Dang I’m jealous. That’s a Raleigh-built Rudge. It is equivalent to a Raleigh Sports, and is basically just a re-badge, which Raleigh did to avoid overlapping dealership territories or to slot in slightly different price points. You’ll want to read everything on Sheldon Brown’s website about Raleigh, English 3-speeds, and anything else you might find, as they’re mostly typical bikes but they have some oddities. In particular, you will want to purchase a cotter press and Raleigh-cut cotter pins from bikesmithdesign.com so you can rebuild the bottom bracket with new balls and grease. This is rather important because the cups and spindle are no longer made, but they will last indefinitely with proper adjustment and good quality balls/grease. In good condition, they’re very fun bikes.
Square_Ad_9096 on
God she’s beautiful!
Comfortable_Job_1903 on
Awesome!
MGTS on
1965 on the hub stamping
That will likely be 26 x 1 3/8 tires. You will need to check the marking to see if it’s 590 or 597. They are not interchangeable. I’m thinking it’s likely 590.
sun_monkey on
That headbadge and that chainring are pretty neat.
How does that battery-powered horn sound?
Comfortable_Job_1903 on
Also, is that a dynamo front hub? Or a drum brake….
StudentSlow2633 on
You scored. That will clean up nicely
blackdvck on
Nice score ,make sure you give that Sturmey hub some oil .
RJ the bike guy on YouTube for full Sturmey archer tutorials..
Rudge is not something you see very often
Nice bike .
David_Buzzard on
Score
ramvanfan on
What’s powering the headlight? A front hub dynamo?
Independence_1991 on
It’s a wonderful bike that just needs Love…
Darnocpdx on
Nice find.
Dyno hub and a very clean horn, they’re usually rusty or corroded batteries left in there.
Don’t even think of opening up the dynohub, near impossible to put back together. But it likely still works, I bet. My oldest is about 1940, and it still does.
Great find, scrub the chrome with aluminum foil and water, most of its likely still decent at worst.
If you want an easier peddle, swap the hub cog for a bigger one. Modern Shimano ones fit fine. Most folks prefer 20-24 tooth one, instead of the stock 18.
Everything there pretty much applies to this bike too.
frank_grupt on
If you don’t know, learn to pronounce Nottingham without invoking pork products. If you don’t already support an EPL team, you now support Forest.
Fearless-Use-3424 on
Nice find
serval on
B72 Brooks saddle is a very nice find! Rare and a lovely size with mild suspension (between a B68 sprung and the common B17) while wide (182mm?) for upright riding.
Mezodonis on
Wax the frame. A beaut for sure. Front dynamo is sweet. The shifter set-up is missing the fulcrum and cable wheel on the seat tube; I presume the current shifter works anyway, the way it’s configured. Tires are EA3 (590) so easy to get. Sure looks like a “sports” clone. (comparing my ’65). These bikes are built to last, which partially explains their sluggish response. Set it up and don’t look back for a year.
ToGetEze on
You didn’t find, you nicked it.
Oldschoolbikelover on
That’s really cool!
DoubleOld2221 on
Very good save. These are classics.
Repulsive-Purple-133 on
score
minfather on
The rubber on those particular pedals doesn’t hold up after all this time. I hope I’m wrong, but thats been my experience. You can replace them with any 9/16″ shaft pedal if that happens.
Get some decent leather conditioner on that saddle before you put any weight on it. I make (and sell) one from beeswax and lanolin (among other ingredients) that does an amazing job when they’re really dried out. Repeated applications over two or three days does it. I’m not sure what commercially available treatments will work as good. Maybe Connoly hide food, or Obenauf’s. Definitely don’t cheap out here trying to save $20 and not saving a potentially $80+ saddle. They will tear (probably at the nose) if you put weight on them if dried out.
These are nice bikes when gone through. Your metric (or SAE) tools won’t fit the Whitworth fasteners. This is the one time a (good) adjustable wrench might be a good option. I’ve been working on these bikes for years, and still haven’t broken down and bought Whitworth tools. Just go carefully, and you’ll be fine.
That battery horn is a period accessory (a Japanese Okinada, perhaps?). If you don’t like it, ditch it without remorse.
All in all, a wonderful find. I’ve picked these up for as little as $30, but free is better. They’re worth quite a bit more cleaned up, but I always seem to invest as much in them as I recover. Tires make a difference, and I like Michelin World Tour, and Schwalbe Delta Cruiser for quality. The Michelins look more correct.
Check out [https://bikeshedva.blogspot.com](https://bikeshedva.blogspot.com). Mike has a wealth of knowledge on these and the Schwinn three speeds. He’s always willing to answer questions if you leave a comment. I know him personally–really good guy.
glendaleterrorist on
Thats my dads i want it back
yawaworhtlliwi on
American pickers would love this!
cheecheecago on
Score! My only note would be to give the frame a good once over, including whatever you can see inside, and spray some framesaver in there.
Found an old Raleigh Sprite via similar circumstances when I was in grad school 15 years ago. Great bike, many fantastic adventures on her, until one day about 2 years into our relationship when the frame split apart at the bottom bracket–turns out it was rusting from the inside out and gave up the ghost mid commute. It just separated one day, quietly and with neither trauma nor drama, just slowly I felt my hands moving up and away from my body as they held the handlebar, then the bike just came to a grinding stop in the middle of the street. Confused, I got off and saw that my front chainring was touching the ground and had to Sherlock Holmes for a minute or two to understand the chain of events. Salvaged parts, scrapped the frame.
