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Category: Raleigh

Adventure, Discoveries…..cue RESEARCH!

Adventure, Discoveries…..cue RESEARCH!

Two Sundays ago a few of us (read: myself and Deborah and Audrey) ventured out to Edmonton Bicycle Commuters (EBC) to find some spare parts we were told existed NOT on eBay alone.

Sadly the part(s) we were searching for (namely rear fender reflectors for Nicki’s Winnie) were not in existence. All was not lost though!! There were some WONDERFUL finds in their stock piles outside (in the chilly snowy winter weather). Most of the bikes they have (either for sale or still needing mega work) are men’s styles or newer and sportier, which is fine, really, but its not what we’re about…so they were skipped over.

So it went, skipping over sporty bike after sporty bike…until we noticed this beauty:

 

Of course we have no dates or true history behind this bike, but we do know CCM Galaxie for a name (more than we had on Winnie) and I personally LOVE the curves here, most of the bikes I’ve seen only have our lovely loops on the bottom tube, this came as complete surprise! In the top picture you can also see the CCM Chainwheel (I thought I’d gotten a better picture inside the shop where we found one on it’s own in the parts buckets but sadly no) and while Winnie OUGHT to have one, I personally like the chainwheel she has now, it feels more… historic, or something.
That was exciting enough no? Finding a pretty loop frame with some vintage parts? Getting cute pictures? Oh but wait!! Deborah spotted THIS beauty buried in the snow pushed aside (and probably forgotten)

What you see here ladies and gents, is a (can I say rare? OOOh can I? Done!!) “rare” Eaton’s Glider… and this alone was incredibly exciting… until… wait for it… we realized that the distance between seat post and handle bars was small… perhaps this was a kids bike? We’re pretty sure she is, and as an added bonus, she has the chain guard in tact (with just a bit of rust, probably a clear coat protection would keep her pretty and vintage and covetable (as in I wish I was a kid so I could ride her). Check it out:

 
Considering she’s probably spent many a yucky day in the elements, I’d say she’s in decent if not good condition…and the colour!! SO gorgeous. Deborah & I think this is a bike we should restore together… we’ll let Audrey have it now and then when she finally out grows it I’ll force Liliana onto it (and I’m not even kidding!). Oh the accessories we could buy! (Oh the places you’ll go!)
These 2 bikes alone made my day. We were enamoured with the Eaton’s Glider, excited about the CCM Galaxie… and then… and then dear readers another WONDERFUL discovery by Deborah… and one that I couldn’t walk away from, no matter how hard I tried.
  
  
  
 

I’m not even gonna lie you guys, I am 100% in LOVE. The head badge alone had me sold and the absolutely divine curve on the bottom bar…WOW. She has rod brakes (which I’m still learning about, as in I just know they’re different and less reliable and possibly not as safe as caliper brakes? – correct me if I’m wrong, I’m going just one the bit of research I’ve done!). It looks like the rear brake would need to be completely re-done since there’s no rear wheel (something I’ll get to right away) though Deborah had an awesome suggestion of just going with a coaster brake for the rear, which will then make the rod brake less the only style I have (and since I’d ride in some wet conditions…it’d be a plus!).

And then we searched the wheel size, in the first picture you see it “requires 28″ wheels, and so we tried to price them out. Someone on eBay was selling a 28” wheel with a 3 speed hub …any guesses to how much it ended up going for? Yeah…almost $400 Canadian + shipping and handling. Needless to say I’m now less excited about trying to work on this Raleigh (even though I’m in love and want sooo badly) until I’ve done more research on rear wheels, and options I’ll have when it comes to replacement…

Some Pashley’s have 28″ wheels right? So maybe I’ll go to RedBike and see what they can do. Alternatively…is it possible to put a slightly different size wheel on? How much does that affect the bike? 28″ isn’t common but what if a 28 1/2″ is easier to find? Or do I need to go slightly smaller? Can I even find an appropriate size without totally breaking the bank? I want this bike SO much (I barely stop looking at the pictures!) but I cannot justify $400 or even close to that just for the rear wheel and hub…UGH!

Anyway, now that I’ve stopped complaining, enjoy our finds, covet along with us, and if you have suggestions or solutions we haven’t though of, PLEASE share!!

