The collection so far...

[Cavalol]

Keep adding to the 'fleet' so rather than do a new post each time I though I'd do a thread or 'blog' if nobody minds?

Peugeot

Elswick (which has temporarily donated it's wheels to another bike!)

Dawes Fleur

BSA. Got this 'useable' again recently, needs a good ride out now.

Unkown frame

My lovely Harry Hall

Another 'wheel donator' a 1960s{?) Triumph

Raleigh
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a249/Cavmad/raleigh.jpg

The latest acquitions were these two, starting with a Raleigh 'Module 3'

And yet to be collected a 1950's (I think) Hercules Cycle & Motor Company 'Jeep'

 

[Andrew_Culture]

Great idea for a thread!

BRB

 

[wisdom]

Everyone is a gem.Nice to see some in used condition.Whilst its nice to see them restored,its just as pleasing on the eye to see them au naturale.Nice thread keep em coming(if you have space of course).

 

[biggs682]

great collection and great to some another retro user actually proud of his collection

 

[Spokesmann]

Some nice old hacks in there!

 

[Cavalol]

Thanks. I forgot to add that I scored this yesterday...

Not collected it yet and pondering what it's future will be. Immediate thoughts were to knock it up as a 'fixie' and flog it on again afterwards, but I'm now thinking of using the missing parts (wheel, cassette, seat etc) from the Puch Free Spirit I have and making that into a 'fixie' instead which should (hopefully) be far easier to do. Also as the Puch is in a partly stripped/bits missing state at the moment it'll be much easier to strip the paint off ready for a respray then rebuild. If the crank arrangement on the Triumph will fit the Puch then I'm laughing as I'll need very little to make the project complete, possibly just a back wheel though I'm hoping to have a spare one somewhere.

 

[Cavalol]

Collected the Peugeot and the Herc today. Peugeot can drop into the 'to do' list but might make a start tomorrow.
The Herc is a fab little thing: looks well cared for and original, tyres are flat but not really flat, so hopefully a bit of pump action will sort them. If they need repairs or tubes that won't be any bother of course. It's a diddy little thing, far too small for me but a nice little collectable I reckon. Although showing signs of age it's really good for the year, the previous owner was something of a 1940/50s tat collector and had rucks of old shizzle round his house. Thought he owned this from new or near new, but no proof of such if he did.
The history of the Hercules Cycle & Motor Company seems quite interesting: The company was founded by Sir Edmund Crane and started life in Coventry Street, Birmingham and the owner was declared bankrupt in the early 1900s, his family pretty much bailing him out by taking the business in their name but they got done for fraud, later over turned on appeal. They must have been busy as they were churning out bikes at an impressive rate of knots by all accounts, though my union 'leanings' would seem at odds with old Eddy, from what I discovered about him on the web anyhow!

So, tomorrow I might just have to remove wheels, give them a quick clean and check for punctures, test this electric hooter that supposedly still works then laugh at the absurdity of a fat 6" 3 bloke like me riding it away from prying eyes!

 

[Cavalol]

Started on the newly acquired Peugeot (it says 'Sport 10' and Carbonlite frame, or something like that on it) earlier as I was processing some WVO for the car.
Found a seat for the bike, though it's taking some effort to get the seat post in, and trial fitted the wheels from the Fleur just to see what it might look like.
Can I get the (broken) pedal off though? Can I heck as like, it seems the previous owner has had a good go and rounded the sodding thing off. However if I go 'fixie' on it I'll just replace the whole chain ring/crank 'thing' anyhow, meanwhile if someone can tell me how to get the pedal and bar* off I'd be grateful. It has a 10mm retaining nut, but removing that and using a hammer and myriad swear words has done the square root of naff all so far.

Just removed the wheels from the Jeep, will give them a good clean and check tubes for punctures after dinner. Sadly the chainguard is slightly bent (some careful work with rags and pliers will improve it) but the rest of the bike is even tidier than I thought, a quick wipe over with a rag and it's looking pretty decent now.
Very cleverly* whilst removing the wheels I moved back and knocked over about 2 litres of WVO which I'd just filtered, so there's a nice mess on the garage floor and less blooming fuel for the car now. GAH!!!

*Technical term for the bit the pedal is screwed on to!

 

[uphillstruggler]

if the pedal axle is still seized in, remove the whole crank, heat the pedal/crank juncion point over a flame for a few minutes, clamp the axle to something solid and try to rotate the crank. dont forget that the crank will be very hot so use gloves/rags to protect your hands.

had to do this myself recently, just be patient if it doesnt work first time, just reheat and try again.

 

[smokeysmoo]

it's taking some effort to get the seat post in!

Did you take it out?

If not, (ie: it came loose with the bike), then it may not be the right one.

I've done two resto/conversions on old Peugeot's and they both had 24mm seatposts. Only a few French manufacturers ever used 24mm, and not for long from what I found out.

