Royal Enfield Bullet twin tube bicycle

 

Another bicycle project done and dusted... Really must work on those motorised contraptions too but there was good reason to prioritise this one, it's a nice small frame and will be my daughter's ride in the Benson Veteran Cycle Rally this July. She tagged along last year on her modern bike, enjoyed it and stated a desire to take part on an appropriate cycle the next year, so what's a father to do...?

The cycle is a circa 1935 Royal Enfield Bullet which is notable for the twin top tube design and the fact that the tubes are 'up-sloping'. Really it's a style of frame that was most seen in the 1890s. However in the thirties there was a vogue for quirky frame designs and innovation. The Moorson twin tube had come out in 1926 and was well thought of so perhaps Royal Enfield looked at that for inspiration and designed the Bullet frame to be unusual and instantly recognisable.

Royal Enfield bicycles for many years used the
cannon 'Made Like a Gun' logo on their chainwheels.

The twin tube Bullet is a rare beast and though marketed as a top of the range sportster with fixed gearing it is actually not much of a lightweight and the frame angles are quite relaxed. Royal Enfield offered numerous options across their range and the couple of other twin tube Bullets I have seen have both been fitted with Sturmey Archer gearing.

The cycle has been built up from a bare frame that I've had kicking around for a few years. There were clips on the frame for a Sturmey hub so that is what I've fitted with the bonus that they are very nice in use too. Though the frame is very shabby there are the remnants of the original Bullet transfers on the down tube so I've elected to leave it as it is warts and all. At the risk of sounding pretensious I've gone with the Japanese ethos of 'wabi-sabi' - essentially the philosophy of embracing imperfection. There is a rather horrible repair on the rear lower mudguard bridge that is however structurally sound so I've left it completely as it was as part of the cycle's history.

In keeping with the quirky nature of the frame I've tried to put as many period correct oddball parts on the bike as possible and the end result I believe is quite aesthetically pleasing. Aforementioned daughter has taken it for a test ride and reported back that though slightly challenging compared to her 21 speed modern cycle the ride is good and reasonably lively. So now, just need to fill in and send off that form for the Benson Rally...

  

Here's the Bullet from the 1935 catalogue. The twin
tube Bullet was catalogued from just 1934 to 1936.
The same twin tube design frame was used on the 'Club
Lightweight Model 77' which had a very similar spec
but cost £3 less and was built with cheaper tubing.

I was particularly pleased with this eBay
find: the front wheel wingnuts. The wing
shape is really lovely. I have no idea who
made them.

Devil is in the detail. Period correct metal valve cap.

The front hub is a 'Constrictor' item, probably just
post-war and slightly too late for the Bullet but I
always make an effort to use parts I have on the shelf
instead of buying new. The rims used are Dunlop
LA (Light Alloy) and laced up by my local cycle shop.

The Burlite brake is also just post-war
but does really look the part and fits the
bill of being quirky.

Brake levers are Resilion alloy ones and the front
has a security lock (pull it on and turn the key and
the brake locks on).

I hung this little medallion on the handlebars. It is
an advertising giveaway from Royal Enfield and
John Bull tyres commemorating a ride from England
to Lapland and back in 1951.

The flip side of the medallion is the patron saint of
travellers, St Christopher.

This magnificent light is the cherry on top of the
bicycle quirk fest! It is an Ennwell light which I
believe was German made.

The offside rear quarter.

Harmo 'Fearnaught' push button bell. As well as
being slightly odd these Harmo bells work
extraordinarily well. The handlebars are Reynolds,
I'm not 100% sure of the model name but I would
describe them as 'flat lauterwassers'.

Brittanialloy pump.

Though it looks like the twin tubes are in one piece
I believe that the top tubes and seat stays are separate.
They appear to be straight tubes and the bend join is
cast in with the seatpost lug.

Claude Butler Saxon

Bicycle projects can give quick hit of completion satisfaction and that's perhaps why I often get diverted away from my lengthier motorised projects to pedals..

This recently completed Saxon is the project that wasn't. I bought it around a couple of years ago through an advert in the Veteran Cycle Club magazine and it was all up together and rideable. Me being me though I wasn't happy with the components (some were a bit too plain and some didn't match) so I had to go about changing it and in the process adding some quirky bits and pieces as is my wont.

A quick background - Saxon were founded in 1919 in East London. They produced a full range of cycles for all purposes and though certainly not a major player in the market they had a significantly bigger output than many of the classic lightweight brands. Through the thirties particularly there was a strong market for affordable quality clubmans machines, at that time cycling was in its heyday in Britain and working people wanted a bicycle that they could ride to work and join in with club runs at weekends.

