On ya bike, Mal!
- March 5, 2017
A 100+ year old British bicycle ridden by Bloke’s Lounger Mal Tyson has captured the interest of his fellow Team Tortoise cyclists.
Team Tortoise are slower - let’s say leisurely - riders who take to the streets from Budd’s Beach thrice a week heading to either Labrador or along the Spit track to the Southport Seaway, also making time for breakfast, a good yack and many laughs.
Mal rides the bike on the regular circuits alongside modern machines with all the bells and whistles.
Mal takes up the tale:
I found the bike at a recycle tip in West End about 10 years ago, and it was a real train wreck, but it took my interest because of its assumed age and the original head set badge which read British Archer Cycle England.
While in the process of restoring it, I searched all over the planet to find its origins but no luck.
Then my cousin in England suggested I contact the Bicycle Museum in Wales. They gave me an approximate date of manufacture of C1905, but had no record of the cycle in the UK. They did however strongly suggest it was made by the Raleigh cycle factory in Nottingham UK. Raleigh had an association with Sturmey Archer, at the time and for many decades later the leading maker of internal gears in the rear hubs of bicycles. The bike was made in the UK and directed to the overseas markets.
It took me about two years to get the same wheel type that was used on the bicycle. They are called Westwood rims, all steel and are made in the UK. I did the respoking myself, then looked around for hubs and bottom brackets of that era. Thank goodness for eBay!
I tried to use a rear hub which would have been used at the time with internal brakes, but although working perfectly failed to pull the bike up quick enough. So I fitted a three-gear Sturmey Archer hub and fitted also front and rear caliper brake set.
About the same time, I restored a C1930 Healing 28-inch English Roadster which took about a year to complete also. I advertised it on eBay for $300, no takers so reduced the price to $100.00. No takers also apart from guys offering me $70 or $80. I took it off the market and gave it to a bloke in our complex and he absolutely treasures it.
The Archer? Well, I will get nothing for it also so I haven't decided yet what to do with it; my kids won't use it so I might give it to a museum. #
Bloke’s Lounge Where mean aged 50+ get into social activities to meet new people and make new mates.
A 100+ year old British bicycle ridden by Bloke’s Lounger Mal Tyson has captured the interest of his fellow Team Tortoise cyclists.
Team Tortoise are slower - let’s say leisurely - riders who take to the streets from Budd’s Beach thrice a week heading to either Labrador or along the Spit track to the Southport Seaway, also making time for breakfast, a good yack and many laughs.
Mal rides the bike on the regular circuits alongside modern machines with all the bells and whistles.
Mal takes up the tale:
I found the bike at a recycle tip in West End about 10 years ago, and it was a real train wreck, but it took my interest because of its assumed age and the original head set badge which read British Archer Cycle England.
While in the process of restoring it, I searched all over the planet to find its origins but no luck.
Then my cousin in England suggested I contact the Bicycle Museum in Wales. They gave me an approximate date of manufacture of C1905, but had no record of the cycle in the UK. They did however strongly suggest it was made by the Raleigh cycle factory in Nottingham UK. Raleigh had an association with Sturmey Archer, at the time and for many decades later the leading maker of internal gears in the rear hubs of bicycles. The bike was made in the UK and directed to the overseas markets.
It took me about two years to get the same wheel type that was used on the bicycle. They are called Westwood rims, all steel and are made in the UK. I did the respoking myself, then looked around for hubs and bottom brackets of that era. Thank goodness for eBay!
I tried to use a rear hub which would have been used at the time with internal brakes, but although working perfectly failed to pull the bike up quick enough. So I fitted a three-gear Sturmey Archer hub and fitted also front and rear caliper brake set.
About the same time, I restored a C1930 Healing 28-inch English Roadster which took about a year to complete also. I advertised it on eBay for $300, no takers so reduced the price to $100.00. No takers also apart from guys offering me $70 or $80. I took it off the market and gave it to a bloke in our complex and he absolutely treasures it.
The Archer? Well, I will get nothing for it also so I haven't decided yet what to do with it; my kids won't use it so I might give it to a museum. #
Bloke’s Lounge Where mean aged 50+ get into social activities to meet new people and make new mates.
