# Here's a Raleigh you don't see everyday.



## Oilit (Aug 15, 2022)

I've wanted one of these since I saw this one posted on Flickr (I can't link to it, but search on "Jack Hoyt's Raleigh Lancer" to see the pictures).

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		https://flic.kr/p/43bCA6

This one isn't quite as nice, but it will clean up close to it. I believe these were introduced for 1958 and maybe dropped when TI bought Raleigh. They don't turn up often, so I was glad to snag this one. The last two pictures are of a promotional postcard that's one of the few pieces of literature I've found. On the back it mentions a girl's version, has anybody ever seen one?


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## juvela (Aug 15, 2022)

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appears it may have been produced in a single frame size; is that correct?


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## 3-speeder (Aug 15, 2022)

I haven't seen one before.  That sure is a fine example.  Should clean up really nice.  You probably already know of the dreaded SW hub's ill reputation.  I guess I would swap in an AW if you're making it into a rider.


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## Oilit (Aug 15, 2022)

juvela said:


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> 
> appears it may have been produced in a single frame size; is that correct?
> 
> ...



As far as I know, but information on these is scarce.


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## Oilit (Aug 15, 2022)

3-speeder said:


> I haven't seen one before.  That sure is a fine example.  Should clean up really nice.  You probably already know of the dreaded SW hub's ill reputation.  I guess I would swap in an AW if you're making it into a rider.



I've read the Brian Hayes article on Sheldon Brown's site, and since Raleigh owned Sturmey-Archer it makes me wonder if problems with the SW helped put Raleigh in a position to be bought by TI. The timing could have been coincidence, but then again maybe not.


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## GTs58 (Aug 16, 2022)

I came across a thread a couple years back where the owner was looking for information on one of these. Can't remember if it was here or some other site. That was the first time I saw one of these and there was someone posting that had all the details and years they were produced. Interesting piece for Raleigh.


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## Gordon (Aug 16, 2022)

Are the tires 26 x 1 3/8? They appear to be wider, more like a middle weight (1.75).


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## Oilit (Aug 16, 2022)

Gordon said:


> Are the tires 26 x 1 3/8? They appear to be wider, more like a middle weight (1.75).



They're 26 x 1-3/4. This is the only bike I know of other than Schwinn to use the "S-7" 571mm bead seat diameter. Everybody else seemed to go with the 26 x 1.75 559mm tires.


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## Gordon (Aug 16, 2022)

Oilit said:


> They're 26 x 1-3/4. This is the only bike I know of other than Schwinn to use the "S-7" 571mm bead seat diameter. Everybody else seemed to go with the 26 x 1.75 559mm b.s.d.



Thanks for that info, I thought maybe I needed new glasses. I think in my tire stash I have a couple Raleigh 26 x 1 3/4.


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## SirMike1983 (Aug 16, 2022)

Raleigh and the various Birmingham brands exported bikes like these to the U.S. There was a great deal of pressure to export and sell bicycles in the mid and late 1950s in Britain. The US market offered a great deal of opportunity with more children coming to the age where they needed bikes by the late 1950s. Each brand seemed to have a different take on what should be offered on these bikes, and even what kind of shape the frame should be (though they all seemed to focus on the "cantilever" style overall). You'll see the differences in the frame styling if you set them next to each other. They all seemed to have a little different version of the cantilever. It did not help that the Sturmey SW plagued these bikes as it did so many others in the mid and late 1950s. If the Schwinn Racer and Traveler were American takes on a British design, the Lancer is a British take on an American design. Good find.


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## Oilit (Aug 16, 2022)

SirMike1983 said:


> Raleigh and the various Birmingham brands exported bikes like these to the U.S. There was a great deal of pressure to export and sell bicycles in the mid and late 1950s in Britain. The US market offered a great deal of opportunity with more children coming to the age where they needed bikes by the late 1950s. Each brand seemed to have a different take on what should be offered on these bikes, and even what kind of shape the frame should be (though they all seemed to focus on the "cantilever" style overall). You'll see the differences in the frame styling if you set them next to each other. They all seemed to have a little different version of the cantilever. It did not help that the Sturmey SW plagued these bikes as it did so many others in the mid and late 1950s. If the Schwinn Racer and Traveler were American takes on a British design, the Lancer is a British take on an American design. Good find.



Thanks! Do you know if Raleigh offered these on their domestic market?


