Rusty Lenton Sports Reg Harris Model

[SkipdiverJohn]

These lightly used bikes hanging in garages are just starting to come up for sale

You mean that now spring is near, people are starting to venture back into their unheated garages and sheds for the tidy up that they've put off all over winter and are realising there's a long-forgotten bike lurking within?

 

[Windhover]

Finished the Rusty Lenton restoration. Here are some before and after pics. Happy with the result. Cost £35 to buy and £38 for new bits. 9 weeks of work. Looks a bit shiny with lacquer over pitted rust on frame but should be weatherproof. Am now a convert to using oxalic acid to get this result. Hub and dyno hub dates do not match frame number. Phillips pedals. wrong mudguards and rear light, But who cares.... Just need gear cable and can start to use it. Thanks for all the helpful comments.

 

[biggs682]

@Windhover that looks good and reminds me of my Hercules that i have and enjoy

 

[Gatters]

Enjoyed your story @Windhover

 

[carpenter]

They said it couldn't be done
Brilliant restoration, well done (I bet you keep going for a look at it!).

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Looks Good, well done

 

[Windhover]

Postscript.
Tested the Lenton on a 30 mile run from Exeter to Totnes via Dawlish and Newton Abbot. Down the flat Exe Estuary to Dawlish with a following wind was a doddle but climbing Haldon Hill to Newton Abbot was a different storey. Very steep hills so no wonder Brunel kept to the coast when routing his Great Western Railway through here. I'd replaced the original 19 teeth with a 24 teeth sprocket on the rear hub so thought I'd manage the hills well enough but soon realised that I only had high and middle gears. Low gear was nowhere to be found. So had to push the bike up the hills. Back home after fruitlessly fitting a new cable, toggle chain and 2 replacement triggers, I gave up and dismantled the hub. Found the pawl springs had rusted away on the high gear mech. Probably had rusted in their casing after water had got in whilst the rest of the bike rusted quietly outside in the rain, Hopefully new springs should sort it out provided I can put the hub together again.
Otherwise I'm happy with the bike. A bit of a stiff ride but a comfortable saddle and lightweight enough for its time. Not as good a ride as I'd expected to be honest but will try again if I can get three gears.
Its all up weight is 33 lbs which compares well with my modern Giant Escape 3 aluminium bike at 34.4lbs; my 1990's Peugeot 531 pro at 26 lbs and my Raleigh Superbe steel bike at 40.6 lbs.

 

[davidphilips]

Sorry the test 30 mile cycle was not just as good as it may have been, some times i find it takes a bit of fine tuning to get a bike just right/ Your Lenton looks great and i am sure if it was parked up beside a lot of new expensive bikes yours would be the bike that would get the most admirers.

Just a thought but your saddle looks very far forward? perhaps try and adjust setup a bit? What i usually do is line up BB with another bike i know i like setup on then adjust saddle and bars to a similar setup, know the first really good Wednesday or Friday i can get out i am going to take my Lenton on a club run (Wednesday and Friday are the steady runs) , only my view but Lentons are great bikes not be the fastest, rarest or best looking but just a great classic bike that still turns heads every day.
Quick edit, just a thought but my Lenton is 4 speed? Is your rear hub 4 or 3 speed?

 

[funk2monk]

Really interesting and informative restoration project with some very good tips and methods for rust removal.
I will try some oxalic acid on some of my Armstrong components. Unfortunately the frame was too far gone to restore so I've had it blasted and its going for repainting soon.
Well done Windhover a fantastic restoration

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I've got an old slack geometry, believed to be Raleigh, steel frame that looks very similar to the Lenton (but isn't one because the lug detail is different). Seeing this Lenton project completed has just got an idea forming in my head that it might be fun to stick the pair of more recent alloy 700c, SA 3-speed hybrid wheels I've got, on my old frame and see what the end result is.. The original wheels were ISO 597 26" x 1 1/4" but were just scrap. There's no mudguards, so 700's may well fit if the brakes will adjust.

 

[davidphilips]

I've got an old slack geometry, believed to be Raleigh, steel frame that looks very similar to the Lenton (but isn't one because the lug detail is different). Seeing this Lenton project completed has just got an idea forming in my head that it might be fun to stick the pair of more recent alloy 700c, SA 3-speed hybrid wheels I've got, on my old frame and see what the end result is.. The original wheels were ISO 597 26" x 1 1/4" but were just scrap. There's no mudguards, so 700's may well fit if the brakes will adjust.

just some thing that i thought of the Lenton may have 2 different types of lugs? So perhaps your frame is a Lenton? Hopefully some one with a better under standing can update.

 

[Windhover]

I've got an old slack geometry, believed to be Raleigh, steel frame that looks very similar to the Lenton (but isn't one because the lug detail is different). Seeing this Lenton project completed has just got an idea forming in my head that it might be fun to stick the pair of more recent alloy 700c, SA 3-speed hybrid wheels I've got, on my old frame and see what the end result is.. The original wheels were ISO 597 26" x 1 1/4" but were just scrap. There's no mudguards, so 700's may well fit if the brakes will adjust.

I've got an old slack geometry, believed to be Raleigh, steel frame that looks very similar to the Lenton (but isn't one because the lug detail is different). Seeing this Lenton project completed has just got an idea forming in my head that it might be fun to stick the pair of more recent alloy 700c, SA 3-speed hybrid wheels I've got, on my old frame and see what the end result is.. The original wheels were ISO 597 26" x 1 1/4" but were just scrap. There's no mudguards, so 700's may well fit if the brakes will adjust.

 

[Windhover]

postscript 2.
Thanks for the comments. I really appreciate the advice,
Yes the saddle was too far forward and has now been moved back as far as it will go which helps overcome the short top tube length.
The AW sturmey archer hub has proved a doodle to rebuild and with new pawl springs I now have a fully functioning hub for an outlay of £3.30. If you have any qualms about dismantling a hub like this then forget them. Sheldon Brown's articles and a couple of You Tube videos will show you what to do. With a 24T hub sprocket I can now get up Devon hills in low gear. Mind you I can only go 17mph in high gear before I have to freewheel. Also I had to lengthen the chain to fit the larger diameter sprocket.
I would love to fit a sturmey archer hub to a pair of 700c alloy rims. The weight saving and larger diameter wheels sound good to me.
The saddle is original leather but new copper rivets. Comfy but don't know how long it will last.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I would love to fit a sturmey archer hub to a pair of 700c alloy rims. The weight saving and larger diameter wheels sound good to me..

I didn't have mine built; one day I was trawling a certain auction site and I spotted a very cheap Claud Butler Ladies town bike listed as spares or repair. Not my sort of bike at all; small size step-through frame with huge oversized single down tube - until I spotted it was SA hub geared and the wheels looked like alloy 700's or 27's! That made me sit up and take notice and I was soon hitting the "make offer" button with a cheeky bid, which got instantly accepted. The hub was made in 2000, apparently the final year of Nottingham SA production, and the rims are English-made Rigida too.

 

[velohomme]

Nice bike,
Reminds me of the Lenton Grand Prix I had in 1960. Second hand of course. Front mech was operated by a lever on the seat tube.