Mary Poppins: a 1966 Phillips loop-frame bike

Mary Poppins: a 1966 Phillips loop-frame bike

Now that my children are getting old enough to cycle faster than I can walk, it’s high time I replaced the mountain bike that was stolen (along with every other bike in the apartment building by someone impersonating a construction worker) about a decade ago. So I’m eternally grateful to Angel for alerting me to the posting on Kijiji that made me the proud owner of this step-through, loop-frame town bike:

newoldbike


Isn’t it lovely? A slightly eccentric English lady bike. I’ve named it (her) Mary Poppins, since as Angel pointed out, she’s the Mary Poppins of bikes. The fellow who sold her to me (thanks Chris!) told me she was from the 1960s, has her original finishes and a coaster brake, and was built by Phillips, who were bought out by Raleigh later on. She does need a little TLC, mainly rust removal and paint touchup, but not much.

I did a little research online, and here’s what I learned about Miss Mary:

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This headbadge may date her to about 1965, according to a Flikr set of another Phillips bike. Phillips was purchased by Raleigh in 1960, and from the Spring of 1961 on the bikes were made in Nottingham at Raleigh’s 40-acre factory instead of the Phillips bikeworks near Birmingham. Raleigh continued to make Phillips-branded bikes for export until the 1980s (the wiki page implies), and some collectors look down on them as poor cousins to the higher-quality Raleigh-branded bikes. Whatever. By today’s standards, the build quality is impressive regardless.

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Note the chrome trim on this mudflap – mmmm. This style of mudguard was made by Speedwell and date the bike to the 50s or 60s, according to the information in current eBay listings and Flikr posts. A lot of the steel frame, and the tyre rims, is chromed. The tyre rims are marked STURMEY ARCHER *ENGLAND F250 28 x 1 1/2* (ie, they’re 635mm), and the tyres are marked SEMPERIT, Made In Austria, Super Elite (so they’re probably not original – would likely have been Dunlop when the bike was first sold). The two-tone vinyl mattress saddle was made by Brooks (who, like both Phillips and Sturmey-Archer, were owned at the time by Raleigh’s parent company, TI), and the white plastic grips were probably made by Dare. The kickstand is marked PLETCHER, who were/are a Swiss manufacturer. The basket isn’t marked, and appears to be made of aluminum.
For local historians, it bears a green “repairs” sticker from Premier Cycle & Sport Shop. Anyone know of them?
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I haven’t seen any photos online of similar full-rubber chrome-edged pedals yet. The figure in the middle has an R marked on it, so they’re probably 1960s-era Raleigh pedals. [Update: there are other pedals on eBay right now with the same crest on them, but less wear so it’s easier to make out in the photos, and the seller identifies them as being Raleigh Industries.]
If my bike were a three-speed, this article from oldroads.com would help me identify it much more easily. But a single-speed mechanism with a coaster brake means I’m out of luck unless I can find a serial number that matches what’s in the article. [Update: there is a serial number stamped onto the frame below the saddle: 3464230. Sadly that tells me nothing. The coaster brake has a plastic-stoppered hole for adding oil, and is marked: ENGLAND STURMEY ARCHER SC (in the bottom triangle) 11   6 (running perpendicular to the 4-triangle logo; if this is month/year, she was probably made in November 1966). SC would be the model number based on the illustration in this article by Sheldon Brown, and according to the official Sturmey-Archer history site, it’s the SC single coaster brake hub, introduced in 1963 and retired in 1978.]

Here’s a shot on Flikr of a bike that’s very similar to mine, down to the aluminum front basket, although the frame isn’t as curvaceous.

Mary’s grey-plastic rear reflector is a mid-60s Phillips part, found in this catalogue (PDF) …but that’s the only part, apart from the headbadge and decals, that I’ve been able to confirm is Phillips for now. [Update: strike that! It’s actually a very discoloured white rubber-cased reflector, with tiny, difficult-to-photograph letters, that identify it as a Fairylites reflector (also TI, also found on Raleighs of the period). Curiouser and curiouser.]

I wonder whether she was a custom order put together from various TI parts, and branded as a Phillips because she was assembled in or for the Canadian market?

Next I need to clean Mary up. Any advice on how best to do that would be greatly appreciated!

(The content of this post was originally published on Deborah’s other blog.)