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@cino
Any love for vintage path racers here ? Anyway , I've had a hankering to build one for a while , took me nearly a year to find a suitable machine , mainly because it had to have the following spec;
Massive 'garden gate' frame with super slack frame angles.
Reverse rear drop outs , and twin plate fork crown.
28" wheels.
Eventually found this imposing machine in Oxford via Gumtree .
Really love the 'Duplex ' twin tube front forks . Very fortunately the 28" rims are stainless steel and near perfect condition ,this is a real bonus.
On the downside the bike's been hand painted with a 6" paint brush and I'm not sure if I'll be able remove the mess to get down to the original enamel , but luckily the brass head badge is still intact . There is also a very unpath racer like steering lock right on the front lower head lug that looks like it could be a right pita to remove .
The offending steering lock
Humber trade mark ' dancing man' chainwheel , though I will probably not use these as the LH cranks shagged , and the cranks are stupidly long 7" (178mm).
original head badge should polish up nice.
My bike was actually build by Raleigh in 1959 , although it's no different to one's made in the 30t's which in turn were based on machines from 1900's.
Right , the plan is to build a replica of a 1900 path racer , not an exact period correct bike , more a collection of vintage parts I like the look of. I intend keeping as much ' patina ' as possible , so no new alloy parts , boutique leather saddles etc .
Next up , the tear down .