Help identifying 1950s Road bike

markremon

Retro Newbie
I purchase this bike yesterday, £30 on fb marketplace. I have been trawling through the frame numbers info and catalogues on the very engaging Nkilgariff website but find myself going round in circles trying to determine the age and make/model of the bike.

I have recently posted on the Holdsworth Frame Numbers thread and, acting on the responses now think it might not be a Holdsworth, Claud Butler or Freddie Grubb

The bike seems to be generally fitted out with 1950s components that were typical ona bike build in the UK for that period.



The frame number A 11677, located on the non drive side rear dropout. There is also a raised cast number on the BB shell that is hard to read but maybe J51(?).

The components include Holdsworth Allez pedals, Philippe stem, GB sport hiduminium brake calipers and GB levers, Campagnolo grand sport rear mech (4 speed cass), Benelux (cyclo) mk7 front shifter, Brooks B15 or B17 swallow saddle. Front wheel BH Defiance hub and Dunlop special lightweight rim. I suspect the rear is a replacement Rigida superchromage on a hub that appears to have a deer logo and the letter OMO? Head set and fittings are Brampton/Alatet. A lot of the components appear to be 1950s.

I’m unsure of the chainset although it is a double 46/49 and one of the arms includes a stamp with the letters a spearhead and the letters E, W, B, AT.

Seat tube decals seem similar to a 1950s claud butler I’ve seen online. Black with what I assume are Olympic bands (not rings). There is no headtube badge but the rivet spacing is approximately 66mm which seems quite large.

The frame has braze ons for a lamp, Front shifter (drive side only) and offset pump pegs on the downtube.

The only markings on the fork steerer are on the attached photos. There is a small number one and a small number 7. There is also painted letters that appear to spell RHODES. I’m guessing that is the builder/owner. Hope that’s useful

Thanks in advance to those of you who may be able to assist.

This is only my second restoration after recently building up a 1986 Peugeot CFX10 frame.
 

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Further photos attached
 

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Bargain for £30! It looks like it probably just needs a damn good clean and a strip and rebuild with plenty of grease.

It’s definitely not a Sun or a Parkes because the serial number is wrong for those.

Ignore the raised number on the bottom bracket - that’s just the model number for the bottom bracket shell.

I think from the deep, chunky lugs it’s a factory-built bike, not a handmade lightweight from a small builder. The plain rear dropouts would back this up, but that’s not always reliable on older bikes. I reckon it probably would have had a matching Benelux rear derailleur originally. I think that’s a French stem with a 22mm steerer. It might be worth measuring that in case you need to swap it for a more usual 22.2mm stem.
 
Thanks folks and to you again Glug. I’ll get some measurements taken and keep you posted if you are interested
 
No measurements taken but I have tried to fit a few Peugeot components I have to hand. A Simplex front make is to small a diameter to fit on the seat tube. A 26.4mm seat post is too large for the seat tube. An Atax steerer stem fits but is looser than the Philippe and a spare Raleigh stem.

I’ll get my bike mechanic mate to take some measurements.
 
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headset is Brampton Alatet
Thomas D. Cross & Sons Ltd also produced an Alatet model, theirs is the one employed by Raleigh

the frame's bottom bracket shell is a Brampton item

the raised marking is a model number for the shell, nothing to do with manufacturer of cycle

certainly appears definitely British from here


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Thanks Juvela

Chaps at Veteran Cycle Club think it’s mostly likely a 1953/4 Dawes Emblem Super Six with a few replacement parts. She is stripped, repaired and cleaned and I’ll slowly complete the rebuild over the next few weeks
 
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