I found this beautiful Rudge roadster for a good friend of mine. It was dirty and looked a bit sad, but underneath was an almost immaculate machine. Supplied to a retailer in Amsterdam, this bicycle was clearly used very little. There is hardly any wear on the components, unusual for a Dutch supplied bike. It could perhaps have been the ‘Sunday best’ machine for the owner. It took me about 10 – 12 hours of work to carefully clean it, remove later additions such as the horrible rear reflector, and remove light surface rust from the chrome. It was a pleasure to see the condition of the enamel, transfers and chrome under the grime. The Crescent was the top of the range at the time. It is fitted with a Sturmey Archer 3 speed KB5 gear/hub brake, dating it to 1935. The result was a time warp machine (hard to believe that it is 75 years old) and a pleasure to ride. Here are some ‘before and after’ images:
Please click on image for high resolution detailed picture
Vintage Bicycle Blog 