# Bought Another RUDGE...but from 1956...



## HARPO

Here I go again...another RUDGE...but older this time. The other one (shown here on THECABE) was from 1968 and a Deluxe model.
This is now the oldest English bike I have, and just 4 years newer than I am. It's in very good condition, and except for the Hunt Wilde grips and tires appears to be all original. End cap is missing from one of the pedals, also. What's cool on this bike is the opening for oiling the bottom bracket. The cap is missing, but I'm sure all is well inside. The wheels spin freely (chain came off removing the bike from the SUV) so at least that's a good sign. Brooks saddle is a little cracked, but hey, it's been used!


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm looking forward to doing a nice detailing and taking it for a ride. Who knows, maybe I'll get lucky and find its mate.


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## HARPO

Here are a few more photos...


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## MarkKBike

I have a nearly identical 3 speed bike with huffy badges, and marked "made in England". When I dated mine I believe it dates back to 1962, as that is the date stamp on the Sturmey Archer hub. The bike came with the same style frame, wheels, stem, handlebars, fenders, etc. It also came with a different designed but similar brooks saddle, and crank ring. To me they appear to be the same bike, with different badges.

When I researched my bike, I came to the conclusion it was made by Raleigh.

Your photo of your bike got me curious, and I wanted to see what the connection was. I just found this timeline on Sheldon Browns site.  http://www.sheldonbrown.com/retroraleighs/history.html. It looks like Raleigh purchased Rudge-Whitworth in 1943.

1886 Three Englishmen - Woodhead, Angois and Ellis - begin building bicycles in a small workshop on Raleigh Street, Nottingham.
1887 Alfred Milward Reynolds invents the process of butting (of tubes).
1888 Frank Bowden purchases the Woodhead/Angois/Ellis  bicycle workshop on Raleigh Street and renames it the Raleigh Cycle Company.  At this point there are about a dozen employees and production is three high-wheelers a week.
1889 Reynolds founds the Patented Butted Tube Company.
1895 British stockbroker Terah Hooley buys controlling interest in Raleigh.
1896 Fred Hanstock builds the first Carlton bicycles in Carlton, England.
1896 Raleigh has the world's largest bicycle factory, occupying 7 1/2 acres.  There are about 850 employees and production is 30,000 units per year.
1902 Raleigh buys Sturmey-Archer.
1923 Patented Butted Tube Company name is changed to Reynolds Tube Company, Ltd.
1930's Carlton bicycle factory moves to larger facilities in Worksop, England.
1932 Raleigh buys Humber Cycles.
1935 Reynolds 531 manganese-molybdenum ("mang-moly") tubing is developed.
1938 Raleighs first exported to Canada.
1943 Raleigh buys Rudge-Whitworth.
1953 Raleigh buys the Triumph Cycle Company.
1957 Raleigh buys BSA (Birmingham Small Arms).
1960 Raleigh and the Tube Investments Group (aka TI) merge, forming TI Raleigh.
1960 Raleigh purchases the Carlton bicycle factory in Worksop.  Production of all handbuilt, Reynolds 531 frames are moved to Worksop.
1972 Raleigh opens factory in Waterloo, Quebec, Canada.
1974 TI Raleigh completes its Ilkeston factory.  Specialty bicycle section (handbuilt one-of-a-kind frames) is moved from Worksop to Ilkeston.
1975 Reynolds 753 tubing is introduced.
1977 Reynolds Tube Company, Ltd. name is changed to TI Reynolds to reflect the growing diversity of the company's products.
1979 Production of Raleigh 531DB-tubed  bicycles reaches 10,000 units a year.
1982 Rights to the Raleigh U.S.A. name are bought by the Huffy Corporation. Better models from the Huffy era were made in Japan.
No more British-made Raleighs will be imported to the U.S. from this time forward.

Does anyone know more about the connection between Rudge / Raleigh / and  Huffy?

