| Hello, I'm in the process of possibly acquiring a Rival roadster of Norwich. I wondered if anybody here knew anything about the bicycles and the company? I'd like to know when they were made and if they used decent components. Any info would be greatly apprectiated as I don't seem to be able to find very much on the net. Sorry I don't have a picture as yet. Cheers Mark by: 77.100.158.168 |
| Hi Mark (we now need Luke & John), I have a Rival, built in an old shoe factory, the Johnson & Theobald building ,in Heigham street (H'am Street), Norwich by a firm of motor factors . They were basically Phillips components put together in Norwich. They were built from post WW1 to the 1950's and there are a few about in collectors hands. Mine is a 1939 ladies, rod brakes, mixte frame and pleasant round profile mudguards, bought for a fiver at a local sale. I have post war sales brochure. They are lovely to own, mine started the whole collection off. The name? a RIVAL to the Raleigh company in the rival city of Nottingham! Matthew - east tangling! by: 86.27.224.33 |
| You say the name Rival, and I think of cat food. Names are funny. by: 66.51.146.158 |
| Hmmm... did Rival make food for cats? I always thought they made dog food. Either way.... sounds like an interesting machine! Cheers! Larry "Boneman" Bone by: 193.38.170.65 |
| Ok, dog food. by: 65.31.73.217 |
| Hello Matthew, Thanks very much for the info. How did you date yours to 1939? Has it got a Sturmey? Any chance you could scan me a copy of your brochure? Thanks again Mark by: 77.100.158.168 |
| By the way, i thought I should share this with you 28" tires (635 or 700 B)) are available from Kenda and the following European manufacturers: Continental TourRide (0100094) 37-635 28 X 1 1/2 W:700 Continental TourRide (0126101) 42-635 28 X 1 1/2 W:800 Schwalbe Marathon Plus 37-635 28 X 1 1/2 Schwalbe Delta Cruiser 40-635 28 X 1 1/2 W:760 Nokian Sydney 40-635 Black W:760 We must insist and get these tires in the USA, in Europe you can get any size tire in the world but here we are being limited, conspiracy in the works??, please write to corresponding tire manufacturers and get the quality you want, we are not alone!! Cheers, J Ullfig by: 65.23.221.113 |
| Which of these, if any, have the correct Dunlop-style block tread (with 3 rows of blocks)? There are plenty of tyres in 28" x 1 1/2", but how many look like Dunlops? David by: 98.195.47.72 |
| The World Tour by Michelin witch is slowly being phased out plus many oriental "generic" brands i believe. by: 65.23.221.113 |
| The Schwalbe Delta Cruiser 40-635 / 28 X 1 1/2 is also available in cream. by: 65.23.221.113 |
| OK, my interested in these horns is now piqued to the point that I thought I'd start an entire thread on these. I know these were used extensively on American cars in the period from about c. 1900-1930. It also appears that they were used on American bikes. What about the English? Did Klaxons ever make onto bikes or motorbikes? It doesn't seem that they ever did, however I'm not sure about the early bikes. I assume they used them on their cars. Even if Klaxons turn out to be a total Americanism, I am dying for one on my DL-1 or Sunbeam. I've always wanted that "ahooga" sound. I've been watching ebay lately--these things go for more than a whole cycle! I saw one completed listing for a Klaxon that sold for $400. David by: 98.195.47.72 |
| You might try posting a free "wanted" ad on the Schwinn.com "Heritage" classifieds. There are a lot of guys there who go to bike shows constantly. I found an excellent, working Klaxon horn for my 1934 Schwinn Motorbike for $5 at a country junk shop a few years ago. by: 205.188.116.199 |
| Forgive me.... Can't help myself... while we had the Klaxon horn here... I'm sure they had the SAXON horn... over there.... flamesuit... ON. ;-) Cheers! Larry "Boneman" Bone by: 4.154.223.220 |
| Okay Larry, (I'm hiding in the bomb shelter now) Did the folks in white hoods have Kluxon horns? Matthew - oh dear! by: 86.27.87.124 |
| Matthew... absolutely brilliant... Nearly choked myself laughing at that one. Well DONE, Sir! Cheers! Larry "Boneman" Bone by: 4.154.218.138 |
| I heard that there was a car that had three hooded klu klux klans men as a front hood ornament and that there was some promise about the car running silently and when it did not run silently that the owners took the cars in under warrenty and complained and that in turn bankrupted the company and the car was discontinued. I have never seen a car with kkk people as a hood ornament and it's fine with me. Can't remember where I heard the story about the hood ornament. While looking for old bikes in PA. I met an very old fellow who told a tale about how the kkk was like the police in the small towns before the second world war. They ruled, and God help you if you got on the bad side of them. The old man told me about how he saw them draw and quarter an innocent town business man. (a butcher) They hitched him to a team of horses and the horses drag-ed him down the street and at the end of the street one horse went left and the other horse right and they tore the man in half. Victim was white man, falsely accused of rape. They got after the Catholics as well. Chilling story! The man just sold a real electric chair from a prison as well as old kkk robes. Gee, I just stoped in to see if he had any old bikes. The old man said that right after the 2 ww war that the federal government cracked down on the klan but a shadow of the original still exists but her might and power, for the most part is gone forever and thank God. Also, Klaxon bicycle horns have no relation whatsoever with the KKK and sorry for going off topic. by: 65.31.73.217 |
