstand? Never seen something like that.
Why would there be Rudge logo decals on the chain stays?

Narhay

These tires came off a 1978 Raleigh Superbe. I've found this tread pattern on a number of old 3 speeds and it seems to have disappeared over the years. The tires may be old but they are very plush.

BigChief 

That's a mount for an enclosed chain case. I guess some domestic models used them in the mid 50s and they didn't bother to make special frames for hockey stick chainguards. Raleigh stopped adding them around the same time as they eliminated the BB oil port and brazed on shifter cable pulley. It is an odd place for decals, but I'm sure they're original. I have seen these on the forks before but not the chainstays. Now I have to decide if I want to try to replace them when I do the new finish.

nlerner

I've also never seen the oiler port on the drive side like that. It's usually on the NDS for easier access.

BigChief 

Kenda uses that same tread on it's Schwinn 26" 597 tires
https://www.amazon.com/Kenda-Schwinn-...44H8BATDJKYCAT

BigChief 

It does make more sense to place the oil port on the NDS. I'll guess that the lug was placed in the drill press fixture backwards by a Monday morning worker.

Velocivixen

My 1955 Phillips had its port on the NDS.

3speedslow

Like it when they come with the original tires in at least short time ride-able condition.

+1 they are certainly plush! I have 2 similar tires on my 73 Sport. These have the lines but center tread has solid squares down the middle.

clubman 

I've seen more than a few models with the port on the drive side. Here's a 53 Rudge. edit, I think my 55 Humber is the same.

IronDan

My triumph palm beach tourist and Raleigh Trent tourist both have oiler port on the drive side

BigChief 

Interesting. Positioning of the oil port might be a useful dating feature if we had more data. It is more accessible on the NDS but there is more stress on the drive side bearing, so there is reason for either side. Also interesting to me is the 23-28 tubing sticker on the 1953 Rudge. That narrows the change down another year for me. I once had a 52 hub date Rudge with that sticker. Mine has a '55 hub and the diamond shaped 20-30. Still no idea what the difference in alloy would be since Raleigh, or was it Tube Investments Corp, seemed to use it's own names for steel. The usual names for this kind of mild carbon steel starts with the number 10. 10-18 10-20 and 10-28. Another Raleigh mystery I guess. I can't remember which side of the BB the oiler was on, but it was a button type, not a flip top.

clubman 

@BigChief, I'm interested as to why the drive side bearing would be under more stress? If there was even the slightest play, might the spindle act as a lever and transfer more energy to the NDS races? Left side cottered cranks are always more prone to loosening although for different reasons. Anyone?

noglider 

@Narhay and @BigChief, the longitudinal tread on those tires is awful. Be glad it's almost out of production. Don't buy those Kendas. Riding tires like that was the only time a tread pattern ruined my ride.

noglider 

Yeah, I think left (NDS) cranks get more stress than right cranks, because when you crank on the right, your crank turns the chainring, but when you crank on the left, you send lots of torque through the spindle which then turns the chainring.