1960s Edwardes

[richwoodham]

Picked this up via Freecycle last week - it's badged an 'Edwardes', a London cycle shop and I've no idea who actually built it. Seems like a fairly basic club bike - nothing too fancy, but decent enough to last 40 years. Lots of unbranded bits, cottered cranks, 26 1/4 wheels, Weinmann brakes and a Huret Svelto rear derailleur. My wife describes the colour as 'Austin Allegro Beige'.

 

[GarethPJ]

If the rims are good it would be worth selling the wheels and replacing them with 700c. 26x1 1/4" rims are virtually unobatainable these days, Freemans sell a very basic rim but other than that there's nothing around new. It the rims are aluminium they're worth a packet. Nobody makes them any more and they were pretty rare to start with.

There are no good tyres around in that size any more so you would get a better choice of tyre in 700c or even good old 26x1 3/8" (650a).

 

[one-eyed_jim]

What makes you say 1960s? It's got a lot in common with a late 1940s Rudge I used to have.

 

[richwoodham]

The rims are steel, and quite rusty, so I've been thinking about how to replace them. I think 700s might be too big for this frame, though? I read somewhere that 26" MTB wheels can be used to replace 26 1/4 so may give that a try.

1960s is a guess, based on the Svelto derailleur being introduced in 1963 and the serial number of the frame being 67122 - maybe a 1967 frame? It belonged to the uncle of the person I got it from, and he thought it might have been built in the 1950s - the derailleur could have been added later I suppose. The angles of the frame have that 'stretched out' look which I associate with earlier bikes.

 

[GarethPJ]

The drop on the brakes looks pretty extreme already, adding 19mm to that by fitting MTB wheels would make the brakes pretty ineffective. Unless you fitted pretty fat tyres it would also look pretty odd with such huge clearances.

For the same section of tyre a 700c would need half an inch of extra clearance. From the photos there looks to be more than enough space for that. Indeed I think a 700x32c would probably look better. A more traditional 27 x 1 1/4" would take 2 or 3mm more clearance.

I would have said the lazy angles could point to the frame being originally a sports rather than clubmans frame. As you say the derailluer could have been added later, but a five speed setup would be unusual on a low end bike from the forties.

 

[one-eyed_jim]

I would have said the lazy angles could point to the frame being originally a sports rather than clubmans frame. As you say the derailluer could have been added later, but a five speed setup would be unusual on a low end bike from the forties.

Indeed, but who's to say what's original? The bike might have been sold with a fixed/free, or even a Sturmey club gear. There are no braze-ons that would indicate either way. The geometry looks too slack to me for a '60s frame, and the skinny stays, the form of the fork blades, and that chromed crown seem far more at home to me on a 1948 frame than a 1968. Look at the bulged lower head lug too. Again, that's a feature of the Coppi era.

http://www.wooljersey.com/gallery/v/dim ... ewsIndex=1

 

[GarethPJ]

Hey that Rudge has almost got an STI on the right!

Seriously though I had a Coventry Eagle that was very similar in most respects and that was, according to the seller who had owned it from new, from about 1970. Much of the British bike industry was very conservative and features stuck around for a long time, stocks of things like lugs could last an age. Hell, some are still cropping up NOS now. Touring bikes in particular hardly changed for years, although a tourer would have been more likely to come with a three speed hub than derailleur gears.

Add to that the fact that it's very likely that Edwardes built this up around a bought in frameset and who knows how it ended up that spec. It could have been changed over the years, it could have been off the peg like that or it could have been a custom order. They could have had the frame festering in a back room for years before it was built up. It could even have been a custom built frameset, unlikely but possible. They could have refurbed a customer's existing bike.

All this is why dating bikes like this is next to impossible without any provenance.

Whatever it is it's nice to have something like that.

 

[GarethPJ]

Forgot to mention that if you don't want to go the 700c route Freemans will do you a pair of wheels in your original size for £32. Yes that's really £32. OK so they are pretty basic chromed steel rims and the hubs would probaby upset the purist restorer, but for £32 the pair you can't complain.

Or they would do you a pair of slightly better quality Rigida Berritti rims at £18 the pair to lace onto your existing hubs. That would make the purists happier, I suppose.

 

[richwoodham]

Thanks both of you for your thoughts on the bike - interesting reading. I don't think I'll ever know much about it for certain, but I'm very taken with it.
The Rudge is a great example of how I'd like to have it looking - I'm hoping the vintage look will help convince my wife to try a bit of light touring this summer...
I'll have a fiddle around with some 700c wheels tonight and see if they fit. I think I've got some 26 3/4s somewhere, too. If I don't have any luck with those, I'll try Freemans - thanks for the tip.

 

[richwoodham]

Quick update:

Freecycle came up trumps a second time - a set of 700C black Weinmann rims on gold Maillard hubs, from an old Raleigh Record Sprint. They're a great match to the colours of the frame.

The cranks have now been realigned, thanks to the Bicycle Ambulance in Cambridge and presumably some dark magic. I'm currently using it as a singlespeed, mostly because I haven't got round to putting the derailleur back on.

Hope I haven't offended any purists by changing the wheel size, but I'm trying to get everything from Freecycle for this bike and beggars can't be choosers!

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