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## juvela (Aug 16, 2022)

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cannot recall previously seeing a machine fitted with Raleigh marked what appear to be GB brake calipers

note how long is the adjustment slot here and in both the front and rear the pads are at the top of the travel suggesting that caliper model and frame geometry not a match made in heaven


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## Oilit (Aug 16, 2022)

juvela said:


> -----
> 
> cannot recall previously seeing a machine fitted with Raleigh marked what appear to be GB brake calipers
> 
> ...



The attachments for the fender braces are also kind of awkward, especially for a production machine. If they had stayed in production longer, some of these details may have been refined a little more.


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## SirMike1983 (Aug 16, 2022)

The British catalogs I have don't show the Lancer. But there is always the chance it could be bought special order. The early 1960s parts book shows cantilever frames of various types could be bought as parts. I suspect that even were it sold in Britain, that its main aim was the US market, given the features involved. The amount of chrome, cantilever frame, and wheel size all point to a bike designed around American tastes of the mid and late 1950s. The frames are somewhat undersized compared to adult bikes and are denoted as "Boy's" frames in the parts book.


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## Oilit (Aug 16, 2022)

SirMike1983 said:


> The British catalogs I have don't show the Lancer. But there is always the chance it could be bought special order. The early 1960s parts book shows cantilever frames of various types could be bought as parts. I suspect that even were it sold in Britain, that its main aim was the US market, given the features involved. The amount of chrome, cantilever frame, and wheel size all point to a bike designed around American tastes of the mid and late 1950s. The frames are somewhat undersized compared to adult bikes and are denoted as "Boy's" frames in the parts book.
> 
> View attachment 1680727



I haven't seen that catalog before, thanks for posting!


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## Oilit (Aug 16, 2022)

Looking back, I didn't have any close-ups of the fender braces, so here's a couple. These do the job, but if these bikes had stayed in production I expect these stays would have been simplified pretty soon, more like the standard one piece Raleigh braces.


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## juvela (Aug 16, 2022)

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Mr. Lancer Esq. shall be in relative sartorial splendour just as soon as he is able to eschew Herr Wald

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be hub anterior the SA/Sir Wally thing-a-ma-jig?

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what be thine plans wrt luma land?

complete the grain grinder system?

remove what be there and run without?

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wondering if machine even at home since there has been no visitation from the usual explosives experts...


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## Oilit (Aug 16, 2022)

This is the best shot I have of the front hub, it looks like the standard Raleigh item. As for the headlight, I'll keep an eye out for another but I'll fiddle with this one in the meantime and see if I can do anything with the switch.
And you are correct, this is the shop I manage at the university. I've had it mostly to myself over the summer which is handy, but the students are coming back next week, so this weekend I've got to transfer a couple of projects to my shop at home, which some dummy has packed to the beams with old bikes and parts.


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## juvela (Aug 16, 2022)

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"which some dummy has packed to the beams with old bikes and parts."

...it ain't fer nuthin' that 'e wears a funnel fer a chapeau...😛


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## Andrew Gorman (Aug 16, 2022)

From what I've seen with German bikes, export models were export only models- someone in the US spec'd them and and bought them all on one contract. Folks on the German bike nerd boards get  pretty interested when I post  a US style German made bike- they have not seen them before, and they are as obsessed as people here on the CABE.


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## Oilit (Aug 17, 2022)

Andrew Gorman said:


> From what I've seen with German bikes, export models were export only models- someone in the US spec'd them and and bought them all on one contract. Folks on the German bike nerd boards get  pretty interested when I post  a US style German made bike- they have not seen them before, and they are as obsessed as people here on the CABE.



That makes sense. I know the American-style British bikes don't show up in the V-CC magazine. From what I've seen, if someone in England is interested in American bikes, they find an American bike to tinker with. And on the flip side, the people who bought British bikes here in the states probably bought them _because_ they were different.


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## SirMike1983 (Aug 17, 2022)

Raleigh certainly made "export" models intended for various markets, with the features depending on what was popular in those markets. Strictly speaking U.S.-dedicated Raleighs were a sort of export model in that they were intended to, and indeed left the U.K. for a foreign market. But many collectors here in the U.S. do not consider U.S. models "export" models because they intend the term to mean something other than a U.K. or U.S. bike - for example, one of the drum brake equipped roadsters sent to Denmark, or the oddball roadsters sent to continental Europe or the Caribbean. I've seen the unique red-and-white Canadian market models called "export" as well. It may just be that people think something more exotic and foreign when they use the term "export". I think you're right that this is something aimed squarely at the U.S. market of that time period. It's interesting to see a cantilever style frame made using British methods with lugs.


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## juvela (Aug 17, 2022)

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note the first quality forged fork ends

if it had been produced a few years later these would have been stamped sheet

recall that Brampton produced such ends


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## SirMike1983 (Aug 17, 2022)

Those older fork ends are especially nice. They're well-made and leave a clean finished product. 

