| For me it was the quest for a bike that was designed to be ridden daily. (ie, has fenders, chain guard, reliable drive train, simple braking system.) What matched my search was the roadster. As an added bonus the bikes look classy, classy enough that I would look like a tool if I wore lycra while riding it. Please share your stories about your journey to the English roadster. by: 24.225.110.134 |
| I was 12 years old and my mom bought a 28 inch wheel rod brake ladied raleigh tourist d.l.1 like she had in England it was in the garage and it was really cool. I bought a mans version myself and took to collecting and hanging out at shops and searching out shops in 5 states and half of Canada. Calling, writing, buying out shops inventory.Swap meets, garage sales estate sales I went full force looking for bikes all kinds but the English bikes were and still are, the most special. This was at a time when it was going out of style 3 speeds when it was 10 and 15 and more speeds I rode the wave and caught up the old obsolete bikes tools and everything else then mountain bikes swept the English bikes out even more and I found those too. Trashpicking regularily for bikes the extra skip of the heartbeat, the wider grin on the face when I found a Raleigh and especially anything rod brake. Cards printed up, leads chased, calling, writing, usually all long distance, road trips to visit collectors all over. Such a marvelous time too. My hometown was the "Paris of the Midwest" and it was rich very rich! Please don't get discuraged it is still out there waiting to be found like pirate treasure lying on the sea floor. I want to hear your adventures. What you found or are finding e- mail me at humberchristopher29@hotmail.com by: 71.40.121.165 |
| One day in the early 1970s, I spotted a nice elderly man cycling a black sports model, likely a Raleigh (I was too young to really notice the brand, but my mind vaguely recalls a Herons head). He stopped in front of me to unload some goods from his rear parcel shelf. The white painted end of his rear mudguards and the full chain covers particularly facinated me. Noticing my interest, he shook my hand and offered me a ride on his bike as a pillion rider. As I was rather shy, I politely thanked him and declined his offer. "Thats alright, perhaps you'll own one someday." Patting me on the head, he cycled off. Since that day, Ive associated such bicycles with gentility and refinement. Such bicycles are evocative of an age gone by, a kinder, gentler era, when people worked to live and did not live to work. When folks stopped to greet each other and cared not just for themselves and their families, but also for others. Like many cities, Singapore society today is sorely lacking in these ways. Given his advanced age then, I don't think he would be alive today, but I hope that nice man lived a happy life to a ripe old age. Bless his soul. by: 164.78.248.57 |
| Ah, I've told this here before but of course it certainly warrants re-iteration here. In 1970 a good friend was given a Dunelt Sports for his birthday. It was red, three speed and very pretty. He was quite disappointed because he had his heart set on a "Spider" bike like my Columbia Playbike. From the very first ride he let me take on it... (we would "swap" bikes quite often) I was utterly enamoured with that machine. To the point where I moved enough lawns for TWO SUMMERS... to enable me to put together the $100 to procure my very own Raleigh Sprite 27 10-speed. And that... as they so oft say... is "History"! Later! Larry "Boneman" Bone - A roadster rolled over my heart once.... I've never been the same since. ;-) by: 4.154.217.7 |
| Ah yes, Ken, you bring up a good point about a by gone era. When on a roadster one does seem to be more of a gentleman. Perhaps it is the relaxed riding position. Maybe the fact that one really can't go too fast on a roadster affects ones perception of time, thereby making it easier to spare time to be kind to others. Hmmmm, I will have to think on this line of thought. by: 66.45.134.242 |
| The bottom line with me is probably the era it represents, it reminds me of a time when one had to get up off the chair and walk at least ten whole feet to turn the dial on the "tele" in order to watch the one and only other channel (that's if you were posh enough to own a tele), my Grandad was so proud to be the second person in a village to have an aerial on the house roof....I guess he must have been a posh coal miner ! The "wireless", the mangle, the range, chimneys, railways, factories, mines, steam, shops closed on Sundays, fields, buttons A & B in telephone boxes with doors that only Hercules could open, rain, pubs, Vimto, crossing gates, kissing gates, Bill Gates....oops sorry, transport cafes, getting dressed in bed in the morning because it was so damn cold, ice on the inside of the windows....it was great, well most of it was ! Yes, the Roadster to me is all of the above, it's also an elegant bike to ride. I better stop now before I disappear off into the past. Steve by: 93.96.36.127 |
| After a childhood spent on, in, around and meddling with bicycles, it was one small green bicycle which did it for me. I was at a local auction when I saw the Ladies Norwich rival in front of me. Painted garden gate green but basically whole it was looking in need of a new home. I told my wife, 'I'll have it if it goes for a fiver'. £5 later it was mine and I was hooked at about that time I discovered Oldroads.Com and have been posting ever since. I have told this tale before but as new folk request an update they get one. I think I have been posting here for about 9 years. Chris goes back further than that as do some other folks. I feel at home here, like I do in my shed. by: 82.12.245.21 |
| Whoops! for the first time in a very long time I didn't sign off properly. I have swine flu and everything is a major effort. Matthew - I opened the door and in flew Enza. by: 82.12.245.21 |
