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Renovating my old push bike


Hemsley

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My old push bike was in fact my Grandfathers push bike. He was a very enthusiastic cyclist and member of the Cyclist Touring Club all through his youth, and he would happily recount tales of cycling the the length and breadth of England, Wales and Scotland.

 

When I was about 14 or 15 I grew out of the raleigh that I'd had from new, and could not afford a new bike. He passed his old bike over to me for renovation, and that's the bike you see in the pictured below. The frame, forks, seat and sprocket are all original, although I believe I had the chrome parts re-plated. The 3-speed rear wheel is new, and the paint work is all new.

 

I don't really want to part with the bike, and I'm thinking it might be interesting to restore it to something approaching it's original condition. The sprocket is BSA, and I believe the entire bike may have been made by them.

 

Does anyone have experience of doing this, and where would I find out move about the origins of the bike.

 

old%20bike_zpshgcfnaaf.jpg

 

seat_zpsakxrhgo7.jpg

 

brakes_zpsn9sxtq2s.jpg
 
sprocket_zps7p7ytrms.jpg
 
Of course I'd have to fit this in around the winter upgrade projects, and renovating the shower room and bathrooms,...
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It's the type of bike I had in the early 60's.  No idea how old your frame and sprocket is, they were before my time, but the dynamo, lighting and centre pull brakes would be circa  early 60's.  

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Centre pull brakes but not the ubiquitous Mafac of the day... BTW, it's chainset rather than sprocket I believe. :o

 

The old Brooks saddle looks beyond refurbishment. I had a Brooks B somethingorother Swallow like this on my Viking

 

SA1242_e029246a-21fc-492b-a84f-c46cca95e

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Some proofide on that Brooks and it will be right. Another 20 years left in that yet!!

Got one on my genesis and had the mickey taken by my mates when we went touring for having an old man's saddle. They weren't laughing at the end of the trip when I was in perfect health and they were all walking like John Wayne. :)

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Think I will try and remove some of the paint to find out what the original colour scheme was. My Grandfather wrote his life story down and I suspect he would have made some notes about a new bike.

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I'll order up some proofide and let you know how I get on.

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Might be worth speaking to Argos Cycles in Bristol. They renovate and paint and can supply replacement decals for the frame , if thats how you want to go with it. 

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Hi Martin,

 

Glen spoke to you at Silverstone about the tandem he is renovating at the moment and he keeps asking me to send you some pictures, so here is 'before' and 'now'.

A bit more to do and then it is paint time.

 

Hope you like it,

Julie

 

 DSC07979_zps39gk9mjl.jpg

 

DSC08705_zpsixs8oreg.jpg

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You only have one if we see a picture of it! hint hint

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You only have one if we see a picture of it! hint hint

 

I will post you one in a couple of weeks as I am now in Hereford and my memory sticks are at home.

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Thanks Julie. I'm looking forward to seeing how the tandem turns out, it looks like it will be a beautiful bike again. I'm still in planning mode, and I think I really will have to do some other projects before I get started on this.

 

I've been doing a little bit of investigation into the history of bikes from the early 1900's, following through on some of the links which have been posted on this thread. Surprising the amount of information which has been published and available on the internet.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Yes, it could keep you busy. How old is it? How long have you owned it?

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