Rudge.....

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J

julesjunk

Joined
Apr 3, 2009
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Location
Kansas City, MO.
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Picked this one up at a garage sale last week. Since getting into vintage bikes, I've wanted to own a rod brake bike. Now I do, and have no idea what to do with it.

Can anyone help me date it? The S/A rear hub isn't dated. I'm wondering if that's because of the built in generator? Which actually still works. Amazingly enough, both front and rear light up.

Another question for you all. The rims have basically the same shape as an S-5 schwinn. Do these English bikes take a special size tire??

Love the chainring, as well as the rear hub.
Thanks for lookin.....

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There might be a number on the hub somewhere. My '52 Columbia has a number on the front dyno hub. Also show a better picture of the shifter, that may help. My '53 Rudge has that chain ring but my '58 Rudge (The Grunge Rudge) does not.
Really cool find, I love it.

GL
 
Graylock said:
There might be a number on the hub somewhere. My '52 Columbia has a number on the front dyno hub. Also show a better picture of the shifter, that may help. My '53 Rudge has that chain ring but my '58 Rudge (The Grunge Rudge) does not.
Really cool find, I love it.
Click to expand...

GL,
I looked fairly hard for a number on the hub. I'll look again though.
Here's a shifter pic.....

013-7.jpg
 
Looking through my archives I found my '52 Columbia has the same shifter as your Rudge. I don't have pictures of my two Rudge's shifters so I'll have to go out to the stash and take a look. I think Sheldon (RIP) Brown may have something on shifters or a link to it.

GL
 
Nice Raleigh, I noticed something bad though. The rims are rusted and will eat them pads fast. also if you want i'll post pics of my 1939 Raleigh sports. maybe you can tell the date from what I have on mine. also wheres the serial on frame?

Also I think that rack would look nice on my Sports... lol
 
Crawled around and found that the '53 Rudge had repacement shifter from the late '70s. I set my '58 shifter aside for the '53 Rudge, it's just like yours.
I also took a peek at a '63 Schwinn durring my crawl and it's not like your shifter.
That's all I got friend.

GL
 
Graylock said:
Serial number should be on upper seat post on left hand side. Once you find that number I don't know how to date them :oops:
Numbers on the dyno may be on the side of the hub
Click to expand...

It is a sickness, isn't it? The Rudge is stored in a house next to mine. No power, etc. I'm over there steel wooling the hub, holding a flashlight between my shoulder and my neck, hoping to find the "holy grail" number.......
On the left outside outer edge of the rear hub, there is a "40". I wouldn't think it's that old, but I don't really have a clue.

Serial Number is: 17696 , and just below that is either an "A" or an "R". I'd guess, R. Either for Rudge, or Raleigh.

On the upper face of the seat post, there is some writing, in green(?), four words, one per line. Can't make out any of them.

Thanks GL for the effort!

As far as the brake pads wearing down. I'm more of an optimist. I figure they will clean the rust off!! :)
 
My hub has the date 8 52. My serial number on the seat post ,like yours, has 5 numbers in it starting with 4. Below that it has 2 letters, O and L. I'm pretty sure they blacked out all chrome parts during the war but I'm not sure how much. Looking at your find and seeing I have my '52 Columbia in about the same shape makes me think we both have a bike cleaning project for the winter :D . I've been using Lemon Pledge and fine steel wool on the chrome and other parts and I've heard of using some comercial grade cleaners that mixes with water ( Blue, Green ?) that works well. Leave the inside of the hub alone if you don't have to touch it. 50 tiny loose ball bearings in the headset and 22 bigger loose bearings in the bottom bracket. Keep at it till you have a rider. Glad I was of some help.

GL
 
I noticed your Rudge does not have a white tip rear fender, that could make it pre WWII. The British government mandated that all bikes had to have a white tip rear fender during the blitzkrieg black outs to make them more visible. The law wasn't replealed until about 1974, Raleigh made them without white tips for about 2 years around 74 then went back to white tips.
 
I just looked at my Collegiate w/S-6's & the tires, recent Kenda blackwalls, say that they fit EA-1 English rims or S-6's. The (old) Schwinn tires I have on my S-5's also are labeled as fitting S-6's. Hope that helps a little. I don't know much about the English bikes except they're quirky and very cool. Enjoy yours.
 
The majority of commercially imported English bikes used "standard" 590mm 26"x 1 3/8"("650A"), or S6 597mm(same as Schwinn)which also came in 1 1/4" width. I would scour the tires looking for any of those, or similar #'s.
 
deorman said:
The majority of commercially imported English bikes used "standard" 590mm 26"x 1 3/8"("650A"), or S6 597mm(same as Schwinn)which also came in 1 1/4" width. I would scour the tires looking for any of those, or similar #'s.
Click to expand...

The back tire is trashed, beyond reading.

The front is a:

Dunlop Champion
made in england

26 X 1 3/8

and says, "Fits Rim B.S. E.A.3. & F.4."

Thanks for the input!
Regards,
Jules
 
OH! IT'S BRITTAIN'S BEST BIKE. IT MUST BE WORTH $1000!!!! IT EVEN HAS TIRES!!!! :wink: :LOL:

Sorry, the KC guys will get this. Someone posts this poor decriepit Rudge on the KC Craigslist periodically and does all but say "Hey, I'm a complete nutbag" in his ad, insists his bike is worth $1000 and is not a Raliegh (even though it's a Rudge built after Raliegh bought them, but, whatever)

I'll try to screen capture the ad the next time I see it. It's kind of funny on some sick level.

That is a cool bike though. I love lightweights.
 
skoda said:
OH! IT'S BRITTAIN'S BEST BIKE. IT MUST BE WORTH $1000!!!! IT EVEN HAS TIRES!!!! :wink: :LOL:
Click to expand...


I'm hoping he'll post it again soon, so I can buy it to make a his-and-her pair. No price is toooo much now that I have it's mate! :D

I think you're being too kind with the use of the word nutbag. I prefer redneck moron. Of course, that's an insult to both rednecks and morons everywhere.......
 
Graylock said:
This was in The Grunge Rudge in the RRBO4. You might wan't to peek at it.
Click to expand...

Plaid! Now that's thinking outside the box. And making an older english bike into a fixie :) I love it......

You've got me thinking about what other "foreign" objects could be secured on a bike frame surface :?
 
Your lucky you have that size of tire. mine has a pain of a size thats hart to find it's the 26 1 1/4 tire. luckly after a year I found a random good condition replacement lol

Canadian tire sells the tire you need and so does bike co ops and some bike shops

This is my Holy Grail Raleigh lol
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