| Sorry to hear you're thusly afflicted Matthew. Though glad to see you're posting up. So is it all it's been made out to be? Or should we really be PANICING the way our news media over here thinks we should be? Feel better! Larry "Boneman" Bone - Give the grippe the slip! by: 4.154.218.45 |
| Steve, I am just old enough to remember when you had to get up to change channels on the tele. We had 4 T.V. stations and never felt we needed 100+ stations. I feel as you do that old roadsters are kind of like a time machine that only works in reverse. Oh how I would like to go on the Lake Pepin ride. by: 198.252.12.196 |
| Please forgive my ignorance Erik, but what is the Lake Pepin ride. Is it a mass Roadster ride through some beautiful scenery, if it is, I would probably gatecrash it with a wonderful period delivery bike (cycle truck)....my wife would gladly tag along on a Hercules Roadster. by: 93.96.36.127 |
| I was smitten with the bug in fifth grade; sometime in the early sixties. A neighor kid had one and I thought it was so fabulous. I asked for one for Christmas and my birthday for years and was told "no, make do with the Schwinn" which was a balloon tire cruiser. Eventually I got a no-name 10-speed when that was popular but gave it up when the rest of the guys and gals were getting their driver's license and driving their folks' car(s). It wasn't until 2003/4 that I bought a Raleigh Sports from this site and satisfied my desire for a real roadster and not one of the knock-offs. I love riding it and plan to do some cleaning and upgrading this winter season. The DL-1 with new Schwalbe tires rides like a dream. The Raleigh Trent Sports with new tires and wheels is a great road/toruing bike in the English tradition. And the R20 is that fun zippy bike for getting around the neighbood just because it is. Thom. by: 63.204.42.231 |
| Here you go Steve, http://www.3speedtour.com/ Check it out, this is my kind of ride. Oh and no need to gatecrash, just pay the entry fee. No lycra warranted, just a laid back English 3 speed only tour. I have never been but, think this would be a great time. I will partake in this event one day, I just don't know when that will be. by: 198.252.12.203 |
| Thanks Erik. Lake Pepin. 85 miles over two days on a bike with three gears (or four as long as its got a hub) with like minded people looks great fun to me. Loved the 1955 film to Rugby, for your knowledge, I've always been led to believe that Rugby is more or less the centrepoint of England. Steve by: 93.96.36.127 |
| I suppose the more correct answer is we all saw and were intriegued with it and then when you actually get on and ride it. the graceful ness, the smoothness the way it turns and handles at varoius speeds. the fact that it rolls on forever and holds up well and that cargo can be loaded onto it the romance and attractfulness of it but most importantly, the ride it gives. by: 69.153.86.42 |
| I was 10 years old and my neighbor got one for christmas, the first I ever saw. I saved every penny I could get my hands on, and one year and $48.00 later I was the owner of a green Raleigh Sports. I still remember the absolute thrill of riding that bicycle, even 50 years later. Soon every one in my family had one, a fleet of six in the garage. My fathers was a dl-1. Over the years they all evaporated, one by one. I moved away and mine was tragically sent to the landfill. Recently I acquired my fathers dl-1(the only one left because he wouldn't let the kids near it). I found it in the attic of the garage, intact but covered by debris and wasp nests. I have now restored it, and others, and I get that same old thrill every time I ride, which is often. I like reading as well as riding, and I check in here often. by: 64.222.237.67 |
| Got one to add to your list Chris. That is, nothing else looks as good with a brooks saddle and saddle bag as a roadster IMHO. by: 24.124.97.149 |
| Lake Pepin. 85 miles - is that before lunch? I mean with gears? Steve and I do long haul single speed and not on featherweight fixies (penny in the swear box). It does sound idyllic and a really relaxing jaunt, one to dream of. Matthew - Holyhead to Lowestoft next year? Look them up. by: 82.14.84.249 |
| Two yesrs ago someone left a very neglected SuperCourse at the landfill swapshop. The bottom bracket was completely frozen., bent fork & a size too small. Attemped to salvage it & beig too rough to restore thought I'd try my first fixie from it. There was a woman's Sports on craigslist & I figured I'd cannibalize it for the BB bits. Couldn't do it, was just too funky. Still in the basement waiting for me to give it more attention. Just about a year ago there was a single speed DL-1 on craigslist. After a bit of e-mail tag I bought it just before Xmas. I spent about 3+ hours driving that day to get it. Temp was about 25F (-4C) in a car with no heat. Certainly worth it. The ride is just so different from a derailer bike, stately, relaxed, otherworldly. By coincidence I did a ride in '06 from a bit north of Minniapolis to LaCrosse, WI & back. Was on my '81 Lotus with a couple of guys with carbon bikes which covered a good bit of what I would later learn would be the Lake Pipen course. My favorite meal of the trip was at a waterfront establisment in Pipen. Was a great place for a ride. Even leaning over drop bars. by: 72.37.171.44 |
| First roadsters I came in contact with were not "English". They were Indian and Chinese brake-rod roadsters, and the place was East Africa. They were being used as a real transport. Not as a pastime. And that is what got me curious, so it was a natral to look into them once I made the move to China. A post is scheduled for my blog in a few weeks on this topic. -JS http://www.flyingpigeonproject.org by: 193.23.43.5 |