Early 1950s Raleigh Clubman.

[Theodore Schefelbein]

I have been deep in internet sleuthing on a parted frame the was procured from our own Shirt tail Emeritus, who suggested I needed a worthy project and had several he hadn’t gotten to. I liked the idea of an early 531 frame bije, but, not to the tune (cost) of an actual RRA. If you have read this far, you likely understand what an RRA represents and why a cheapskate like me would balk at that.

The bike is an early 1950s Clubman, based on the very high P last  digit serial, 22” frame, and chromed fork tips and stays, and the brazed mount for the pulley wheel.. There were just a few bare frames sold in 1952, but, most of them didn’t have the chrome on the frame. The bike would have been blue, when it was new. Someone, painted it black, and in a bit of spoofery, put RRA transfers on it. Oh well.

The paint will clean up beautifully, so, I’ll color sand the RRA transfers off and apply proper Clubman transfers. I have perused used parts, and decided against trying to track down every, single, original part. It would have had 27” wheels, and 32 and 40 hole versions seem tough to score. I have new, 26” Sun rims on hand in those drillings. I’m a believer in building wheels with new rims.John very kindly supplied a clip stem and the proper pulley wheel mount, saving me a decade or so of hunting.

Jon Hanson has been generous with his time, and, warehouse, per usual. Thanks.

Progress will be noted, as it takes place.

Ted

[Theodore Schefelbein]

Photo of project. Sharp eyed folks will note the homeless Phil Woods lock rings already installed in the BB. I have the Shimano BB spindle that will allow for that spiffy Stronglight crankset to be installed.

Ted

[MarkSaltLake]

Looks like a great project.  As you probably know H Lloyd Cycles in the UK sells a full Clubman decal set

[Theodore Schefelbein]

I used the H Lloyd transfers on my International, and bought a new Raleigh fender Heron for the Sprite I cleaned up recently. Thanks.

Digging through my possibles box, I discovered the rear hub that will be on board. It is a 4 speed alloy FM with English market spec wing nuts. I don’t believe I will used the dynohub, even though it is a 32 hole hub and matches my Sun 26” front rim. I know many a Clubman had a dynohub on board, but, I’m thinking a 50s vintage high flange English alloy track hub will suit the bike better. I’ll try to use alloy bits, even if some of them are modern, where possible.

More thinking. I’m sad the bike got parted, but, the frame becomes a bit of a blank canvas after that. I can well imagine a young, ambitious Club rider, wearing out or breaking bits on his pride and joy, and upgrading and replacing parts, perhaps even respraying his bike to a color he preferred. The cars guys call efforts to preserve that a “day 2” restoration, leaving the modifications as they were.

Kinda’ where I am.

Ted

[MarkSaltLake]

I have a 40 hole alloy 27" inch Rigida rim (nos but a touch shopworn) i would give you free for just the cost of shipping. I also have another 40hole alloy no name 27". I also have a serviceable 32 hole Dunlop special lightweight i would give you for cost of shipping (has a very slight ding looks quite nice). The Dunlop and the Rigida rim profiles look compatible-ish from a few feet away if you are willing to mismatch (The Rigida is schrader, the dunlop is not it is presta/woods). I also have an unserviceable IMO 40 hole dunlop special lightweight iwould give you as above (if you are feeling super handy and could engineer out a subtantial tweek maybe the rim could work). Let me know if you are interested in any of the above. Another option (which i did on my 51 clubman) is to seek out and buy the lone brand new option out there of 700c with 40/32 these are kinlin (taiwan) adhn i think. despite being from taiwan, seems like the only way to get them is from an ebay uk seller! That's what i did for my clubman and shipping was high (and now there is a tariff on top of that) ....kinlins might be affordable if u could find a USA seller. Bear in mind shipping is high these days even in USA--i would use bikeflights which seems to be a bit cheaper.

Mark

[Theodore Schefelbein]

Let me know what you will need to pack them up and ship them. A magnanimous gesture, on your part, and, I’m not sure I’ve ever met you, Mark. Email me at:

te...@usfamily.net for details.

Thanks in advance,

Ted

[MarkSaltLake]

Hi Ted, not sure about the missing part in email....try me instead at mahark two (the two is actually the number not the spelling and is connected to that first part then at gmail dot com)

[Theodore Schefelbein]

The Kinlin.630 rims appear to be available on eBay, I ordered a 32 and a 40 hole, from a bloke in England, guess we will see what happens. He has been making sporadic shipments to the US, and, while the price is up just a bit, he can make it happen.

