3 British Finds - age estimate of Raleighs appreciated!

[slacker]

I just picked up a triumvirate of old Brit bikes. I responded to an ad on craigslist offering several bikes for $10 each. No pictures, but what did I have to lose? A few days later, the owner returned my email with a handful of pictures. The woman selling the bikes said I was the only person to respond, and she wanted them gone NOW!

Not exactly sure of the age, but for the price, I had to pick 'em up. If only for the Sturmey-Archer quadrant shifter and Brooks saddle.

Ladies AMF Hurcules - This bike is pretty clean. The seat is like new, oddly.

Raleigh Sports - Pretty trashed, but the saddle seems like a winner. Not sure of the vintage, help appreciated.

Ladies Raleigh Sports - Fairly nice shape. Really stumped on age of this bike. It has a "K" series hub, front wing nuts and quadrant shifter. May be a mix of pre-war and post-war parts?

 

[Markm]

Sweet!!
No dates on the hubs?

 

[Hsean]

I see something, The men's bike's frame should clean up good, gut the ladys bike or bikes for parts to make the men's bike nice. as for ages, the first bike pictures is proberly 70's last bike proberly 30's-40's mens might be 50's-60's

 

[katezila]

The ladies AMF Hercules and the Rahleigh Sports should have a two digit number on the rear hub on the lower right side of where it says Sturmey Archer. That's the year the hub was built and unless the original hub was replaced (unlikely) the year the bike was build as well. I love Herculese Bicycles, it was my dad's beat up red one he got from a garage sale that started my vintage bicycle lust.
As for the others
As for the one with the quadrant shifter, the hub is my old standby but I've never seen that shifter before, I'm not sure finding the date on the hub would work. That is one cool shifter though! Count me jealous.
I agree with Hsean's guesses. The Hercules is definitely 70's.

 

[Wildcat]

Maybe this web page might help with dating.

http://threespeedgallery.blogspot.com/

 

[slacker]

Thanks, Hsean. Pretty much backs up what I had found. Raleigh bikes are a bit hard to ID. For me at least.

The Hercules is a '70. I already had figured that out by the date code on the hub. Rides lake a champ! This bike will be a quick flipper in our market.

The mens Sports has a '52 date stamp. I thought the rear wheel may have been changed, and the bike was a few years older. After a bit more research, '50's is looking pretty likely.

The Sturmey/Archer quadrant shifter on the ladies Raleigh is a pre-war feature. As is the odd joint at the seat post and seat stays. I will rob a few parts off, and sell the rest. I'm probably keeping the front wheel (just for the wing nut hub) and shifter.

 

[marcusthemoose]

glad you got these english bikes, and managed to date them. i would say they are all about right, but that perhaps the quadrant equipped bike could be immeadiately post war, when we had the export drive on. anyway sweet finds

 

[chopperwazza]

this is a good site for dating raleighs
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/retroraleighs/dating.html