New board member, old bike.

[keithglos]

New Hudson in the post WW2 years were owned by BSA, what you have is a low end bike.
BSA cycles were in a financial disaster by mid 1950s, and were swallowed up by the TI/Phillips group, as were Raleigh. Many old names had the same fate, sometimes the names were used in particular export markets. The name BSA was used by Raleigh on poverty spec bikes exported to US in the early 1970s, mass produced in the Raleigh factory in Worksop.
Keith

 

[Woz]

"poverty spec bikes" - Interesting rBoTM theme right there.

 

[PJLaw]

Re:

Thanks everyone for your knowledge and input. The fact it is a 'poverty spec' (that made me chuckle) bike would explain why I've never seen another one, or met anyone who knew what it was. I like that it has survived though and it is a lot of fun to ride, but I also know now that it won't be worth spending too much more money on - it needs new wheels so I can judge the spec of those based on this.

 

[PJLaw]

Re:

Keith, do think there is a chance this could be a later model than we've been thinking? Possibly up to the mid 1970s? Or is it likely to be a low end, late 1950s model with various mods/repairs over time?

 

[sisyphus]

Don't be put off by the " low end" comments. It's a really nice bike. Like the lugs too.

 

[PJLaw]

Don't be put off by the " low end" comments. It's a really nice bike. Like the lugs too.

Thank you!

 

[Bats]

You can spend as much as you like doing it up, if you like the way it rides. Bikes are for riding, not weighing.

You'd certainly end up with a better bike if you started with a gaspipe frame and fitted posh bits, than a super posh frame and cheap junk bits.

 

[keithglos]

Looking at the pics again, I do not recognise this as a BSA from the 1950s. I don't remember the lug pattern, and the headset is totally a later type, BSA used the cheap old roadster type.
It looks quite well put together for a low end frame. The cheap pump peg is more like BSA.
As a retailer of Raleigh and BSA in the 1950s, I had a factory visit in 1954 to the BSA works. My first decent bike was a BSA Gold Column in 1949.
Keith

 

[PJLaw]

Re:

Might New Hudson bikes have been made to different patterns, possibly in a different factory despite being owned by Raleigh/BSA? I'd be interested to know a bit about how the bikes were built at that time - were the frames individually hand made? What sort of factory line was there? It's great to find someone who has seen the process in action.

 

[keithglos]

BSA in the 1950s had lost the quality reputation they had up till the 1930s.
If you look under the bottom head lug and under the bottom bracket a BSA would have a large dent in the lug. Where Raleigh drilled and pinned before brazing BSA had a pneumatic chisel and banged a large dent in the lug to hold the tube in before brazing.
By 1955 the commuter market for bikes was disappearing fast, things like the NSU Quickly were taking over. So they were left with childrens and teenager bike sales. And a very small specialist market. To give you an idea of how small the specialst market was, by 1957 I was selling frames and components, and as a one man business had the largest retail account in the south of england with the 2 main importers. By the early 1960s, still alone, was buying spokes at over 100 gross at a time.
Keith