1953/4 “Kent of London” or “England”

[s1b]

My father was telling me that in 1953/4 he had got a new bike. A “lightweight”. He remembers it’s having “Kent of London” or “England” on it.
Anyone the, what brand that would’ve been?

 

[rollfaster]

Raleigh?

 

[s1b]

Raleigh?

That’s what he said to me in the past, but he’s really not sure.

 

[juvela]

-----

There is a Kent department store marque in the U.S. but I do not know if it was going at this time...

It is simply "Kent" and not "Kent of _____" The cycles under its badge all come from the orient.

Currently there is a "Kent International" bicycle manufacturing entity based in the U.S.

Raleigh did do chainstore contract manufacturing for U.S. companies. They did some for U.S. major brands also, such as Monark.

-----

 

[usarnie1]

It was not Hercules of Birmingham, as they manufactured four different bicycles in 1953/54. The Hercules Tourist, the Hercules Royal Prince, the Hercules Churchill and the Hercules Windsor.

 

[GTs58]

I had a 1961-62 Kent made three speed twin top bar cantilever light weight and the name of the bike was Londonair or something like that.

 

[dweenk]

As I recall a Kent passed through my hands a few years ago. It had a Sturmey/Archer hub and an aftermarket shifter. The model name was "Executive". I thought it was a contract build from England and passed it on quickly. The best components were the hub, crankset, and handle bars (oops, forgot about the brakes).