As a result 24mm seatposts are like hens teeth.

Of course if you took it out and it's the right size ignore all the above

 

[Cavalol]

Thanks, UHS. To be honest if I can get the crank off (and fingers crossed I can) I will probably replace the whole shebang with a fixie conversion, many thanks for the tip on how to sort it as it's always handy to know this sort of thing and I have limited experience with cycles.

Smokey: There wasn't a seat (or stem) with it at all, I 'borrowed' one from my spares pile and being honest don't know what it was off, but certainly not a Peugeot if I removed it!
I think it can be persuaded to fit without too much trouble, probably needs a light skim if that's possible and maybe one of the fitters at work could do it for me.

Good news on the Jeep, the tyres just needed pumping up, the valves were leaking a smidge which must have caused them to go down, but I managed to get them air tight after some wiggling about. Put the wheels back on, did some more cleaning up and went on a 50 yard test ride, which was damned uncomfortable but quite good fun. It seems to have near new Dunlop Champion tyres and the rear wheel says 'Phillips, made in France' on it.

 

[Cavalol]

Time for an update!

This (Raleigh Aquilus) came into my life on Friday

raleigh aquilus2 by Cavlover1, on Flickr

Lovely little thing, was very impressed with the quality and general feel of the bike. Not heard of one before which actually made me more determined to get it.
I'd like to do a ride report on how it rode on a short-ish ride and how nice (or otherwise) it was, but I can't. Someone made me a very good offer for it the following day so like the merciless b*****d that I am, I sold it!

Obviously a week going by without buying another cycle is unthinkable so I got a few modern bikes including Giant hybrid and an older one, this, which I would think was a Raleigh of some sort (one or two bits bear the logo) but I don't know for sure. Can anyone please identify it?

raleigh1 by Cavlover1, on Flickr

raleigh3 by Cavlover1, on Flickr

r33 by Cavlover1, on Flickr

Thanks in advance.

 

[Cavalol]

Oh, how things change! The Peugeot Equipe found a great new home, the fella is chuffed with it and it'll be a near daily ride he says.So, this paid and paved way for some other bikes...
1960 (or at least that's what the owner suggested) Raleigh, in a nice shade of Dulux white and possibly the original blue underneath...

unknown Raleigh is unkown by Cavlover1, on Flickr

Raleigh Phantom.
Got some new tyres (albeit cheap, genuine Raleigh ones) and new tubes to get it rideworthy. I quite like this bike, a bit small for my frame but it's a real charmer I think, some nice 'patina' and a pleasant looking little thing

raleigh phantom by Cavlover1, on Flickr

Then this came up and I couldn't resist. It's a bl**dy lovely thing, the wheels aren't the best and it wants a bit of a service, but there's a local bike repair man who's really good and does things at a very fair rate. I'm going to give him a spare 27" rear wheel I have and ask him to change the freewheel over, along with a replacement rear derailleur, as I managed to knacker the original up

dawes legend by Cavlover1, on Flickr

Then a 1960 Sprick (Dutch, I'm told) bike came up that looked a treat on the advert, so a hop across the border into N. Wales after work saw me add this to the collection. It's in really nice order, obviously has been looked after and has solid tyres. Goodbye punctures!

sprick roadster 1960 Dutch solid tyres by Cavlover1, on Flickr

Another nice bit of kit is this. I've been really lucky recently getting some quite original bikes with nice wear to them, this being a pretty good example and it has a nice big frame, too...

falcon 24 inch racer 10 speed by Cavlover1, on Flickr

Same seller had this so I bought that too, as you do!

falcon oxford by Cavlover1, on Flickr

But the piece de resistance of my recent purchases was this. A Raleigh Richmond with Blackwell bars. I'd ummed and ahhed about getting it and tried a couple of cheeky offers before realising it was just too nice to miss, so I met the agreed price with the seller and collected it last week. It's a lovely bike, personally I find it so easy on the eye I can't stop looking at it!

Raleigh Richmond 5 speed 1 by Cavlover1, on Flickr

raleigh richmond 3 by Cavlover1, on Flickr

raleigh richmond 5 speed Blackwell bars by Cavlover1, on Flickr

raleigh richmond REYNOLDS 531 BUTTED FRAME by Cavlover1, on Flickr

 

[Cavalol]

Time for an update methinks, as many have come and gone since I started this thread! Today I got this, been after one for a while and was very happy to have bought it...










And my new favourite....





The Basso is a work of art, I'm really smitten with it. The bloke I bought it off had owned it from brand new and was quite sad to see it go. I just need to change the pedals, inflate the tyres better and wait for a nice weekend weather day and I'll give it a good old spin out.

 

[young Ed]

good, some great great bikes there!
now you must keep black and yellow raleigh and the white falcon and the green and red basso but you may get rid of the miniature blue one if you wish
Cheers Ed