British steel...

Got home from work early tody as sleet/raining and i did a bit bike prep in the garage...

"a bicycle can do a 1000 miles on a thimble full of oil" i once read (nick crane) and this is such a bike..,
heres one of my classic bikes..a 1954 Raleigh sportster...

probably everyone here in the UK had a Raleigh bike of some description when they were young...
Raleigh built a reputation of building some of the finest bicycles in the world...
"built to last a 100 years" the firm proudly boasted..and many of them have..the bikes were all built in house, frames and lugs and all metal parts of finest british steel while alot of other companys still used alot of cast parts...

every thing on a Raleigh was made in the Nottingham factory except the rims and tyres, the Sturmey Archer hub gear and Brooks saddles were subsidiary companys of Raleigh, the rims and tyres were supplied by Dunlop,
this is a gents sportster 3 speed,1954 model,the hub is stamped 53 but its the 1954 model,53 had full chaingaurd and red pinstripes,heres a sportster advert from 1953 i found on a site...

my bike was bought new by a friends grandad from "Borthwick Cycles" in Cockburn street Edinburgh,the bicycle shop is long closed and now a clothing shop...

it is all original and rides perfect,though the Smiths speedo which is hub geardriven needs a new cable...


this is an aftermarket item, although called a sports bike these bikes were built to be used here in the uk daily by the working man as daily transport as well as leisure,keeping your good clothes clean were full lenght (steel) mudgaurds and chaingaurd,you just wear a cycle clip on your trouser leg!..



low maintenance and strenght was the priority, interesting things i like is the 40 spoke rear wheel laced 4 cross to use the same lenght spokes as the 32 spoke 3 cross front wheels..,brake cables have nipples each end and are changed complete without tools and have hand adjustable knurled cable tension adjusters. the serrated knurled washers and axle nuts on the hub axles for easy accurate wheel alignment, easy maintenance with the flip up metal oil lube hole on the 3 speed hub and oil hole on front hub and bottom bracket,

with the lower spanner in picture and a bone spanner you can dismantle the hole bike..

i love the original Brooks B66 saddle...



i fitted mtb innertubes with scrader (car type) valves with new 26"x 1 3/8 tyres i bought for £12 the pair!-made in India now where alot of British bicycle tooling was shipped too,i need to get a leather toolbag and a pump for it then maybe some old dynamo lights. it is unrestored with 57 years of natural rust kept at bay by being wiped over with an oiled rag..i have no intention of repainting it and in my opinion ruining it, i will one day get an old british motorbike unrestored and likewise it will be run the same way..old and used..looking forward to riding around country roads on summer afternoons and evenings...