RBotM February 2020 - Theme - Classic Rod Braked Roadsters

Welcome to February 2020 RBotM , with this months theme being classic rod braked roadsters.
You know the sort of thing I mean, Raleigh, Sunbeam, Rudge and the other classic brands all made them right up until recently.
So dig deep in the shed, get them out, give them a dust off and take a couple of photos and your in!

Usual rules apply and judges discretion on entry eligibility.

Entries open until last day of the month then a five day poll will decide the winner.

Jamie

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I'll start this month off; here's my one owner (before me) 1966 Raleigh Superbe, totally original with a light patina of use - some paint loss but very little rust - green mattress saddle, green saddle bag and green Raleigh branded pump.

Four speed Sturmey Archer hub - I clicked my Sturmey Archer gear and pedalled 'til I nearly burst, and king of speed attained the lead and got to gushing Godstow first. Dynamo (working), period mileometer by the front hub and a huge Raleigh branded bell. It even has the steering lock key, original tools & handbook !

Lovely old thing, interesting backstory and an expat from the East Riding; from a suburb of Larkinland (Hull), bought from the widow of the original owner, a lecturer at the University of Hull during Larkin's time. The widow did not recall much about the bicycle apart from he rode it to work during the summer months and good winter days, they did have a car but it was used very little.

Jon.

N.B bought it for nostalgia reasons - I had one when I was at university (edited to add the backstory).

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Looks just like my fathers that he bought brand new in 1950's except his was a cable braked sport.
He rode that right up ti the late 1980's. How he did it was beyond me as Midlothian is far from flat and the gears were high plus the bike was so HEAVY !

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velomaniac":26x85ur6 said:

Looks just like my fathers that he bought brand new in 1950's except his was a cable braked sport.
He rode that right up ti the late 1980's. How he did it was beyond me as Midlothian is far from flat and the gears were high plus the bike was so HEAVY !

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It is heavy, was heavy when I rode mine at university, mind you I was young then (!!!) and my riding around was largely on the flat apart from the odd sojourn into the surrounding countryside.

Jon.

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Lovely start.

My 1948 Rudge.

I give the poor thing a hard time. This is it on a 150km day ride in the Highlands on one part of the HT550 route. It handled 50 odd km of that dirt track with aplomb. I shouldn't have been surprised - after all most roads were like this when these bikes were young.

It was a one owner bike and was ridden to work every day, and it was his transport after he retired. What its mileage is, I hate to think (10 miles a day, 5 days a week, 50 weeks of the year for 40 years, then slightly less until he became inform)

He obviously looked after it because everything still works well. Shame about the coat of Robbielac though.

The only things I've done to it is oil it and put new tyres and tubes on it so I could use it.



That's a nice Superbe up there^^^^

Liking the theme Jamie

Peachy!":3ibswn62 said:

Liking the theme Jamie

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So am I. I reckon these heavy old black bikes are very much under-appreciated. You'll not win the Tour de France on one, but with minimum maintenance, the bike will still be good in 100 years from now.

A few years back I was told they were only good for short commuting trips because they were too heavy to be ridden far, especially those without gears. Rather than argue, I felt the proof of the pudding etc, so I took my 1935 Armstrong on a wee day ride round Wester Ross. Dingwall/Ullapool/Ledmore Junction/Struie/Dingwall. That's about 120 miles.

It wasn't fast, but I don't remember ever riding that sort of distance in such comfort before. Triple sprung saddle,

Here it is doing that ride...








And with added drum brake

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Pity you said rod or I’d have got a wiggle on and finished the sunbeam

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The History Man":3etxtjwk said:

Pity you said rod or I’d have got a wiggle on and finished the sunbeam

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Can’t you just leave the brakes off and say you haven’t decided which way to go yet?