A Friendly Donation

A friend from work overheard me during a discussion of old bikes, and told me that she had a few in her yard that I could have.  Her husband was planning a dump run, so it would save him from hauling them.  Of course me and the kids loaded up the next day to help as much as we could.
There was a few of them lined up against the wall of a shed.  Two old womens Austrian Sears 3 speeds, one with the rear spokes wrecked and the other cannibalized and missing most of it's parts were at the front.  We loaded them, and there sat a black Hercules 3 speed.  Mens frame!  There was also a small child's bike, a Westpoint with a tank.  A few miscellaneous bits and parts and we were of to the Ant cave.

Bicycle of the Gods.

 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.