Note to Harpro: You mentioned you believe the grips are incorrect. Mine cam with White Grips, ribbed in the palm with finger notches, and Carlisle Super Ride tires. Whether or not that was original equipment, I do not know. I just checked the brand on the grips, and they are also made by Hunt Wilde, Your grips may be original.


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## MarkKBike

I thought you may find the Huffy version interesting to see. You can see the English lion on the chain guard, and it also says made in England in very large letters on top of the down tube. I bought the bike primarily for the Saddle, and used some of the parts to get a vintage male framed Raleigh back on the road.



 



In the future, once I have time I will list some of these parts in the sale section (minus the Saddle) for anyone who might be interested.


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## SirMike1983

Correct about the grips - those are replacements. The right ones for a late-1950s bike would be the grey "barrel" type with length-wise ribs. Whatever rubber formulation Raleigh used in the grey barrel grips from this era did not survive well - it tends to either crack to pieces or soften and degrade.


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## Oilit

I posted the Huffy section out of a Walthour and Hood catalog in the middleweights forum here:
https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/1...log-huffy-dayton-and-raleigh-bicycles.108410/
But once you get past the American built Huffys, there's also a section on the Huffy Sportsman line, "Built to our specifications by the worlds most distinguished builder of lightweight bicycles, Raleigh Industries of Nottingham, England." I believe all the lightweight Huffys were imported Raleighs, until sometime in the mid to late '60's, when they started making their own.


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## SirMike1983

The Huffy shown and the Rudge are similar, but are not the same bike with different badges. The Rudge shown has the higher-end brazed fender stays; slope-shouldered/heavy-duty Rudge fork rather than the general-purpose flat-top fork; Rudge/Raleigh pedals rather than the waffle block general purpose pedals; Rudge has pump pegs whereas the Huffy doesn't seem to have them. They started out as the same basic platform - the "Sports light roadster" concept, but the Rudge was considered a "high-end" bike, whereas the Huffy was a re-badged version of the budget Raleigh product (AMF/Hercules and Nottingham Phillips used similar). 

The Rudge here looks like a larger female-sized frame. 19inch and 21nch female frames were common, but there was a larger 23-inch female frame you could buy as well. 

Interestingly, the Rudge pattern fork is about the strongest and best fork on these types of bikes. The old parts catalogs show that the Rudge-style fork was offered with Raleigh decals if you busted your original fork and wanted something "heavy duty". I have one of those heavy-duty replacement works of Rudge pattern but with Raleigh decals in my parts bin. 


The badge/brand you got depended on how much money you wanted to spend. If you wanted a premium bike - Rudge, Raleigh or Humber. If you wanted the economy version - AMF/Hercules; Nottingham Phillips; Huffy. They all ride pretty well. At the higher levels, each had a little more character (Humber duplex fork; Rudge heavy-duty fork; Raleigh thimble fork; etc).


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## HARPO

Thank you, SirMike, as usual for your info on both the Huffy and the Rudge bikes. 

I'll post a few pics tomorrow as I have begun the cleanup! Sad to say, though, that the brake pedal is missing more parts than I thought. Still, I'm having fun working on the bike!


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## HARPO

Still working on this section, but a lot better so far...


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## HARPO

And the cleanup continues...

SirMike, what are the chances that these are the original tires? It also says LION on the back tire.


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## HARPO

The oil filler cap is METAL...unlike the plastic on all of my Raleigh's and 1968 Rudge...


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## HARPO

Still chugging along...


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## juvela

-----

Very good find!

Thank you for posting.

Coming right along most nicely.

You might wish to keep an eye out for a Shuresta propstand for it.



 

-----


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## HARPO

juvela said:


> -----
> 
> Very good find!
> 
> Thank you for posting.
> 
> Coming right along most nicely.
> 
> You might wish to keep an eye out for a Shuresta propstand for it.
> 
> View attachment 772992
> 
> -----




I noticed those stands in a few of the Rudge Catalogs I had found from the 50's. The one on there now is the same stand as the Raleigh's I have.


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## HARPO

I have its brothers and sisters waiting for it to be finished...