The cycle that made Saxon's name and the one that has endured was the twin tube design. In the thirties there was a fashion for shortening wheelbases with the idea of reducing flex in the bottom bracket and thus increasing efficiency. Obviously there is only so much you can shorten a tradional frame until the rear wheel hits the saddle tube. The solution that Saxon came up with was a very short central seat tube whose purpose was really solely to hold the seat post in place, this was flanked by a pair of narrow diameter tubes that ran from the upper lug on the seat tube down to the bottom bracket. The rear wheel snuggled itself in between the two seat tubes.

The twin tube proved to be popular and is one of the enduring classic lighweight designs, still held in high esteem.

Despite the success Saxon packed up bicycle manufacture at the onset of war in 1939. The brand was bought by Claud Butler during the war and in 1950 a new twin tube design was launched. This time with a single conventional single seat tube which split into a fork just above the point where the rear wheel crossed it. This model was made for two years and was sold both under the Claud Butler and Saxon brands. It was available as lugless (as my example is) or with CB bi-laminate lugs.

There's an excellent article on the Saxon twin tube by Hilary Stone on the Classic Lightweights site.

Middlemore saddle came with the cycle.

Atom front hub, GB wing nuts and Conloy rims. The
rear rim didn't match the front and was fixed gear so
I swapped it out for a matching rim with a Sturmey
Archer alloy shelled FM four speed hub.

Nice engraving on the French Belleri handlebars.

The Saxon came with a GB girder stem and narrow
drop bars. As I get older I appreciate flat bars more
and more so hence these Belleri North Road pattern ones.

Dupi sprung stem. Like riding a pogo stick, a very
bendy one. The only way I can get it to be remotely
tolerable is to lock out the springs and tighten the
pivot as much as possible. Hence it's just for show.

B and T brake levers for flat bars. These are one
of the very nicest British levers in style and quality.

The Dupi sprung stem again.

Saxon head transfer....

....and Saxon downtube transfer...

... and finally the Saxon seat tube transfer.

Sturmey Archer FM alloy four speed hub.

B and T 'Manx' brake. A cam operated
brake made up of alloy plates. Rare and
quirky, great looking but of dubious
performance. Yes, I added these as an 'upgrade'.
Note the split seat tube.

Detail on the Middlemore saddle.

Labor's done

Time for a bicycle post....

Finishing a project is always a satisfying moment and bicycles offer easy wins over motors. This c1925 Labor took a while longer to complete than most as it was a bit of a wreck. Luckily the frame was sound but it had had a long a useful life as a 'porteur' followed by a period of poor storage when the wheels rotted into the ground.

The bike mostly came apart ok but the handlebar stem was well and truly stuck. Direct heat was out of the question as I wanted to preserve the original paint as much as possible. Given that the stem was quite likely not the original it was chopped off, this allowed the forks to drop out and then was the time to get truly medieval with the stump of the stem. With a lot of heat, a large drift and a lump hammer the stem gave up the unequal fight.

The frame and forks were treated with evaporust - rags were soaked in evaporust, bandaged on to the frame and then the whole lot was wrapped in clingfilm and left for a couple of days. Overall a pretty horrible job to do but it worked nicely. After washing the evaporust off and drying down the whole lot was then given a beeswax finish to preserve and stop any further corrosion.  

Once the frame and forks were sorted the other parts got the evaporust and wax treatment and it all went back together. Fresh wheels were found and are French from a similar period, the only snag being that the rims are 28 x 1 3/8". This size was used in France in the pre-war years and tyres are now very hard to obtain hence those that are fitted to the bike are a little past their prime. I found a supplier in Australia but the cost with postage and taxes was huge. Perhaps in the future the bike will receive a new pair of 28 x 1 1/2" rims which are fractionally smaller.

The only fly in the ointment of the project has been the lack of Labor head badge. So far I've not managed to find one so in the near future getting a replica made is on the cards if an original doesn't turn up.

The Labor was rebuilt with as many original parts
as possible, this includes the rear brake (no front
fitted) and coiled bare metal Bowden cable.

Frame detail on the Labor. Just enough paint left
to merit saving it.

Many French cycles of the period sported address
tags. This is the homemade one that was on the Labor.
Sadly I really can't make out what it says...

Another Labor frame detail. The truss frame design
was popularised by the success of Major Taylor
when he raced in France on his American made Iver
Johnson cycle with its patented truss frame. Labor took
out a license on the Iver Johnson design.

