Vintage Humber Path Racer Build

true say skully and tester. keep it as it is, don't grind off the lock and kill a puppy...... you can still have a lot of fun with the build, without destroying a frame in the process. You then have the option to convert it back in years to come.

Forgive my ignorance, but;

1) what is a steering lock?

So maybe some more explaining . What I really wanted to do was to buy and restore an original path racer , but there rare and increasingly expensive ( £500 ++) , and like a lot of things that are rare and valuable , there faked . Enter the Humber , bought for £50 , mainly because the sturmey archer gears had lunched themselves ,and in all honesty , I almost certainly saved it from the skip/Thames .


Top picture is a 1903 Rover path racer , underneath is the Humber . As you can see , the frame construction and geometry are quiet close , the Rover has slightly higher bottom bracket and the wheel clearances are a bit closer under the fork crown and rear brake bridge .

The steering lock is now gone , I wasn't too precious about it , they seem to have been an option on Humber's , some have them , some don't . Anyway I didn't have a key for it , and if I had I wouldn't have used it . It's all metal under the paint , just very shiny metal , so I've toned it down a bit by painted the lugs satin black .

I bet you can get new locks and keys. You can for Raleighs, cos I did for mine.
There is something way cool about being able to lock your fork.

nice neat job of removing the lock there. Amazing what nice old bikes you see locked up around Oxford (more often than not freelocked... crazy).

Do whatever you want to it, I say. A quality bike, but it's neither rare nor particularly valuable; you're not killing any puppies here. Keep the updates coming.

^ this.

looks a great job, and not a single puppy harmed.

looks like its heavy as hell though no?

too late now anyway.

Either way it looks like you'll do a proper job. Good luck.

^ this.

looks a great job, and not a single puppy harmed.

looks like its heavy as hell though no?

It's as heavy as it looks ! , about 55lbs when I first got it , Even when it looses the S/A gears and dynamo its still going to be over twice the current UCI limit ( 30 lbs approx ) .

15kgs is about what I'd expect. My girlfriend's old town bike is about 13kg singlespeed but it has aluminium rims and plastic mudguards.

I always wonder how thick the tubing is. You hardly ever see old town bikes with dents...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6d8eKvegLI

Frustratingly , I've had no time to do any work on the Humber recently . So in an effort to keep the thread alive , I thought I would post a pic of a few bits scored off Ebay over the summer for the project .

Top of the pic we have a NOS sturmey archer 40 hole coaster hub ,they stopped making 40 hole coasters in the 70t's , so I was pleased to snag this for £30 .This came with 18t sprocket , but I will swap this out for a 21t . Originally I was going to go with a fixed , but this bike is mainly going to be used for leisurely rides , and there's nothing leisurely about trying to stop a bike this heavy with a fixwheel and front rod brake!

In the centre , is a NOS 'booby dodger' rod brake lever from the 1920t's
it's nickle plated , which makes the dating about right , even has the original rubber sleeve , a snip at £13 . This was one of the 'trick' parts of it's day.

Bottom , we have a 50t 1/8th chainring, with the unmistakable 'CL' of Chater- Lea , this has been replated at sometime , nice to have at least one bit of Chater-Lea on the build , the Campag of it's day , and it slipped under the radar at £5 !

More soon .

Did like the original dancing man humber chainring.

very psychedelic for its time and they all look like they are having such a good time :

The resemblance is uncanny.

Looks like you've got some nice components there. I'm very, very jealous.

Found some useful bits in the wife distressing , bike bone yard , in my back garden.

Firstly an old Brooks B15 saddle , leather had dried out , but responded well to some dubbing , that I had to hand . The saddle had started to sag badly , turning the nose bolt didn't help much , so I used the old trick of drilling holes along the side of the saddle and then lacing the sides together , the result is a much firmer saddle you sit on rather than in . Saddle is attached to a gallows seat post , essential with such a slack seat angle .

Found these rather nice elegant , fluted cranks , they look very simpler to 1930t's Chater-Lea cranks , so suit the chainring very well . The original bottom bracket was completely fooked , but luckily I had
some very good cups and a NOS axle knocking around , these bikes have an unusual 76mm B/Bkt shell , so finding a replacements could have been tricky.

