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Humber Sports 3-speed with tubular front fork.

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Rambler

I live for the CABE
I came across this English bicycle at an antique shop. Humber Sports bike with interesting tubular duplex front fork. Dyno generator front hub and Sturmey Archer 3-speed rear hub.

Anyone know what years it was produced? I'm guessing 1950's but I suspect someone else here is more knowledgeable than I regarding Humber history.

Only sites I could find with Humber info didn't really tell me what year this bike may have been built:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humber_Cycles
https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Humber:_Cycles

Also any idea of value/past sales for comparison? I'm wondering if there is any market interest for this type of bike or if better left at the antique shop. Thanks.

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Should be a date code on the rear hub - if OG it will get you close to the catalog year.

Bike looks beat overall but there are some things left of value...I have never seen a fork like that so who knows as far as value?
 
That's the old-type Humber Duplex model fork - correct for an older Humber. As the above post notes, check the rear hub for a date code. The front hub as a dynohub should also have a date code. Standard 21 inch men's frame size. Looks like a quite complete project - even the tail lamp is there still. Offhand, looks early post-war to me - late 1940s to mid 1950s.
 
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Did you get this bike? Very cool vintage Brit Roadster style bike. The Humber name was taken over by a Raleigh who continued to produce bikes under the Humber name. Thomas Humber was an early bicycle entrepreneur who was the first to patent a triangulated frame with equal sized wheels
 
Did you get this bike? Very cool vintage Brit Roadster style bike. The Humber name was taken over by a Raleigh who continued to produce bikes under the Humber name. Thomas Humber was an early bicycle entrepreneur who was the first to patent a triangulated frame with equal sized wheels

Thank you for the Humber history information. No, I did not purchase the bike, not really of interest to me. Just found it to be unique with the unusual tubular front fork. If you or someone else is interested in pursuing it send me a PM and I will pass along the contact information for the owner. Bike is located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan near Munising.
 
Unfortunately, British bikes have very little of a following on this side of the pond, and therefore don’t bring much money at all. It too bad, because these bikes are excellent riders, relatively easy to work on, the Sturmey Archer 3 speed hubs are pretty much bombproof and, IMHO, have a certain elegance about them. Digging into their history, you can find this turn of the century Humber motorcycle, and a long and storied recounting of bikes from the UK and India.
Way to far for me to make the trip, but if it were local I’d be pretty tempted to have this piece of history, investment value be damned!


Thank you for the Humber history information. No, I did not purchase the bike, not really of interest to me. Just found it to be unique with the unusual tubular front fork. If you or someone else is interested in pursuing it send me a PM and I will pass along the contact information for the owner. Bike is located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan near Munising.

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I would wager English 3-speeds are actually more ridden here in the US than vintage balloon tire bikes are ridden because the 3-speeds (especially post-war Raleighs) became so common and are a practical option. When I lived in the DC area, I still saw the occasional Raleigh Sports being used as a daily commuter, and I'm sure they're still around in many major US cities in that use. That said, the ballooners are more collectible if you're looking at higher values. I don't object too much - that just makes the English bikes a good value and pretty affordable.
 
So true SirMike. Sunday my wife and I were heading home on BART from SF and a young woman rolled on her Hopper, complete with the dynohub, rear and front lights as well as chaincase intact. I commented on what nice shape it was in and we chatted with her for the half hour ride. I showed her the date on the SA hub and she was amazed, April 1954. It was given to her by a friend when she lived in Washington DC. She said she had thought about replacing it with some retro looking bike with a womans frame but after learning how old the bike was she was really thrilled and impressed by how nice it rode. She wrote down the CABE after I told her about it, she was interested in learning more about her bike.
My daughters favorite is a 72 Raleigh Carlton that had the bars switched out to make it a nice sit up and beg ride. She uses it to get around at Humbolt SU up in Arcata. She just has to watch out she doesn't run over Bigfoot.
 
If the Dyno works and the price is reasonable I would think hard about it. Needs a good cleaning up, some steel wool and oil on the chrome but that is a good rainy/snowy/icy stay at home day project.
 
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