Sunday 4 March 2012

My hobby branches out!

I haven't posted on my blog for a while partly because I just haven't had time and partly because I just haven't felt particularly inspired lately. Don't get me wrong, I still love my bike and have had some good rides with some good people recently including my first ride of Glentress, one of the 7 Stanes.

However, this post is really about how I have found a new aspect of bikes which has engulfed my free time. This new obsession has arisen from my lack of cash and my need to finance my cycling hobby. So, recently I bid on several bikes on Ebay with the intention of cleaning them up and selling them on in order to build a decent Paypal balance.


Above is the Rudge Roadster. Judging from the frame number, this bike was built around the late 1950s or early 1960s. Even though Rudge was one of the many British bike builders bought by Raleigh after WWII, this bike may still carry some of the features seen in the 1940s like the white bottom part of the rear mudguard and the rod brakes.

As you can see from the photos, there's a lot of work to be done but even before the it has really begun, I have the feeling of attachment that is going to make selling them on the hardest part of the process.

This bike has been painted black but upon scraping the top coat off it appears that the original paintwork can be seen underneath. Raleigh made bikes of this era in 3 colours; black, dark metallic green and 'coffee', a metallic brown which it looks like this bike was.

  I also now own a Elswick-Hopper child's bike and a 1960s  Tr-Raleigh racing bike. These bikes will take much less work to restore and I already think that the Raleigh might be my commuter to work and back over the Summer. I have no qualms in the changing of it's colour and modernisation of some components so it may end up as British Racing Green with brown grip tape to match the fetching Brooks saddle.



So watch this space. If I don't update for a while it may be because I have made absolutely no money, kept all the bikes, spent my savings on them and have now had my internet connection cut off due to non payment!

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