When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

The Tale of Two Humbers

-
Rudge, Humber, and Raleigh represented the best brands of the Raleigh Industries lineup. I've seen it argued that the top was Rudge, then Humber, then Raleigh, but my experience has been that the quality of all three is about the same, which is to say, very good. They did not display the downmarket elements of some of the more budget brands in the RI lineup. All were offered in black, though each brand had its own characteristic "posh color" offering as well - Humber was dark blue, Rudge was a burgundy kind of color, and Raleigh was dark green. The posh colors tend to be more valuable than the black, but the bike itself is of no lesser quality.

And each brand had its own unique fork: Humber had the duplex; Rudge had heavy-duty, sloped shoulder; and Raleigh had the thimble. The Humber is the most unique fork, while the Rudge was arguably the strongest design (these forks also formed the basis for RI's "heavy duty" replacement fork line for a time). At some point in the 1960s, cust-cutting caused Humber and Rudge to lose their unique fork designs and go to a more standard design. The manner in which the fork blade dropouts were attached also changed to some degree.

So any pre-1960s Rudge or Humber is quite collectible today because they tend to have the quirky features of each brand. They are arguably more valuable and collectible than an equal condition Raleigh from the same year because of the different features. Extra value is given for a large 23 inch frame, intact chain case, rear rack, dynohub, etc.

With the tall bike, I don't know exactly what should be done about the finish. I guess I would be inclined to try oxalic acid with that amount of rust. The usual mechanical removal of rust is good for a bike in better condition, but sometimes oxalic acid (properly applied) will do surprisingly well when you have more rust. The black paint is pretty durable. The white is more prone to chip, wear, and fade, but as old paint goes, it's also fairly good. Maybe try a smaller part in oxalic acid first and see how it goes. Otherwise, you can remove the rust manually, but with that much, it's going to be a lot of work.
I’d always heard the Humber fork described as “bifurcated”. This is some nice restoration work.
 
Nice job, fun to see. I love the Druid cranks. The license is from Ann Arbor Michigan and was probably sold by Beavers Bike Shop. In the 50, 60s there were racks and racks of Raleigh bikes on campus. By the mid seventies they were nearly all gone.
 
Back
Top