ComfortableAerie4101 on
Nice score! Second on Sheldon Brown (RIP). He’s passed on to the great downhill, wind always at your back, beyond but his website lives on. Best resource on the internet for older bikes like this.
27 Comments
Nice find
Dope. Love the hand print chainring.
Dang I’m jealous. That’s a Raleigh-built Rudge. It is equivalent to a Raleigh Sports, and is basically just a re-badge, which Raleigh did to avoid overlapping dealership territories or to slot in slightly different price points. You’ll want to read everything on Sheldon Brown’s website about Raleigh, English 3-speeds, and anything else you might find, as they’re mostly typical bikes but they have some oddities. In particular, you will want to purchase a cotter press and Raleigh-cut cotter pins from bikesmithdesign.com so you can rebuild the bottom bracket with new balls and grease. This is rather important because the cups and spindle are no longer made, but they will last indefinitely with proper adjustment and good quality balls/grease. In good condition, they’re very fun bikes.
God she’s beautiful!
Awesome!
1965 on the hub stamping
That will likely be 26 x 1 3/8 tires. You will need to check the marking to see if it’s 590 or 597. They are not interchangeable. I’m thinking it’s likely 590.
That headbadge and that chainring are pretty neat.
How does that battery-powered horn sound?
Also, is that a dynamo front hub? Or a drum brake….
You scored. That will clean up nicely
Nice score ,make sure you give that Sturmey hub some oil .
RJ the bike guy on YouTube for full Sturmey archer tutorials..
Rudge is not something you see very often
Nice bike .
Score
What’s powering the headlight? A front hub dynamo?
It’s a wonderful bike that just needs Love…
Nice find.
Dyno hub and a very clean horn, they’re usually rusty or corroded batteries left in there.
Don’t even think of opening up the dynohub, near impossible to put back together. But it likely still works, I bet. My oldest is about 1940, and it still does.
Great find, scrub the chrome with aluminum foil and water, most of its likely still decent at worst.
If you want an easier peddle, swap the hub cog for a bigger one. Modern Shimano ones fit fine. Most folks prefer 20-24 tooth one, instead of the stock 18.
Be sure to check out [Sheldon Brown](https://www.sheldonbrown.com/raleigh.html).
Everything there pretty much applies to this bike too.
If you don’t know, learn to pronounce Nottingham without invoking pork products. If you don’t already support an EPL team, you now support Forest.
Nice find
B72 Brooks saddle is a very nice find! Rare and a lovely size with mild suspension (between a B68 sprung and the common B17) while wide (182mm?) for upright riding.
Wax the frame. A beaut for sure. Front dynamo is sweet. The shifter set-up is missing the fulcrum and cable wheel on the seat tube; I presume the current shifter works anyway, the way it’s configured. Tires are EA3 (590) so easy to get. Sure looks like a “sports” clone. (comparing my ’65). These bikes are built to last, which partially explains their sluggish response. Set it up and don’t look back for a year.
You didn’t find, you nicked it.
That’s really cool!
Very good save. These are classics.
score
The rubber on those particular pedals doesn’t hold up after all this time. I hope I’m wrong, but thats been my experience. You can replace them with any 9/16″ shaft pedal if that happens.
Get some decent leather conditioner on that saddle before you put any weight on it. I make (and sell) one from beeswax and lanolin (among other ingredients) that does an amazing job when they’re really dried out. Repeated applications over two or three days does it. I’m not sure what commercially available treatments will work as good. Maybe Connoly hide food, or Obenauf’s. Definitely don’t cheap out here trying to save $20 and not saving a potentially $80+ saddle. They will tear (probably at the nose) if you put weight on them if dried out.
These are nice bikes when gone through. Your metric (or SAE) tools won’t fit the Whitworth fasteners. This is the one time a (good) adjustable wrench might be a good option. I’ve been working on these bikes for years, and still haven’t broken down and bought Whitworth tools. Just go carefully, and you’ll be fine.
That battery horn is a period accessory (a Japanese Okinada, perhaps?). If you don’t like it, ditch it without remorse.
All in all, a wonderful find. I’ve picked these up for as little as $30, but free is better. They’re worth quite a bit more cleaned up, but I always seem to invest as much in them as I recover. Tires make a difference, and I like Michelin World Tour, and Schwalbe Delta Cruiser for quality. The Michelins look more correct.
Check out [https://bikeshedva.blogspot.com](https://bikeshedva.blogspot.com). Mike has a wealth of knowledge on these and the Schwinn three speeds. He’s always willing to answer questions if you leave a comment. I know him personally–really good guy.
Thats my dads i want it back
American pickers would love this!
Score! My only note would be to give the frame a good once over, including whatever you can see inside, and spray some framesaver in there.
Found an old Raleigh Sprite via similar circumstances when I was in grad school 15 years ago. Great bike, many fantastic adventures on her, until one day about 2 years into our relationship when the frame split apart at the bottom bracket–turns out it was rusting from the inside out and gave up the ghost mid commute. It just separated one day, quietly and with neither trauma nor drama, just slowly I felt my hands moving up and away from my body as they held the handlebar, then the bike just came to a grinding stop in the middle of the street. Confused, I got off and saw that my front chainring was touching the ground and had to Sherlock Holmes for a minute or two to understand the chain of events. Salvaged parts, scrapped the frame.
Nice score! Second on Sheldon Brown (RIP). He’s passed on to the great downhill, wind always at your back, beyond but his website lives on. Best resource on the internet for older bikes like this.