Unidentified old bicycle.

[dohraku]

From the many wise men who gather here I would like to learn.

I am repairing an old bicycle made in England.
But I know nothing about this bicycle.
There is no maker's name or emblem.
The frame seems to have been painted several times over the years.

I removed the paint bit by bit but could not find any maker's name or emblems.

What was found is described below.
Numbers on the top of the seat tube, on the right side.
The number is 25058.
Roman letters on the upper left side of the seat tube.
Looks like a 'D', but it's not clear.
There is nothing anywhere that looks like an engraving to identify it.
Only 'MADE IN ENGLAND' on the pedals.
The front gear design is star-shaped.
This looks similar to the elswick one from the images found on this website.

 

[juvela]

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pedals appear to be Brampton

often when a maker employs one Brampton fitting others shall be present as well; such as chainset, bottom bracket, headset, seat binder, etc.

no view of full frame nor of front portion is given


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[dohraku]

Tentatively assembled.
The overall picture looks like this.

I will look into 'brompton'.

 

[juvela]

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thank you for this image

the parts manufacturer mentioned above is Brampton Bros.

"brompton" is a modern marque of folding cycle

searching on it unlikely to be of assistance

member @dnc1 is sure to have some good information on this machine ; ^ ]



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[FreedomMachinist]

The bike looks a bit french to me ... freewheel and one one rim brake on the rear- fork crown and fittings look very frenchy , too. and the rims might be "chapeau gendarm" type - generally used in France from 1890s to 1930s. I'd estimate the bike to 1900 to 1915.

 

[Oilit]

It looks like there's two brakes on the rear wheel, which makes me wonder if one was originally on the front.

 

[juvela]

It looks like there's two brakes on the rear wheel, which makes me wonder if one was originally on the front.

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...or perhaps the manufacturer fully appreciated just how thoroughly useless rod brakes be...


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[dnc1]

Interesting brake set up as mentioned above.
The upper rear brake set up should be on the front forks, but the cable would be far too long in this position.
The rod-brake lever operating the lower rear brake, doesn't look like it's attached to the rod setup? It also doesn't look like it is shaped to suit those handlebars.
Something is remiss!

Back to the original post, (and the later post suggesting French provenance); if the pedals say 'Made in England' then that tells you that the crankset is almost 99.99% also of that origin.
French bikes used metric threading throughout (often in unusual sizes) and British pedals don't quite fit French cranks, and vice-versa.
The cotter-pins that hold the cranks onto the axle are also a good indicator of country of origin, French are typically 9.0mm in diameter, British 9.5mm.

Those handlebars look very French, but the similar ones I have on my 1925 'Rexor' from Paris are described as "guidon Anglais" in their catalogue! So it can get very confusing indeed.

The chainset is a version of BSA's early X pattern design.
I personally have British, French, Spanish and Latvian (yes, Latvian!) bicycles all featuring this very design.

Lots of British manufacturers used it over the years, including Elswick, as you mentioned, but not exclusively by Elswick.

Can we see more detailed photos of parts like the bottom bracket cups, hubs, saddle and freewheel please, as these are frequently marked by their manufacturers?
I can't believe that there is nothing written/stamped on any of these parts.

Is the fork crown nickel or chrome plated, and is that shiny bit just a cover, or the actual fork crown. All of this information will help in dating.

As to the wheelrims, 'Chapeau de Gendarme' (French) and 'Westwood' (British) styles are virtually identical in cross-sectional profile.
French ones come in 3 different 28 inch sizes (700A, 700B, 700c), British ones in 700B only.
Or does it feature 26 inch wheels?

So much to find out, please enlighten us further @dohraku and hopefully we can help.

 

[dohraku]

Juvera

Thank you.
I have never heard of the manufacturer 'Brampton bros' before.
I will keep this manufacturing company in mind.

 

[dohraku]

FreedomMachinist

Thanks.
Wow, such an old bike!

I'm going to take this bike apart a bit more.
Then I will observe each part and see if there are any markings, etc.