Having mentioned the ideas behind this build elsewhere in the forum I thought it would be a good idea to start my own thread.
First of all I've dug out the frame and forks I will be using which are genuine Birmingham Hercules manufacture before Raleigh bought them out and turned Hercules into a Raleigh clone brand. I don't have an equivalent Raleigh frame to hand at the moment to show the differences between a Nottingham and a Birmingham frame, but there are quite a few differences with regard to frame lugs, frame geometry, construction details & etc.
As you might have guessed I'm very keen on Birmingham Hercules bicycles.
Unfortunately the celluloid centre of the headbadge has been broken out at sometime in the past which is a pity, but I think I can devise a repair.
I'll clean the frame and forks before I make up my mind whether to paint them or not. I'm fairly sure that parts of the frame have been brush painted in the past so if it looks too dreadful I'll just have to roll my sleeves up and rub it down for painting. It will be painted black of course.
I have a nice pair of wheels with Westwood rims fitted with new 26x2x1&3/4 tyres which should be the absolute bee's knees for this bike. The rear wheel has a Sturmey Archer 3 speed hub with coaster brake which should be dead corker too.
On the front I'll be installing rod brakes because they are cool and I like them. Fortunately all parts for rod brake bikes are readily available.
A nice aged Brooks saddle I already have and the mudguards will be the ones I purchased for my faux-Rudge powercycle project which didn't work out and is in the process of being dismantled.
The engine is of course a Villiers, - what else could it be.
Hopefully the steel I ordered from Iron Maiden will arrive this coming week so I can make a start on the engine mounting parts. (Cool name for a steel supplier don't ya think?)
First of all I've dug out the frame and forks I will be using which are genuine Birmingham Hercules manufacture before Raleigh bought them out and turned Hercules into a Raleigh clone brand. I don't have an equivalent Raleigh frame to hand at the moment to show the differences between a Nottingham and a Birmingham frame, but there are quite a few differences with regard to frame lugs, frame geometry, construction details & etc.
As you might have guessed I'm very keen on Birmingham Hercules bicycles.
Unfortunately the celluloid centre of the headbadge has been broken out at sometime in the past which is a pity, but I think I can devise a repair.
I'll clean the frame and forks before I make up my mind whether to paint them or not. I'm fairly sure that parts of the frame have been brush painted in the past so if it looks too dreadful I'll just have to roll my sleeves up and rub it down for painting. It will be painted black of course.
I have a nice pair of wheels with Westwood rims fitted with new 26x2x1&3/4 tyres which should be the absolute bee's knees for this bike. The rear wheel has a Sturmey Archer 3 speed hub with coaster brake which should be dead corker too.
On the front I'll be installing rod brakes because they are cool and I like them. Fortunately all parts for rod brake bikes are readily available.
A nice aged Brooks saddle I already have and the mudguards will be the ones I purchased for my faux-Rudge powercycle project which didn't work out and is in the process of being dismantled.
The engine is of course a Villiers, - what else could it be.
Hopefully the steel I ordered from Iron Maiden will arrive this coming week so I can make a start on the engine mounting parts. (Cool name for a steel supplier don't ya think?)