| Anyone know of a source for a 26 x 1 1/2 or 650B tire, ISO size is 584. Looking for one which is all white, sidewall, tread...an all white tire. by: 129.44.184.136 |
| There's renewed interest in this size. I got some whitewalls (black tread) from Nashbar a year or two ago, but all white may be tough. You might use Google to find Dutch or German internet retailers. (Check manufacturers websites to see what is available, then check for that mfr name) Good luck. by: 216.15.114.27 |
| Thanks David, I'll check Nashbar. I've got a 1951 La Perle and the original white tires are very rotted, but still look give the bike a wonderful look. by: 151.199.29.154 |
| There's a renew interest in 650B and to a smaller degree 650A tires, (26 x 1 3/8inch (37-590), been searching for the latter and it seems that Michelin still makes them as "World Tour" but available only in France, at this day and age, they should be available throughout the net, I fill like I'm still in the eighteenth century, what has happened to the world net and global marketing, please, there are folks here that want to acquire these products! by: 65.23.221.113 |
| Michelin makes the folowing, check their site 650x35B / 33 TPI / black+beige / GW / RB 650x35B / 33 TPI / black+ivory / GW / RB 650x35B / 33 TPI / black / GW / RB All white in this size hardly ever existed, all white "and Ivory or Cream" was available on 28 inchers more or less. JU by: 65.23.221.113 |
| I use a Schwalbe (Reinforced) 650 B and think it's the greatest. Only comes in black, though. Found it on the company website and got a local bike shop to order it. by: 150.135.54.135 |
| http://www.oldroads.com/img/mamaDuck1.jpg (The pic above.....) I can't even imagine what the end result of such a frame failure would be like... Hopefully, the owner of the machine is OK... Later! Larry "Boneman" Bone by: 193.38.170.65 |
| I just had a very similar frame pass thru my hands. A neighbor asked me if I wanted an old bike ("sure") and, presently, a Raleigh GP frame appeared in the back yard broken at the down tube joint just like the yellow one. It had a replacement fork, which was fine. My guess is that it crashed head-on into something and pretzeled the fork, which was replaced. The fatal damage to the frame went unnoticed until it failed, too. My neighbor's daughter is in perfect health, so I don't think there was any serious effect! by: 216.15.114.27 |
| It's gotta be that yellow day-glo paint. Toxic! Ate right thru the tube...yup, that's it. My momma also said yellow bikes would make me blind. Or was it something else maybe. Having a hard time reading what I'm typing as it is. by: 24.224.141.224 |
| Oh great... U mean to tell me that my SCREAMING YELLOW Mustang.... is destined to part at all the joints???? :-S Later! Larry "Boneman" Bone by: 4.154.216.16 |
| I am the owner of the bike. I am fine, it actually failed quite gracefully. I just want to say that the paint was original in 1976, and from the day I got that bike the famous Boston drivers started to be more courteous on my commute. Perhaps is was fear of the toxic yellow, all I know was that I was a lot safer than on my other black bike. by: 18.103.12.42 |
| Glad to hear you're no worse off from the incident. You've owned that machine since new? Yellow stands out nicely for certain. Plan to fix the Yellow Raleigh? Looks like the downtube just kinda came un-brazed from the lug, no? Perhaps it could be re-brazed... and re-painted. Or... JB Weld maybe if you don't want to burn any paint. It's a neat machine and I love the yellow... certainly I would attempt to fix. Best of luck with it! Cheers! Larry "Boneman" Bone by: 193.38.170.65 |
| It looks as if moisture got into a gap in the brazing where the down tube goes into the head tube, causing rust to develop and gradually pry the joint apart. . . by: 68.178.5.215 |
| Flux used when brazing is very corrosive. Even automated frame building relies on human input. It is not impossible, given the instrinsic strength of a triangle, that the joint in question was corrupt from the start. Minimal adhesion of the brazed joint would allow the frame to survive until the corrosion had undermined the joint eventually failed when subjected to sufficient force in the required direction. In other words Steve is right! Matthew - marvellous mechanical machinations by: 86.31.54.158 |
| Oh gosh no! I wasn't alive yet in 1976. I favor the corrupt joint theory, coupled with a trauma in the past (getting doored perhaps). The rust is rather minimal, there is a non-oxidized metal edge barely visible in the photo that I think indicates that it really did "break" inside the lug. I don't have plans to fix the bike. It is certainly available. I loved riding it but I couldn't trust it anymore and Boston is rough enough without worrying about the bike. So now I'm looking for something that could try to come close to this marvel! by: 18.103.12.42 |
| Love that Brooks leather seat by: 66.51.146.158 |