Dead Rats":38hlgwdt said:
I'm liking the unusual curve of the forks (unless it's been crashed!)...
It's been crashed! My dad's friend Jim has an old Rudge Clubman with the same bend. It's not an original feature. The forks were weaker than the stout frame tubes in those days, and a frontal impact would produce that sinuous double curve.
any one else think this would have had old style 26" wheels originally - my Olympus did.
Yes, definitely, and I think you're right in that it's essentially a badge-engineered Raleigh. Which offshoot I'm not sure. Not a Rudge or a Humber.
Sometimes the lamp bracket had a maker's crest. Does yours? Is that a zinc anti-rust treatment under the paint?
