Here's a Raleigh you don't see everyday.

[Oilit]

Raleigh and the various Birmingham brands exported bikes like these to the U.S. There was a great deal of pressure to export and sell bicycles in the mid and late 1950s in Britain. The US market offered a great deal of opportunity with more children coming to the age where they needed bikes by the late 1950s. Each brand seemed to have a different take on what should be offered on these bikes, and even what kind of shape the frame should be (though they all seemed to focus on the "cantilever" style overall). You'll see the differences in the frame styling if you set them next to each other. They all seemed to have a little different version of the cantilever. It did not help that the Sturmey SW plagued these bikes as it did so many others in the mid and late 1950s. If the Schwinn Racer and Traveler were American takes on a British design, the Lancer is a British take on an American design. Good find.

Thanks! Do you know if Raleigh offered these on their domestic market?

 

[juvela]

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cannot recall previously seeing a machine fitted with Raleigh marked what appear to be GB brake calipers

note how long is the adjustment slot here and in both the front and rear the pads are at the top of the travel suggesting that caliper model and frame geometry not a match made in heaven


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[Oilit]

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cannot recall previously seeing a machine fitted with Raleigh marked what appear to be GB brake calipers

note how long is the adjustment slot here and in both the front and rear the pads are at the top of the travel suggesting that caliper model and frame geometry not a match made in heaven


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The attachments for the fender braces are also kind of awkward, especially for a production machine. If they had stayed in production longer, some of these details may have been refined a little more.

 

[SirMike1983]

The British catalogs I have don't show the Lancer. But there is always the chance it could be bought special order. The early 1960s parts book shows cantilever frames of various types could be bought as parts. I suspect that even were it sold in Britain, that its main aim was the US market, given the features involved. The amount of chrome, cantilever frame, and wheel size all point to a bike designed around American tastes of the mid and late 1950s. The frames are somewhat undersized compared to adult bikes and are denoted as "Boy's" frames in the parts book.

 

[Oilit]

The British catalogs I have don't show the Lancer. But there is always the chance it could be bought special order. The early 1960s parts book shows cantilever frames of various types could be bought as parts. I suspect that even were it sold in Britain, that its main aim was the US market, given the features involved. The amount of chrome, cantilever frame, and wheel size all point to a bike designed around American tastes of the mid and late 1950s. The frames are somewhat undersized compared to adult bikes and are denoted as "Boy's" frames in the parts book.

View attachment 1680727

I haven't seen that catalog before, thanks for posting!

 

[Oilit]

Looking back, I didn't have any close-ups of the fender braces, so here's a couple. These do the job, but if these bikes had stayed in production I expect these stays would have been simplified pretty soon, more like the standard one piece Raleigh braces.

 

[juvela]

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Mr. Lancer Esq. shall be in relative sartorial splendour just as soon as he is able to eschew Herr Wald

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be hub anterior the SA/Sir Wally thing-a-ma-jig?

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what be thine plans wrt luma land?

complete the grain grinder system?

remove what be there and run without?

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wondering if machine even at home since there has been no visitation from the usual explosives experts...


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[Oilit]

This is the best shot I have of the front hub, it looks like the standard Raleigh item. As for the headlight, I'll keep an eye out for another but I'll fiddle with this one in the meantime and see if I can do anything with the switch.
And you are correct, this is the shop I manage at the university. I've had it mostly to myself over the summer which is handy, but the students are coming back next week, so this weekend I've got to transfer a couple of projects to my shop at home, which some dummy has packed to the beams with old bikes and parts.

 

[juvela]

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"which some dummy has packed to the beams with old bikes and parts."

...it ain't fer nuthin' that 'e wears a funnel fer a chapeau...


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[Andrew Gorman]

From what I've seen with German bikes, export models were export only models- someone in the US spec'd them and and bought them all on one contract. Folks on the German bike nerd boards get pretty interested when I post a US style German made bike- they have not seen them before, and they are as obsessed as people here on the CABE.