Handlebars and stem are not the original but they are
period correct and suitably patinated.

1920s French stem.

Typical french style frame mounted side pull brake.

A new chain was fitted. Thankfully the 1/2 x 3/8"
chain size is fairly universal for cycles of the period.

Those 28 x 1 3/8" tyres. 

Another detail of the truss.

Labor of Love

1920s Labor 'Course' truss frame.

Here's the current bicycle project on the go. It's a Labor truss frame, the age is currently unknown. Labor made truss frame cycles from c1906 through until the late thirties. Judging from other examples out there I'm guessing this one is early twenties. If there are any Labor experts out there who can enlighten, the frame number is 100133.

The Labor came to me with a small job lot of cycles imported from France, I kept a couple and sold on a couple. I've wanted a Labor truss frame for a good while, apart from looking great they have a connection with a personal hero of mine, Major Taylor. Major Taylor rode in the States for Iver Johnson who pioneered the truss frame design, he came over to France and with him a fashion for truss frames began. At one point Major Taylor rode for Labor too.

As it came to me the Labor was heavily rusted and had been updated sometime in the thirties or forties to a 'porteur' style and then later abandoned in poor storage. The wheel rims were rotted through though they quite likely weren't correct anyway. The frame and forks were thankfully sound though and the cranks and seat pin were original.

The handlebars and stem that came with were likely not original and were fused into the forks. Unfortunately they had to be sacrificed in removing them. The paint is original and I've tried my best to preserve it. I wrapped the frame and forks in cloths sodden in 'evaporust' and then wrapped it all in clingfilm and left for 24 hours. Overally a pretty horrible and messy process but it worked. After de-rusting I've treated it with beeswax. Not a bad finish overall, I would have liked to have gotten a bit tougher on the remaining rust but was worried about losing paint.

The wheels (700B or 28 x 1 1/2 in British parlance) I had from another project and should suit nicely. The handlebars shown are temporary, they are appropriate but I'm getting used to them visually, drops would probably be more in keeping.

Hopefully before too long another post with the finished article pictured.

The red headstock is a distinctive
Labor feature.

French manufacturers tended to use lugless construction
more than their British counterparts.

There should be a chain tensioner with a shouldered
nut that engages in the slots in the dropout.

Overall I'm quite pleased with the finish that the
Evaporust gave. Parts like the seatpost that were
submerged in a bath of it came out far better than
the frame which I had to wrap in soaked cloths.

Good Evans

 

 Another minor victory in finishing off projects. This 1930s F.W. Evans was one of those late night 'damn I didn't expect to win that' eBay purchases. The temptation was that it was very cheap, the right frame size and it came with a nice Chater Lea headset - worth the price of the whole frame alone.

When I first got the Evans I was just going to rob it of the headset for another project and then pass it on but in a weak moment I realised that I had loads of suitable parts lying around and that I should build it up as a vintage bike to ride.

Evans were the first British builder of specialist touring cycles and their pre-war cycles are of satisfyingly high quality with a number of unique features and be-fitting their touring function are designed for longevity. Evans himself passed away in 1944 and his business was sold on, it grew to become one of the largest chains of bicycle stores in the UK but was recently in financial difficulty and absorbed by the Sports Direct group. Happily though Evans have retained their identity and continue on. For more on the history of Evans take a look at the Classic Lightweights site.

I'm not totally sure of the year of this particular example, the frame number is 4430 (could it be the fourty fourth bike built in 1930? - it is very unlikely that >4000 Evans were built by the end of the thirties).

Initially I had considered selling the Evans once complete but now built up it is a very pleasant bike to ride and has become the weapon of choice for gentle pottering.

Distinctive wrap around lugs on the Evans.
Note the grease nipples on the top and bottom
headset races, another Evans feature.

I've got a strange fetish for the various
oddball designs of centre pull brakes that
were in vogue in the thirties. These particular
ones are by Hercules and work incredibly
well for pre-war brakes.

That deal clincher - the Chater Lea headset.

The handlebars are a very satisfying shape - they are
Reynolds Hiduminium North Road pattern.

Bluemels Airweight aluminium mudguards.

Sturmey Archer K type three speed. Originally the
Evans had very neat chain tension adjusters on the
drop outs but irritatingly they've been chopped off
sometime in the past.

The arse view!

Lucas 'Comet' bell tops it off. Later I know and a
fifties 'space age' design but I like it so fitted it!