War-time or maybe pre-war ladies Royal Enfield with undated SA hub

[Oilit]

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very nice work there!

thank you so much for this update with the information on the threading and shell width.

many Raleigh built cycles which have 68mm nominal shells have actual shell widths of ~66.5mm.

have long assumed the 66.5 to be a convenient fractional size.

my Raleigh Competition model of 1969 has a shell of this width.

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66.5 (mm) / 25.4 (mm/in) = 2.618. Closest fractional size is 2 - 5/8, or 2.625 (66.675 mm). Could that be it?

 

[juvela]

66.5 (mm) / 25.4 (mm/in) = 2.618. Closest fractional size is 2 - 5/8, or 2.625 (66.675 mm). Could that be it?

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yes, thank you

and evidently done by more than one producer of shells...

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anecdote -

in 1974 was visiting a bicycle mechanic friend who worked at a local Sir Wally emporium

the "Team" model machine had just come out in its red with black and yellow trim livery

this subject somehow came up in our conversation and he pointed to the Team example hanging in the display rack

it wore a thick S-A 1.5mm spacer behind its fixed cup - an all Super Record kitted cycle!


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[3-speeder]

Progress is slow but it's still progress. Getting to my favorite point, reassembly. Just got the headset bearings packed and installed the front fork. I decided to grease the floating races and install the 1/8" balls onto them before I put them in place. It seemed best to put the bottom race in, slip the fork in, and then install the top race, lamp bracket and cap. I like to use the white teflon grease in the headset. It really stays put.

I also have the brakes back together after their soak in evaporust and a thorough cleaning. Could find no markings on them.

 

[juvela]

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lots of slow and careful work here

its the process which makes it all worthwhile

when it is done you will know all to be as right as it was possible to make it

those floating u-race headsets can be ticklish to work with; you are going at it just right

did you check the fork's alignment in a gauge while you had it loose?

shall look forward to the next update...


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[3-speeder]

did you check the fork's alignment in a gauge while you had it loose?

I didn't check the forks. I don't think that I have a tool for that. The front wheel had appeared to ride down the center pretty nice and seemed to be aligned okay as found.

 

[3-speeder]

The bicycle is now back together. I had a few small snags along the way but nothing that I wasn't ready for. For example, when I took apart the front hub there was surface rust on the inside. I was trying to figure out what I could use to hold Evaporust in there, like plug up one end or pack it with paper towel soaked in it, etc. but I finally just decided to remove the spokes and drop the hub in a jar to soak. That worked great. I got a nice shiny hub out of it and the wheel trued up really nice after relacing it. After removing the leather straps that held the brake cable I cleaned them with a saddle soap and then treated them with Brooks Proofide. They cleaned up well and softened right up but while reattaching them I tore one half way through to the pin hole. I swapped the two around and used the torn strap on the thinner down tube and was able to keep them both. Glad I started at the thicker seat tube.

This bike rides really smooth and feels taller than it is as the frame has the less steep angles of a roadster. I put a Bevin bell on it that I was told was a wartime piece by the seller at the spring ML swap. Man does that bell sound sweet. Such a mix of tones. Seems to never sound the same twice. Kinda sounds like the chimes from a scary movie or show that you might hear right before something bad happens or a ghost appears or something. I fitted the SA hub with an original 20 tooth sprocket to allow an easier ride and that feels perfect. The pins shine a little brighter and I think the headbadge transfer survived well and maybe even came out more colorful. You can really see the red in it. It is as faint as it was found but maybe cleaner and sharper looking. The old B66 looks right at home on 'er and feels good too. Any way, on to some pictures.

 

[dnc1]

You've done a great sympathetic conservation job on that bike.

 

[3-speeder]

I figured out that the original saddle that was on this bike when I bought it was this beautiful Brooks S 22/1. I wouldn't know how to clean or treat this saddle so it will stay in storage for now.

 

[SirMike1983]

That is the old style of mattress saddle construction. The core of the saddle is steel, with length-wise running coil springs. The bedding is horsehair, or sometimes a heavy burlap type material, and the surface is canvas or similar cloth covered with a spray to give it a faux leather type appearance. The spray was often a nitrocellulose mix, but I'm sure other chemicals were used over the years. The proprietary name was "Fabrikoid" and it was a popular faux leather treatment done from the 1910s to the 1950s. There's not a whole lot that can be done with these saddles, except for clean with damp cloth and keep the rust away. Do not allow the saddle to become soaked with water and do not treat with anything harsh like alcohol or acetone, etc. You can't treat it with proofhide really either, as that will encourage mold to grow and/or make the cover greasy. The black surface treatment will tend to crackle and sometimes flake off if you ride it a lot.

WWII and the 1950s saw a number of leaps in terms of synthetic materials. The mattress saddles eventually turned over to foam rubber bedding and vinyl coverings during the 1950s and into the early 1960s.

I'd say set the saddle aside and put it back on if you ever go to sell it. It's more a display saddle than something you would ride a lot. I usually throw a modern Brooks B66 on bikes I want to ride.

 

[3-speeder]

That is the old style of mattress saddle construction. The core of the saddle is steel, with length-wise running coil springs. The bedding is horsehair, or sometimes a heavy burlap type material, and the surface is canvas or similar cloth covered with a spray to give it a faux leather type appearance. The spray was often a nitrocellulose mix, but I'm sure other chemicals were used over the years. The proprietary name was "Fabrikoid" and it was a popular faux leather treatment done from the 1910s to the 1950s. There's not a whole lot that can be done with these saddles, except for clean with damp cloth and keep the rust away. Do not allow the saddle to become soaked with water and do not treat with anything harsh like alcohol or acetone, etc. You can't treat it with proofhide really either, as that will encourage mold to grow and/or make the cover greasy. The black surface treatment will tend to crackle and sometimes flake off if you ride it a lot.

WWII and the 1950s saw a number of leaps in terms of synthetic materials. The mattress saddles eventually turned over to foam rubber bedding and vinyl coverings during the 1950s and into the early 1960s.

I'd say set the saddle aside and put it back on if you ever go to sell it. It's more a display saddle than something you would ride a lot. I usually throw a modern Brooks B66 on bikes I want to ride.

Thanks for the information Sir