Pair of 1955 Royal Crowns

[SirMike1983]

English bicycles became very popular in the U.S. after WWII, along with English cars and motorcycles. The lightweight 3 speeds are still sometimes referred to as "English racers" and compared to a single speed balloon tire bike, you can see why. Schwinn put Sturmey-Archer hubs in their own lightweight frames, but Huffy and AMF imported complete bikes (Raleigh and Hercules) and sold them under their own badges. It's no surprise that the big chain stores imported English bikes, but even for the manufacturers, designing lightweight three speeds from scratch would have taken time, and evidently English bikes were available at good prices after the war. Post some pictures of your bike and somebody on here can probably tell who made it.

"Export or die" was the motto for the British right after WWII. They relied heavily on exports to the US for revenue in those days. The English-made bicycles represented an extraordinary value in utility bicycles at that time, so several brands imported them under various labels.

 

[Oilit]

@bulldog1935 , that makes sense. After the 10 speeds took over, the differences between various 3 speeds wouldn't have been a big issue for most people. When I was a kid, in the late '60's and early '70's, "racing bikes" were the thing to have, and included anything with drop bars, skinny tires and 10 speeds. At least among the schoolyard sophisticates.

 

[Oilit]

"Export or die" was the motto for the British right after WWII. They relied heavily on exports to the US for revenue in those days. The English-made bicycles represented an extraordinary value in utility bicycles at that time, so several brands imported them under various labels.

I'm guessing that part of the post-war economic boom in the U.S. was due to pent-up demand that had been suppressed during the Depression and through the war, and part was due to the fact that the rest of the industrialized world was still digging out of the rubble.

 

[bulldog1935]

I made a Memorial Day post, and I think the biggest part was the exposure English bikes got in England to the 8th Air Force and Expeditionary Forces before D-Day.
http://thecabe.com/forum/threads/memorial-day-our-love-for-lightweights.111436/
Right after the war, the English wanted to export anything they could, and we wanted to help their economy.
In the 60s, for the next generation, all things English were in.

 

[dihummer]

I know this is an old thread.

The "Royal" name for bicycles was trademarked by the D. P. Harris Hardware & Manufacturing Company, Inc. of New York in 1955. The "Royal" in this style was sometimes used in combination with another word: Royal Crown or Royal York.

The bicycles all appear to be Made in England and look like Hercules manufactured.

 

[SirMike1983]

That headbadge with York Cathedral on it is great.

 

[Oilit]

I know this is an old thread.

The "Royal" name for bicycles was trademarked by the D. P. Harris Hardware & Manufacturing Company, Inc. of New York in 1955. The "Royal" in this style was sometimes used in combination with another word: Royal Crown or Royal York.

The bicycles all appear to be Made in England and look like Hercules manufactured.

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Thank you for the information! From some of the bikes I've seen since I first posted this thread I suspected there was a link with D.P. Harris, but now you have confirmed it. But the lugs on mine don't look like Hercules, I was guessing maybe Phillips? Regardless, I agree they're Birmingham built, not Raleigh.

 

[juvela]

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as a teenager put away a Pair of Royal Crowns ever' day...

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