Hercules Catalogue

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Dogtrousers

Lefty tighty. Get it righty.
I have a Hercules catalogue, I'm guessing it's from the 50s. I've had it for a very long time - it just surfaced during a tidying session.

I know there are collectors' websites that like to host this kind of stuff and I'm happy to scan it and send the images. Any thoughts on what to do with it?

Three sample pages follow
herc1.jpg


herc2.jpg


herc3.jpg
 

classic33

Leg End Member
 
OP
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Dogtrousers

Dogtrousers

Lefty tighty. Get it righty.
Woo £30. I could be rich.

I got it in the 80s when I was working for a small department store. They were remodelling upstairs and what had been a store room was being opened up for sales use and my job was to lug the junk from the store room to the bins downstair before repainting and putting up shelves. I saved it from the junk. So technically I nicked it and they could come after me for their £30. If they still existed. Which they don't.
 
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Dogtrousers

Dogtrousers

Lefty tighty. Get it righty.
That's a very nice catalogue and it actually dates to 1937. We have a full scan in our online library which has over 20,000 items for Veteran-Cycle Club members.

Thanks for the info on the date.

I'll just pack it away again and it'll resurface in a few years when I have another clear out
My first bike was a Hercules, must have been circa 1956
I now know my catalogue was nearly 20 years earlier (see above). But as the war intervened maybe their product line up was not too changed. Here's the relevant page
1000013721.jpg
 

simongt

Guru
Location
Norwich
I have a Coventry Eagle 'catalogue' of about the same period which I found when a LBS of great antiquity was being cleared out after his death.
The top of the range bike was a Flying Ace, Sports Model 84 @ £6.12.6 ( or 3/3d weekly on easy terms - ! ) with a similar spec to the Hercules.
I'd only recently noticed that all the Coventry range bikes had 26" rims which surprised me as I was brought up on 27" rims in the 60s & early 70s. So mountain bike rims were nothing new, but when did the switch from 26" to 27" become popular - ? :whistle:
 
OP
OP
Dogtrousers

Dogtrousers

Lefty tighty. Get it righty.
I have a Coventry Eagle 'catalogue' of about the same period which I found when a LBS of great antiquity was being cleared out after his death.
The top of the range bike was a Flying Ace, Sports Model 84 @ £6.12.6 ( or 3/3d weekly on easy terms - ! ) with a similar spec to the Hercules.
I'd only recently noticed that all the Coventry range bikes had 26" rims which surprised me as I was brought up on 27" rims in the 60s & early 70s. So mountain bike rims were nothing new, but when did the switch from 26" to 27" become popular - ? :whistle:

The Hercules Popular Roadster (£3 19/9d nett cash or on easy terms) pictured above is available with 26" or 28" wheels depending on frame size. The juvenile bikes have 24" wheels
 
I'd only recently noticed that all the Coventry range bikes had 26" rims which surprised me as I was brought up on 27" rims in the 60s & early 70s. So mountain bike rims were nothing new, but when did the switch from 26" to 27" become popular - ?

Dunlop and Constrictor introduced 27" rims in 1936, slowly spread as the old frames that could only take 26" died out.
 

raleighnut

Legendary Member
I have a Coventry Eagle 'catalogue' of about the same period which I found when a LBS of great antiquity was being cleared out after his death.
The top of the range bike was a Flying Ace, Sports Model 84 @ £6.12.6 ( or 3/3d weekly on easy terms - ! ) with a similar spec to the Hercules.
I'd only recently noticed that all the Coventry range bikes had 26" rims which surprised me as I was brought up on 27" rims in the 60s & early 70s. So mountain bike rims were nothing new, but when did the switch from 26" to 27" become popular - ? :whistle:

Different size to MTB wheels, in fact there are 5 different sizes nominally called 26"
When I rebuilt my Raleigh 3 speed I found it would take 700c wheels so had theose rims laced to the original 1986 SA hub and a 'hub-dyno' I had in the shed. All it needed was shorter reach brakes which I had in the shed and so was able to throw away those bits of twisted steel that Raleigh laughingly called brake calipers.
 
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