I have always admired the old Raleigh cruisers and lightweights. English bikes in general arguably were the best bikes made in the first half of cycling history. Raleigh's biggest competitor into the 40's (I believe, I'm no historian) was Hercules. Of course time and economics mean change, and Raleigh was bought out by their tubing supplier, followed by Hercules. There were other bike manufacturers and suppliers absorbed as well, but this is just to serve as a summary to explain in part why I love the Hercules bicycles.
Finding old bikes is always exciting in the thrill of wondering what it is. Usually obscured by dirt, high grass, rust, fading, repaint, or abuse, most old bikes are unknown other than the subtle clues given from design, and components. My heart always beats faster when it spots the curve of a cruiser frame, lugged joints, fat fenders, the rivets on a brooks saddle. No such luck yet in getting an intact brooks saddle yet, but seeing even the remains of one lends to something good that it sits on.
At a salvage yard, I was picking up a part for my car, my eye caught a chunk of hard leather hanging from a rusty set of rails. Moving a truck fender out of the way, there lay a golden Hercules lightweight. Oh, the leather on the saddle was all but gone, but the rest of the bike seemed far better off hiding behind that fender. The salvage yard owner said it had been there as long as he could remember having inherited the business from his father. He was my age, mid thirties. That fender was laying against the wall of an old collapsed shed since before his dad let him come back into the yard. I estimated it to be from the sixties or at the latest, early seventies. He grabbed the fender, tossed it onto a pile behind us, and lifted the bike up. After looking at it a minute, he turned to toss it with the fender. I intervened offering to take it off his hands.
This is going to be a more expensive project. No matter how I figure it, new wheels, seat, bottom bracket, cranks, etc... but I love this frame. As this project gets going I will post the progress.