The earlier type and later type can be seen in the "Dropouts" section of the following:









						Side-by-Side: 1958 Raleigh Sports and 1970 Raleigh Sprite
					

A blog devoted to vintage bicycle repair and cycling in general.




					bikeshedva.blogspot.com


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## Oilit (Aug 17, 2022)

SirMike1983 said:


> Those older fork ends are especially nice. They're well-made and leave a clean finished product.
> 
> The earlier type and later type can be seen in the "Dropouts" section of the following:
> 
> ...



Those are two very nice bikes on that page! Good pictures too!


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## juvela (Aug 17, 2022)

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it's good to see that Oilit's interest in and activity with vintage two-wheelers is active and ongoing

enjoy following along with each new intake

one downside of the new arrivals means that the Dunelt 5V is going to keep moseying further rearward in the queue... 😦


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seeing that serious _arbeidstationen _there in the background of the photos apprises me that i should be careful not to embarrass meself with me technical ignorance 😯


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## Oilit (Aug 17, 2022)

juvela said:


> -----
> 
> it's good to see that Oilit's interest in and activity with vintage two-wheelers is active and ongoing
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> ...



Not to worry. Dealing with some of these professors has taught me that no-one is an expert at everything. You're doing good to master any one field, and most of us don't have the luxury of concentrating on only one field. We learn enough to get by for most things and spend whatever time and energy is left on our individual interests and/or obsessions.


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## juvela (Aug 17, 2022)

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ends clarification -

checked me Brampton catalogue of 1948 and their ends of this shape are specified as being pressed rather than forged

so evidently the ones on the cycle come from another producer...


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## Oilit (Aug 19, 2022)

juvela said:


> -----
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> cannot recall previously seeing a machine fitted with Raleigh marked what appear to be GB brake calipers
> 
> ...



Looking at the internet, there's another on Bike Forums with what looks like the same brake, but different markings. On the left instead of "Raleigh" it says "G. B. Grand Tour". Post #13 in this thread:






						Help required in Identifying my vintage RALEIGH Bike!! - Bike Forums
					

Classic & Vintage - Help required in Identifying my vintage RALEIGH Bike!! - Hi All, I am "Muthu Kumar Kanakachalam" from India 52 years / Married / Engineering graduate , have Tiny sector Automobile( 4 wheeler) servicing center, my hobby collecting Vintage & classic Motorcycles ..have few motor...



					www.bikeforums.net


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## juvela (Aug 19, 2022)

Oilit said:


> Looking at the internet, there's another on Bike Forums with what looks like the same brake, but different markings. On the left instead of "Raleigh" it says "G. B. Grand Tour". Post #13 in this thread:
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VIVA Gerry Burgess!

Bring on that Hiduminium patio furniture.   😉 


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## Oilit (Aug 19, 2022)

juvela said:


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> VIVA Gerry Burgess!
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> ...



Gerry Burgess it is! I've seen those markings before, but never knew what it stood for! Thanks!



			GB Components, main


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## juvela (Aug 19, 2022)

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because the GB Ventoux model bend carries an image of the island of Britain a great many cyclists have assumed the letters stood for Great Britain









similar to the unfortunate coincidence of a very high quality brand of frame tubing carrying the name Reynolds.  made millions of yanks think it meant the frames constructed with it were bauxite derived...

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few enthusiasts know that there was a brief period in the late forties to early fifties when Gerry Burgess joined forces with Altenburger and Magistroni to offer a short lived road ensemble

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## Tour De Luxe (Aug 20, 2022)

Good lookin bike! Nice acquisition.


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## Schwinny (Aug 21, 2022)

I thought I remembered the style somewhere.
Not the same of course but indicative of the styles crossing the pond.
These come up quite often around here for some reason. I saw a Hercules version with a twin top bar and snapped it up. It was a Hawthorn Badged Hercules with a Birmingham badge note and a 62' SA three speed. It will be my winter custom project down at the shop. Interesting note is that it has this Japanese saddle and the caliper brakes were Japanese also. Both OG as far as I can tell. Certainly period pieces.

The VCC N&V periodical cover is of a type that might solve the import/export question, but on the inside cover it doesn't mention the type of bike and even up close I cant read the down tube. Looks like a Raleigh head badge tho, and has the British steel decal on the seatpost.
The other pic is of the Hercules, Ive posted it before. Ive seen the Hercules bikes like this with cantilever twin bars and a solid top bar also but this is the only twin top bar one Ive seen so far.


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