I get back to the ride... these old machines can still be ridden and ridden hard, flat out and competitively and with supreme satisfaction without resort to "upgrading" or fudging. I once roadraced a chap who had a new and very expensive Italian racing bike over some three miles. I was riding my somewhat battered looking unrestored '49 Raleigh Clubman. We were neck and neck for most of it and when we called it a draw, he said I could have easily won had I those modern clip into pedals (or whatever they are called!). Ah, I replied I would had lost had I not been riding a lovely, classic and original English bike from the late '40s! The machine inspires the rider and that's some of the magic of cycling, that sublime harmony of man and machine.
This holiday I am completing the restoration of my 1948 Raleigh Lenton Clubman. This was purchased on eBay a year ago and had been cheaply repainted. She's now completely redone (in England) and all of the original bits put back, even the Phillips (!) rat-trap pedals she came with. Finding original celluloid mudguards is a nightmare, so I fitted her with a pair of well-used but nicely cleaned up Britannialloy alloy 'guards that were actually mentioned in the initial specs for this model when introduced in Nov. '47. She's looking lovely even if she cost me an absolute bomb in the end.
This weekend I am taking her to Hains Point here in Washington to work her up and see if she has the stuff to show the lads in lycra what 55-year-old Sturmey Archer, Dunlop, GB, Brooks and Raleigh craftmanship can still do. Advance Britannia!
Peter Kohler
Washington, DC USA