English Hercules

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Tyler6357

Tyler6357

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Mar 15, 2012
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Hello Friends:

My dear old aunt passed away in her 80s. I was cleaning out her home on Long Island New York and I found this old bicycle. It says it was "Made in England". It's says "Hercules" on it. It says "AMF- American Machines & Foundry Co. Olney Illinois USA" on it. It has some kind of an English seal on it. What I found interesting is that it is a 3 speed bicycle but it has no derailleur but instead some kind of strange wheel hub that must have some kind of gear sprockets inside that allow it to change gears. I have never seen this before. It has some pretty cool fenders on it but it has quite a bit of surface rust too. I think it was purchased sometime in the 50s but that is just a guess. Can anyone tell me anything about this old bicycle or how this hub is set up? Do you think it could be worth anything to a collector or something??
 

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Villiers

Villiers

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Sep 2, 2014
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I can help a little with the hub. It's a sturmley archer 3 speed, they were common in the UK on all bikes pre derallieur. Easy to shift, just stop pedalling and move lever if I remember, no maintenance just light oil the change link.
Mark
 
Tyler6357

Tyler6357

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Mar 15, 2012
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Villiers said:
I can help a little with the hub. It's a sturmley archer 3 speed, they were common in the UK on all bikes pre derallieur. Easy to shift, just stop pedalling and move lever if I remember, no maintenance just light oil the change link.
Mark
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Okay, thanks for responding, I had trouble getting it to shift, it's pretty rusty, I will try to remove some of the rust and try not peddling
 
Tyler6357

Tyler6357

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Yeah, I figured it wasn't worth squat, I just thought I would ask. However, I actually do like the vintage look, maybe I will mess around with it and restore it one day, right now, it's in the project pile, haha.
 
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nelsonk1969

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Sep 29, 2014
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While your find isn't much to look at right now, it is a cool bike and not a piece of junk. I think it would make a very cool rat rod style bike.
If you did a sympathetic mechanical restoration leaving the patina intact
and also motorizing it giving the new parts a foe patina finish I think you would have a desirable daily driver that will most likely get more positive attention than a new shiny off the shelf gas powered beach cruiser.
worn barn finds with the patina your Hercules has is desirable as it has taken many years to get that way and right now to the right person I think your rusty heap fixed up will fetch more money when it is time to resell it than a comparable shiny brand new bike done with the same gas engine kit.
many custom car and truck builders are going out of their way to perfectly restore a vehicle then sanding down the paint job and clear coating over fake patina . it seems what is old is new again and what is new can be had for a dime a dozen. so if you have the desire, skills and money to pull it off I say go for it. those that say its a piece of junk don't have the compassion for the bike that it deserves. lets face it if that bike was a piece of junk it wouldn't exists.
The fact that it and many more like it are still around so many years later says a lot about the original quality of the bike. lets see a modern Huffy, make it that long under the same conditions with all original parts. I don't think so.
 
Intrepid Wheelwoman

Intrepid Wheelwoman

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kevyleven007 said:
Looks like an old Hercules worthless piece of junk. You could probably find one in a lot better shape for about 50 bucks.
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Arrrrrgh! - he called a Hercules bicycle a worthless piece of junk! :eek:

My everyday rider is a 1952 Hercules ladies heavyweight roadster and it is the most superb bicycle I've ever owned. True it is a Birmingham Hercules made at the old factory and therefore better than a Nottingham Hercules, but I do my best not to be prejudiced about such things. Birmingham Hercules bicycles carried a decal on their frames which announced, 'Guaranteed for 50 years', which means that my bicycle is only just out of warranty and not surprisingly it is still working as its maker intended. I don't think any modern day bicycle manufacturer would dare make such a claim for the longevity of their products.

Moving on to the Hercules bicycle in question I'm sure that with a good clean and a little maintenance it will prove to be a darn good bicycle. The rust will clean off very nicely with a little 3 in 1 oil and a good scrub with brass wire wool and the original paintwork will respond to careful use of a cutting compound on the worst bits and then a darn good polish with a decent wax car polish.
 

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Tyler6357

Tyler6357

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Mar 15, 2012
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Intrepid Wheelwoman said:
Arrrrrgh! - he called a Hercules bicycle a worthless piece of junk! :eek:

My everyday rider is a 1952 Hercules ladies heavyweight roadster and it is the most superb bicycle I've ever owned. True it is a Birmingham Hercules made at the old factory and therefore better than a Nottingham Hercules, but I do my best not to be prejudiced about such things. Birmingham Hercules bicycles carried a decal on their frames which announced, 'Guaranteed for 50 years', which means that my bicycle is only just out of warranty and not surprisingly it is still working as its maker intended. I don't think any modern day bicycle manufacturer would dare make such a claim for the longevity of their products.

Moving on to the Hercules bicycle in question I'm sure that with a good clean and a little maintenance it will prove to be a darn good bicycle. The rust will clean off very nicely with a little 3 in 1 oil and a good scrub with brass wire wool and the original paintwork will respond to careful use of a cutting compound on the worst bits and then a darn good polish with a decent wax car polish.
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Thanks for the tips! I've never done anything like trying to restore an old bicycle like this before. I can use all the help I can get. I've got some other projects ahead of this right now but I will get to it eventually. :)
 
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Intrepid Wheelwoman

Intrepid Wheelwoman

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The most important thing to remember with a bike in original condition is that it will only be original once. I'm very firmly in the camp that holds with the principle that if it took xx years to look like that then don't mess with success. It's always surprising to see just how well an old bike will clean up with simple elbow grease :)

A while ago I sold a prewar Dutch made bicycle to a chap who restores bikes. It was pretty darn tatty, but still sound with the visible remains of its decals and pinstriping still in place. Later when i saw it 'restored' with the original stove enameling gone replaced with modern powder coating, no decals or pinstriping and all the nickle plating redone in bright chrome I was struck by how characterless it had become. Having seen the results of 'restoration' I don't think I'll sell an original condition bicycle again to anyone who says they're gong to restore it.

Edit: my 1942 Holfa by Veeno Dutch bicycle before it was messed up by the 'restorer'.
 

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Mike B

Mike B

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Mar 23, 2011
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Tyler6357 said:
Thanks for the tips! I've never done anything like trying to restore an old bicycle like this before. I can use all the help I can get. I've got some other projects ahead of this right now but I will get to it eventually. :)
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Good for you!

That bike is much better than you think. It has a brazed lugged steel frame. Old school and proud of it!

Now what does a renowned American hand built bike maker use nowadays? You know for heavy duty industrial applications? That would be Worksman in NY.

A brazed steel lugged frame - :)
 
C

Citi-sporter

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Considering that straight, complete, used old English made roadsters and "lightweights" are increasingly harder to find should say something about the value of these bikes. They are not 'worthless junk', and if anything are a better investment than several old British cars I can think of.
 
kevyleven007

kevyleven007

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Sep 25, 2008
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I agree! I just bought an all original and complete 1960 Schwinn and I don't plan on doing anything to it. I also got a bare frame that is a different story, gonna do it up.
 
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Ludwig II

Ludwig II

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As with everyone above, what you have there is an immensely durable, easily maintained, correctly engineered piece of transport. To buy that standard of workmanship now would cost an arm and a leg.

Sturmey archer epicyclic geared hubs - it helps to back pedal just a fraction of a turn to help it move between gears.
 
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