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1952 Dunelt

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Allrounderco

I live for the CABE
Well I signed up for the Society of Three Speeds Three Speed October this year. Later that same day, I showed and sold my 3 spd Corvette to a guy who also took my Electra with the Nexus 3, and may come back for one of my pre-war bikes. As I was counting my cash, I realized “crap - I just sold my last two three speeds.” So I went to see what it would take to put an assembled Schwinn Speedster wheel into a Collegiate frame, while casually looking for another English light Roadster. And this is what I found. There is a lot wrong with it, but it’s straight, fairly complete, and can be ridden (although I have a few weeks to ready it).
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That's a nice find. It's very old for a Dunelt in the US. They usually turn up as later bikes that were Raleigh-made. This is an older, Birmingham bike. It is set up a bit differently than the Raleigh-type, but you should be able to find the parts you need with some patience.
 
That's a nice find. It's very old for a Dunelt in the US. They usually turn up as later bikes that were Raleigh-made. This is an older, Birmingham bike. It is set up a bit differently than the Raleigh-type, but you should be able to find the parts you need with some patience.

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Thanks very much for this information SirMike.

So were Dunelts all Dunelt produced right up until the 1960 TI acquisition of RI?

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A Dunelt memory -

Made me first visit to the campus of Leland Stanford Junior University in Palo Alto California during 1970.

The campus proper is perfectly flat and quite large so even a one-speed is all a person really needs to get about.

Wherever there was an open space between campus buildings there were these old time wooden bike racks painted green which appeared to go back several decades. Each one looked like it could hold fifty to one hundred machines.

Wherever I looked it was wall-to-wall black Dunelt three-speeds with their white mudguard patches showing as they were all parked heading in to the rack. There were no other bikes to be seen. It almost looked like the university issued them to all incoming freshmen.

Next visit was about about two years later; "the boom" had hit in full force and it was an assortment of tenspeeds everywhere. Most of the Dunelts had disappeared.

Thanks for sharing this find. I got to learn a bit about the marque. ;)

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That's a nice find. It's very old for a Dunelt in the US. They usually turn up as later bikes that were Raleigh-made. This is an older, Birmingham bike. It is set up a bit differently than the Raleigh-type, but you should be able to find the parts you need with some patience.
Thanks for that. I've certainly never seen a Dunelt of this vintage before. I had a blue '71 Dunelt (Raleigh Sports equivalent) which I took as partial trade - and that started my interest in the English bikes. I did grease the BB (there's a port) and the front hub, as well as oiled the rear hub. And then put a few miles on it. It will definitely make the Three Speed October challenge (although I might loose the first two gears if I don't address the fraying shift cable). My plan for the moment is to replace the shift cable, address the non working rear brake, replace all pads, true the rear wheel and replace rear tire, and try to find a more appropriate seat. In November I'll decide if I want to hang on to it - which at this point looks like a yes. If I do, I'll tear it down and address everything (has a bent right crank arm, incorrect left lever, incorrect front rim, wrong rear fender stays, bars are a little bent, and of course the cosmetics).
 
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Thanks very much for this information SirMike.

So were Dunelts all Dunelt produced right up until the 1960 TI acquisition of RI?

---

A Dunelt memory -

Made me first visit to the campus of Leland Stanford Junior University in Palo Alto California during 1970.

The campus proper is perfectly flat and quite large so even a one-speed is all a person really needs to get about.

Wherever there was an open space between campus buildings there were these old time wooden bike racks painted green which appeared to go back several decades. Each one looked like it could hold fifty to one hundred machines.

Wherever I looked it was wall-to-wall black Dunelt three-speeds with their white mudguard patches showing as they were all parked heading in to the rack. There were no other bikes to be seen. It almost looked like the university issued them to all incoming freshmen.

Next visit was about about two years later; "the boom" had hit in full force and it was an assortment of tenspeeds everywhere. Most of the Dunelts had disappeared.

Thanks for sharing this find. I got to learn a bit about the marque. ;)

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Thanks for that story. I read it once in another thread when researching my other Dunelt, but it's worth a re-read :).
 
Interesting bike! Those fender stay attachments are unusual, that must have been an early type. And does anybody know the story behind the animal at the top of the badge? Is that supposed to be a bear?
 
Interesting bike! Those fender stay attachments are unusual, that must have been an early type. And does anybody know the story behind the animal at the top of the badge? Is that supposed to be a bear?

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I assumed the ursinic device to be a part of the Dunelt family coat-of-arms but was unable to locate an image of it.

Here is what heraldric experts have to say about them -

Bear_in_heraldry

Not all Dunelt head emblems exhibit it -

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There was also the Dunelt steel making enterprise located in Sheffield -


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Interesting bike! Those fender stay attachments are unusual, that must have been an early type. And does anybody know the story behind the animal at the top of the badge? Is that supposed to be a bear?
I’m thinking it’s going to be easier and quicker (and likely cheaper) to replicate the missing rear stays, rather than finding originals. Thankfully whomever replaced them left the brackets on the fender. And used the existing reflector hole to mount the replacement.
As far as the badge goes, all I know is that it’s about 100 times cooler than the badge on my ‘71 (which was nice in its own right. I paid $30 for the bike, so I probably did ok just on the badge alone :)
 
You may be able to make a set. They're usually just a rod threaded at one end, with an eyelet for the frame mount at the other. You may just need to measure the length for the back and copy the design. They make threaded rod stock, though ideally you'd start with a smooth rod and run a die over the end. The other option is to try Ebay UK or Cycles of Yesteryear in Britain. You might find some in the US, but they're uncommon here compared to the later stuff.
 
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