Next up , wheel building.

Love what you're doing with the Humber. There are loads of old roadsters around but your bike will be pretty unique. I might have been tempted to just varnish the stripped frame.

Love what you're doing with the Humber. There are loads of old roadsters around but your bike will be pretty unique. I might have been tempted to just varnish the stripped frame.

Thanks for the encouragement ! . My plan is to protect the frame , by wiping it down with linseed oil , I'll give it a try anyway and see how effective it is .

I'm happy to see a humber project on here. I just finished restoring a humber sport, I was very tempted flip the north roads and make it a bit more of a sporty bike, but didn't in the end. It is interesting to see with your build what sort of thing would have happened if I had done this. I will take a picture and post it on here if you like.

Linseed oil sounds awesome. I have never tried it but have heard good things, there are two sorts, one boiled and one not... cant remember what sort is best. Anyway what I can vouch for is this: Simoniz SIM0010A 150g Simoniz Original Carnauba Wax: Amazon.co.uk: Car & Motorbike

I put 2 coats on my bikes slightly rusty patina and it repels water nicely.

Of cause I'd love to see your restored Humber , thanks for Carnanba wax tip . Just finished building the rear wheel today , so expect an update soon .

there is a laser cutter at my university so I made an etched design for the lamp lens and put some black paint in the etched lines. The frame was just cleaned very thoroughly and given the wax. Its been very wet these few weeks but there is not a hint of rust so it must be working. I gave it alloy rims and handle bars as well so as to keep the weight down.

Nice Humber , top marks for keeping the original paint . Good move fitting alloy rims , lighter and you can stop in the rain ! Fantastic bit of detailing on the front lens , really makes the bike .

Cheers man, its my everyday ride now. I would love to have a more sporty road bike at some point to though. I do love the early 20th c racer look. Here is some nice inspiration ! A bit of a different look than the path racers but lovely none the less

http://www.oldbike.eu/wordpress/wp-c...Sunbeam_03.jpg

Some quick pics of the refurbished wheels . Front just needed truing up and new bearings and cones , finished off with some natty wing nuts .

Rebuild the rear wheel with the new coaster hub , using the original Stainless steel rim .Wanted to do this 4 cross , but couldn't find any 310mm spokes , so went with 3 cross . Because the rear hub flanges are thin and made of steel , I used brass spoke washers , this gives the spoke heads a lot more support and stops the spokes being guillotined

The more observant amongst you , may have noticed that the tyres have changed colour . A friend gifted these antique cream Schwalbe tyres and , as there in better shape than the originals , there staying , at least for the time being . Not sure which colour I prefer at the moment.

I'm happy to see a humber project on here. I just finished restoring a humber sport, I was very tempted flip the north roads and make it a bit more of a sporty bike, but didn't in the end. It is interesting to see with your build what sort of thing would have happened if I had done this. I will take a picture and post it on here if you like.

Linseed oil sounds awesome. I have never tried it but have heard good things, there are two sorts, one boiled and one not... cant remember what sort is best. Anyway what I can vouch for is this: Simoniz SIM0010A 150g Simoniz Original Carnauba Wax: Amazon.co.uk: Car & Motorbike

I put 2 coats on my bikes slightly rusty patina and it repels water nicely.

beware of linseed brother, works but brings hazards, lots of hand washing and linny rags will BURN by themselves, Simoniz is good from new tin but really just turns dirty, old type turtle wax (paste stuff) always served me well but now hard to find. and this bike will be crap to ride. follow your dream.

which bike will be crap to ride?

Well here's my latest find ,well stoked with this, even though the plating is peeling off and its slightly bent downwards . A hand build stem , made from 531 , with fancy lugs , built by top 50t's frame builder Stuart Purves .

I'm still experimenting with handlebars , so far anything vintage I like goes for way more than I want to pay . Fitted in the photo, are a pair of cheap inverted North Road bars .These have been narrowed ,by bending the bars in a bit , and cutting 3 cm off each end . Actually look and feel about right , difficult to to tell with out riding the bike.