Anyone know the serial number location? I just haven't had time to look. Its a Hercules made by The James Cycle Co. Its got gold paint, chrome Raligh like fenders caliper hand brakes chrome chain gaurd, and Twinshift top tube shifters. These pics are from the c-list posting, I'll try to post better pics tomorrow.

I got a PM from one of the members here a while back about the same, or similar, bike that was on the Philly CL. I'm not familiar with that specific brand, but it looks like a Raleigh to me. Get the date code from the hub as a start. Out of curiosity, where does the bike say Hercules? Hercules bikes, especially Pre-Raleigh, are my primary interest as far as bike brands are concerned.

Did you buy the bike?

Yup, it has Raleigh lugs. I am pretty sure it's made in the Raleigh plant. Something like a Sprite 5-speed.

Yeah, I noticed that it does NOT say "Hercules" anywhere on the bikeycle Co. I guess I'll have a good look at it and see if I can find a serial number, I'll post it here if I find it and maybe together we can find a little more info on her.

rhm, I found this: https://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~pa...cc/arc0438.htm

Interesting! I didn't read the whole thing, though.

The general history of the English bicycle industry is that Raleigh bought up some small companies while the smaller big companies including Hercules, Phillips, Norman, and others, were bought up by TI forming a conglomerate --BCC I think. And eventually TI bought Raleigh as well, and then closed all the other plants and had Raleigh produce the bicycles. So after 1961 Raleigh made bikes with all those names. Whatever the association between James and Hercules, Raleigh made the bicycle in question.

Thanks for the info! I found a number on the top of the top tube were it attaches to the seat tube, o28046, I'll see if I can find a Raliegh serial number chart and look it up there. If any of you find it first feel free to post the info.

Were you able to get the date code off the hub? That'll be one of the quickest ways to come up with a near-date of the bike atmo. I'd love to see some better pictures too.

Was this bought in the Philly area by any chance?

Ill look now, and yes it was in Philly.

OK, 69 is the only number I can find anywhere on the SA 5 speed hub that looks even remotely like a date.

So it's a 1969/70 model I'd guess. The month will become apparent when you clean the hub more thoroughly, I'd guess.

I was considering a ride up there to snag that bike a few weeks ago when I was PM'ed about it, but I've already got 25+ and didn't need another one. I would love to get a bike with one of the with original SA 5 speed hubs, though.

Cool! I want to post pics but my camara will not connect with my comp and I don't know why. I'm picking up another camara tomorrow so lets see.

Ha ha, oh, sure!

I looked here: https://www.kurtkaminer.com/TH_raleigh_serials.html

and didn't find a good match. Location is consistent with a 1970 frame, but the number itself is not convincing. See for yourself, and read the fine print (I didn't).

It won't help with the date, but if you'd like to convince yourself that the bike was made by Raleigh you might look for the little Sir Walter Raleigh stamp on some of the chrome parts. If I recall correctly you'll find it on each crank arm, near the spindle; and on the brake calipers, and perhaps elsewhere.

Yup, they're there, one on each crank arm, one on the stem. Havn't checked the calipers. So being made by Ralieigh is a good thing right? ;0)

Being made by Raleigh has it's own issues because they liked to use their own threading (26 TPI instead of 24 TPI) and some other quirks, but parts are usually easy to come by and the bikes are well made atmo. I have a preference for Hercules, but that is because I like anything that is a little out of the norm.

I stated early on in that it's not a hercules, but "James" labled Raliegh, for some reason (that I can't remember) I thought it was a Hercules? Mods please feel free to fix the title. Here are those pics (finally!) that I promised to post.

Wow! Now I'm kicking myself that I didn't snag this bike. It looks very clean.

It does look as if there was a headlight on the bike at one time.Also, I think the brake levers may have have been replaced. They seem different than what I remember of Raleigh's from that era.

BTW, two strollers? For some reason I just don't picture the Joker with children.

Well when the chips are down....... ;0)

Our girls are grown up and married, those strollers are actually doll sized and belong to the 2 year old twin girls the wife and I have been taking care of (6 days a week and every other weekend) since the day they were born. =0)

I did wipe the bike down a little, and will be doing a major cleaning come spring. It should turn out nice. Anyone know of a good wax that will not harm the paint and whats left of the decals?

The frame details are very similar to my Eaton's Glider (Canadian department store brand made by Raleigh) of the same era, with one exception: on the glider the fender mount on the front dropout is set back quite far from the axle, while yours is very close (Is your front dropout made by mashing the end of the tube or is it a separate stamped piece welded in place?). Otherwise they could be twins!

I also remember the twinshift on bikes in my youth - I think we couldn't decide if we wanted to be riding motorcycles or driving cars in that era, so we did both (and still do to this day).

Mark

It appears there is no fender stay mount on the fork of this bike but that it is looped around the axle instead. Also it looks like the fork ends are "mashed".

"Mashed" tube end. No fender mounts, its looped. Yeah, back then I couldn't decide if I wanted a vintage motorcycle or a classic car, so I had both! =0) I was around 19 and had a 1966 Chevy Malibu and a (year unkown) Harley Davidson classic. ;0) Today I hate driving cars and motorcycles so I don't do either! LOL! Funny how life turns out! ;0)

Updated pics of The James Cycle.

or as it was also known: " The Nut Buster". Looks good.

Yeah, this and the orig Schwinn Krates!