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Need Help Identifying WWII Era Aberdale 3-Speed in Florida, U.S. (Made In England)

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rgross4140

On Training Wheels
Hi everybody. My name is Rick and I live in Florida in the United States and recently die acquired an incredibly rare bike that I’m trying to find out more about. It is an Aberdale 3 speed, English made. From what little I’ve been able to find out about the bike Aberdale apparently made bikes and their England plant from 1935 to 1945 making it a World War II era bike by default. And then crazy enough. This thing is practically impeccable shape it’s just missing a back reflector. The tires are full and it’s one of the best riding bikes I’ve ever ridden in my life.

I have searched forum after forum and there’s nothing in the US about it and from what I’m thinking from what it says it was a Englishman‘s working class bike during the war and once metals became rare most of them were smelt and used for making munitions, so I’m thinking that it must’ve been used for some type of in- war short distance use in another country and was somehow brought to the United States. I found it in the thrift shop and I knew there was something special about it. I don’t know if this needs to go in a museum or sent back to England or what but I don’t even know where to begin. If any of you can help me with this, it would be much much appreciated. Thank you!

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Congratulations on your nice Goodwill find. You should get years of use out of that one. Ride it and enjoy!

Sadly it is not a museum piece by any stretch. As a used vintage English bicycle it maybe worth a couple hundred dollars. It has nothing to do with the WWII, and actually looks as if it is post-war but I will defer to the experts on dating your machine.

You can do more research by posting it on the NVCC (for veteran cycles) page on Facebook or join the NVCC. Or post on one of the other English or World bicycle groups on that platform.

Maybe @SirMike1983 or @dnc1 could provide more information to you?


 
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As New Mexico Brant said, its a nice bike and will clean up and make a nice rider, but not really collectable although the name is unfamiliar to me. Aberdale could be a store that consigned bikes with their name, but that's pure speculation. The shifter control mechanism on the driveside rear hub looks to be from a Shimano 333, their version of the S/A AW hub. These date from the late 50's to early 60's, so That would be a rough timeline. It looks like it might have had a chainguard at one time, due to the lighter colored band on the bottom of the down tube. I have a black chainguard that would fit. If interested, send me a PM and we can discuss. Also, the handlebar shifter is incorrect for the timeline, and of course, the motocross grips aren't original. Everything else looks good, of course needing new tires/tubes. As it sits, I would put a $100ish price on it, and $175-200ish if sorted out and cleaned up with new tires/tubes
 
As New Mexico Brant said, its a nice bike and will clean up and make a nice rider, but not really collectable although the name is unfamiliar to me. Aberdale could be a store that consigned bikes with their name, but that's pure speculation. The shifter control mechanism on the driveside rear hub looks to be from a Shimano 333, their version of the S/A AW hub. These date from the late 50's to early 60's, so That would be a rough timeline. It looks like it might have had a chainguard at one time, due to the lighter colored band on the bottom of the down tube. I have a black chainguard that would fit. If interested, send me a PM and we can discuss. Also, the handlebar shifter is incorrect for the timeline, and of course, the motocross grips aren't original. Everything else looks good, of course needing new tires/tubes. As it sits, I would put a $100ish price on it, and $175-200ish if sorted out and cleaned up with new tires/tubes
It actually was a stand alone bicycle company oer this Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberdale
 
Congratulations on your nice Goodwill find. You should get years of use out of that one. Ride it and enjoy!

Sadly it is not a museum piece by any stretch. As a used vintage English bicycle it maybe worth a couple hundred dollars. It has nothing to do with the WWII, and actually looks as if it is post-war but I will defer to the experts on these.

You can do more research by posting it on the NVCC (for veteran cycles) page on Facebook or join the NVCC. Or post on one of the other English or World bicycle groups on that platform.

Maybe @SirMike1983 or @dnc1 could provide more information to you?


...not sure who the "NVCC" are Brant, new to me, but I don't do 'Facebook', the V-CC (Veteran-Cycle Club) are the ones to join.
I've just had a quick look through their library site and there isn't much, but what is there is a great illustration of how little British roadster style bicycles changed over the decades.
These images are from the 1935 'Aberdale' catalogue, and there were two cable-braked offerings back then which are probably very similar to your example @rgross4140.....

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I must admit, I was more familiar with their small engined motorcycles than bicycles, but it seems that, pre-war at least, they were offering an extensive range of bicycles, at least 7 gent's roadsters, plus the usual touring and racing style machines.
But what struck me was their range of kids bikes offered, more than the usual single boys, or girls model, and the colour options too.....

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...I would have killed for a 'Rodney Racer' in a "no. 54" finish!!!

Your best bet on dating this is from the rear hub, if is a Sturmey Archer model, but, as @jimbo53 has mentioned, it probably isn't a SA model.

A nice, relatively unusual find even here in the UK but pretty rare I should think on your side of the pond, but as mentioned above, that rarity doesn't necessarily equal valuable.

One final point, please don't believe the story that most of our bicycles were 'scrapped' for the war effort in the 1940's, we were still using these as adult transport well into the 1960's. That was their true value; cheap, reliable transport for the masses as we embraced 'car culture' decades after the USA.

(Images from V-CC library).
 
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Other info (from 'Graces Guide) to add to the information on Wikipedia mentioned above.
Taken over by 'Raleigh' by 1943 and owned by them until 1976.

Oh, and welcome to the wonderful world of The Cabe.
 
The way I would approach it is to examine the frame and see if the lugs and tubing are the same as a post-war Raleigh. The brand being taken over by Raleigh about 1943, you might be able to assign a date by deciding whether it's a Raleigh-type frame or is different from the Raleigh style frame. Just looking at the seat lug, it looks different from a Raleigh. The riveted rear fender bracket also is different from the usual post-war Raleigh. I'd be inclined to say it's a pre-war Aberdale frame with a number of parts swapped in the 1960s-80s period.

From the pictures, it has 1980s-style BMX grips, 1960s-70s rubber cable covers, 1970s style Shimano shifter and apparently hub (bell crank rather than indicator spindle and chain), vinyl 1970s saddle, 1960s style style waffle pedals, apparently differing brake levers, 1970s style front spoke reflector, and apparently a reflector tape applied here and there.

On the plus side, it looks like the paint is ok and some of the frame graphics are still there. The plating also looks generally good. The bike is probably pretty well-built. They last a long, long time when properly maintained.

It's an unusual brand, especially in the US, but not especially valuable in its current state. It is a good deal at the Goodwill/thrift shop level though. I doubt any other Goodwill has an Aberdale sitting in it right now.

So you have a decision to make. If you like how it rides now, you could leave it and just to some basic maintenance like cleaning, fresh cables, oil/grease, etc.

I'd be inclined to rollback the 1960s-80s changes and to look for period 1930s-40s era parts that roughly fit the time period of the bike. I would not get too hung up on getting all pre-war parts, because it may not be worth the time and money in the end.
 
You guys are all amazing thank you for help! Got a mystery on my hands. I’ll keep you all posted and if anyone has any additional info by all means. It’s such an incredibly smooth ride
 
Here's an example branded "Gresham Flyer" that is probably from the same time period. https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/aberdale-gresham-flyer.5068/
I think mid 1950's to early 60's is probably a safe estimate. It looks like the rear wheel was swapped out since the rim design is different from the front, it probably had a sturmey 3 speed, and was swapped to a shimano 3 speed. Make sure the handlebar stem isnt extended past the minimum insertion line before you ride it.
 
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