Recent content by GregoryB

Hi Mark, Another piece of info I came across. It doesn't prove one way or another what company originally made your bike but strongly points to a Birmingham connection. I was going to suggest that you continue research and try to find old issues of the magazine Cycling and the trade journal...

To continue with a few points in favor of it being a BSA frame... First, the Super-eeze DeLight appears in the 1934 catalogue but not in the 1935 catalogue. I don't have anything for a 1933 catalogue. So, I'm assuming that this was a one-year-only model. Not surprising given the starting price...

Oops Accidently sent my prior message before I had finished typing it up. To continue what I was composing... I think your frame was made by what would now days be called an artesian frame builder. A small company that specialized in hand-crafted lightweight bicycle frames. And there are some...

Hello, If you don't mind some input from an American bloke, I do have some knowledge of BSA bicycles, both prewar and postwar. I'm in my mid-60s but grew up with some BSA's in the family. My uncle (mother's older brother) worked in the 50's for the BSA west coast distributor in Oakland, Calif...

Hello, Your frame appears to be an early 1938 BSA Opperman Special. See the attached catalog copies from Feb. 1938 and Sept. 1938. The early 1938 model retained the same Russ pattern fork as used with the preceding '36-'37 Opperman frames. And then at some time during the year, BSA updated the...

About the hub conversion with an added Benelux derailleur... Attached are catalogue pics of two different factory bikes sold new with 6-speed gearing. A 1952 BSA Ideal Tourer and a 1962 Raleigh Lenton Convertible - both with Benelux 2-gear parts added on to an internal 3-gear rear hub to make a...

I forgot something important !! Sturmey Archer rear hubs are stamped with the model and two-digit manufacture date. If the rear hub is original, the hub date should help pinpoint the year of the bike. Gregory

Hi Deb, From trying to Google the Dawes bikes, they did sell a Flambeau model in the 70's and maybe earlier. The name is a logical choice because the word flambeau means torch and a flaming torch symbol is on the head badge. Dawes might have used that name first for the early US import models...

Hi Deb, Looks to be very early 50's by what I can see of the components - best guess would be made between '49 to '51 or '52. And whatever the original model name was for the bike, it might have had a different name for the US market as compared to the same bike sold new in England. Check out...

Just spotted this super rare type 1 Lytaloy headset on ebay... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284956378280?hash=item4258b944a8:g:gIsAAOSwoSBjFh~5 Out of my price range but if I had the cash, it would be worth it to make perfect the restoration of a vintage Hobbs of Barbican bike.

Those original BSA wing nuts are super-cool and must now be super rare. Never seen them before except in pictures. The unique shape was clearly inspired by the winged BSA logo. And it's like BSA decided to make a statement with this top model bike - giving it that final detail touch to finish...

Hi David, More info if you haven't already come across this. Attached are online BSA catalogues I've found for 1950 (the 2nd catalogue posted has just a paragraph for the Gold Column listed at the bottom of a page below the Golden Flash bicycle) ... What's really fascinating are the high-end...

Hi David, I have 4 website links which might be helpful to you. I found them before when I was trying to research the early 50's BSA road bikes, in particular the different models that evolved into the early BSA Tour of Britain bikes (that's my project build). Except none of these following...