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## HARPO

HARPO said:


> I have its brothers and sisters waiting for it to be finished...
> 
> View attachment 773065




LOL...actually one sister and cousins...


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## HARPO

I just bought this tonight for extra parts. It's a coaster brake model (_with a dried out Brooks saddle under the saddle cover_) and a bent fork. Basket is probably worth more, lol!


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## HARPO

A few more shots...and I'll clean off the hub to get the year tomorrow.


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## SirMike1983

Those look like replacement tires, though not new replacements - BF Goodrich owned a stake in that Dutch tire company.


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## HARPO

The pedals on the blue Rudge Sports  I just bought match the ones from my 1956 Sports (as well as the same chain guard lettering). However, since this has a BENDIX coaster brake hub, I can't date it.
Would I be correct in ASSUMING it's from the same time period...mid 50's...?


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## HARPO

A surprise on the blue Rudge...the oiler cap missing from the black Rudge is on this bike! Try to find one of these!!
Boy, they built these bikes to last. The oiler is metal and on a hinge spring, which I was lucky enough to pop off without any damage. This will go onto the black bike as well as one of the pedals which is in better condition. 

Nice how every once in a while things actually work out...


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## RidgeWalker

You know what struck me about these Rudges?  The bottom bracket oil port is on the chainwheel side.  That seems very strange to me.  I have 4 British bikes from this period including a '52 Rudge and they all have the oil port on the opposite (left or non-chainring) side.  That, I believe, is much more accessible.  Maybe I just never noticed, but I don't recall seeing the oil port on the chainring side.


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## bulldog1935

that's the same place my Lenton frame has an oil port


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## HARPO

When I bought the 56 Rudge, the guy had a tube protruding from the oil port. It was about 3 inches long, which apparently was his way of gaining easy access to it. And yes, it was the wrong side to put it on. What were they thinking?...


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## HARPO

I need help. The oil tube I pulled out of the blue Rudge (_see photo_) was all ready to go into the black Rudge. But then I saw a small metal tube protruding from it (_see photo_), figuring the cap broke off...and I'm not sure if it unscrews or just pulls out. I've seen some that have threads (or are they for the hub?), so I don't want to damage it. I tried giving it a tug with some large needle nose pliers but I didn't want to be to aggressive.


 

 
So...is it threaded, or do I just pry it out? It came out fairly easy on the blue bike.


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## HARPO

Here's another shot of the one stuck in the black bike,


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## Oilit

I'm guessing it's pressed in, simply because I don't see any way to hold it for screwing it in. Pressing is quick and easy (if you have the tools) but once it's in, it's not so easy to get back out. Can you just put the cap off one bike on the tube of the other?


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## HARPO

[QUOTE="Oilit, post: 858864, member: 7392 Can you just put the cap off one bike on the tube of the other?[/QUOTE]

Nope. It appears that the lid was broken off where the spring is welded onto it. I'll do some gentle tapping tomorrow to get the good one in after removing the one in there.

I know the one I have isn't threaded...it was the one that's still in there I was concerned about. But it should be the same, considering it's about the same year.


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## HARPO

Well, the metal tube in the black bike won't budge. So, I guess I'll have an "extra" oilport tube for the Rudge if I find another bike missing one. 

I just got done removing the crank and arms from the blue bike, so at some point I'll clean them up and store them away. Can NEVER have enough spare parts!!


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## HARPO

And here's where I am right now. A little more detailing and then I'll be done. For right now, she's with her English family...


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## bulldog1935

the crank and lamp holder are perfection


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## HARPO

bulldog1935 said:


> the crank and lamp holder are perfection




I now have an extra crankset that I took off the blue Rudge (along with a lot of other parts). I'll keep this aside if I ever find another Rudge with that boring, Plain-Jane one.


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## HARPO

I even have the original cotter pins to go with it!


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## HARPO




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## HARPO

Hmmm...I'm contemplating selling the black Rudge to make room. Any idea as to what these are going for?


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