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Today the door bell rang and a man I've never seen before asks: Are you that nutcase with the bicycles? After I affirmed his question, he asked me whether I wanted another bike, or whether he should proceed to the tip with it. And so below Hercules Balmoral found its way into my dungeon:

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It has a lugged frame and 26 x 1 3/8 wheels, but both rims are severely kinked. It has a 3-Speed SA AW rear hub which is dated 1975.
Thanks god I have a NOS set of chromed steel wheels with a 3-speed Torpedo with coaster brake. So this is going to be a path racer.
 
Very nice, looks great with the chrome and white tires, I personally like the Stumey Archer hubs better but that's just me.
 
outskirtscustoms said:
Very nice, looks great with the chrome and white tires, I personally like the Stumey Archer hubs better but that's just me.

Thanks all for the kind words.

It is almost impossible to get a Sturmey Archer with coaster brake over here, that's why I went with the F&S Torpedo.
An SA would have necessitated brakes and I didn't want any levers or cables spoil the path racer look.
 
Very nice, and the Green original paint? looks great.

Do you want to sell me the original handlebars?
 
Wildcat said:
Very nice, and the Green original paint? looks great.

Do you want to sell me the original handlebars?

Thanks!

Yes, the green is all original.
I already tossed out the handlebars, sorry. But they were rubbish, honestly.
 
No problem, I just noticed you are over the pond, too much shipping cost. I'm looking for the straight bars like I had on my Hercules back in the 80's.

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Killer Herc Baron,looking very nice! I had a fully kitted out Hercules (fenders, chaincase, etc) as a kid, and it had an amazing repertoire of rattles and odd noises. I wonder how much more I would have liked it if I stripped it down like this...
 
The bike had its fire christening today. It was shown at a local bike jumble, where it attracted quite some interest. Alas, no buyer.

Anyway, this is what it looks like now:

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Short recap of the build:

- Started as a local rubbish tip find in atrocious condition
- Frame deliberately not restored but fork straightened
- 26 x 1 3/8 NOS Italian Beretta (yes, THAT Beretta) chrome steel rims with vintage Schwalbe tyres
- Fichtel & Sachs Torpedo three speed hub with coaster brake
- Vintage BSA shifter, which also was deliberately left distressed
- NOS saddle, stems and handlebar
- Champagne cork handlebar ends
 

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