My preference, if I am to build a wheel or two, is to new rims and spokes. Nice to get the Clubman back up on the original size wheels, which, unbeknownst to me, are getting to be hard to find, on this side of the pond, anyway. I literally bought Sun Ringle CR-18 rims in the 630 size, with 36 and 40 drilling two years ago, and it is as if they never existed at this point in time.

Ted

[Theodore Schefelbein]

A little progress. Found a period BH Racelite 32 hole front hub, the rims are on their way from England. Cross three on a 32 spoke build, right? Should be a smashing pair when all laced up in new rims with a period FM alloy hub.

Ted

[MarkSaltLake]

Lovely hubs!  the English bikes are always? 40/32 until you get to the 1970s, right?

[Theodore Schefelbein]

Mark,

Most of my Raleigh’s are Sports variations of some sort, and while I’m not sure of the timing of the change, you are correct, they were 32-40, then 36-40, and near the bitter end, 36-36. The homeless Sprite that lives here, now, is a 1969 model and had the 36-40 strain of Raleigh Westwood rims aboard.

Ted

[MarkSaltLake]

wow 36-40, hadn't heard of that

[Theodore Schefelbein]

Rims came. 32 and 40 hole, 630 size.Obviously not original, but, very, very nicely made and polished.Getting a bit more difficult to get stuff from overseas, but, I’m thinking new rims made it worth it.

Ted

[Warren Young]

Typically spec on touring rigs.

[Theodore Schefelbein]

I think the frame is a 1951. If you bought a Clubman in 1951, you got 27” wheels. If you were a Brit, you likely had to wait a bit to get your bike, the emphasis was on exports, and you used it for whatever you used a bike for. Not sure how many Americans were serious about Touring, circa 1951. 27” wheels look and ride well on my International, and a set of Pasela tires on the new wheels should be quite nice on the Clubman. 

In a world of Glocks, God bless the guy who has a Smith & Wesson revolver. Old school, for sure. But, effective, nonetheless.

Ted

[MarkSaltLake]

And why did those Clubmans and RRAs have headclip fixing? wasn't that on the way out in the 1950s? And what's the advantage of the headclip?.....my clubman has one but i run a reynolds stem with an expander bolt in it.....

[Theodore Schefelbein]

I must plead ignorance on your question, Mark. Jon tossed one at me when I bought the frame, keenly, no doubt, spotting me as a member of the blissfully ignorant tribe, and was probably concerned I’d spend the next several decades in pursuit of one. It is what belongs on the bike, and I’m happy it is there.

Advantages? I’ve no clue. But, I’m pretty sure I have the only one in my block, and, hey, that is ‘bitchin. I’ll put an alloy bar of some sort in it, and console myself with being just that much less ignorant when I ride. 

Ted

[Luckyrob]

I really like the head clips look and they are associated with the higher end bikes typically.  Loads easier to use than having to deal with stuck expander bolts in my humble opinion.

[MarkSaltLake]

Ted, Rob so have y'all chased down reynolds, raleigh or whatever stems without expander bolts??  am i the only one with redundancy--headclip plus stem with expander?

[Theodore Schefelbein]

You could be, I suppose. I didn’t realize clip stems were a thing, until Jon set me up with one, and didn’t realize clip stems with expanders were a thing until five minutes or so ago, when I read your post. I’m going to just run with pragmatic on this old bike, it will have some cool old original parts, and some more modern replacements, since chasing down totally genuine original parts from almost 80 years ago is a bit of an expensive drag, to put it mildly. It is painted the wrong color. But, the paint is in good shape. So be it.

Modern brakes, modern rims, stainless spokes, new rubber, presta stems, hey, at the end of the day I just want to go on a ride with the old bike I resurrected from the dead. If I was terribly concerned about originality, this wasn't the old bike to invest in.

[jon gentlemancyclist.com]

A headclip will clamp the stem and steer tube together from the outside then adds the lock ring on top that will help secure the bearing adjustment with a triple stack of security. A very secure arrangement for stronger riders or racers.

Jon-E

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From: 'Theodore Schefelbein' via Gentleman Cyclist <gentlema...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, November 6, 2025 8:43 PM
To: Gentleman Cyclist <gentlema...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [Gentleman Cyclist] Re: Early 1950s Raleigh Clubman.

 

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[Luckyrob]

I have ordered them from UK in the past and they are becoming harder to get reasonably priced.  What makes it worse is there are slight size differences so one clip I bought is too small for the bike I got it for so it sits in the orphan parts boxes never to be found again.

On Friday, November 7, 2025 at 1:20:20 PM UTC-6 MarkSaltLake wrote:

[Theodore Schefelbein]

The version that came from Jon was pretty tight in the steer tube, but, that was caused by a buildup of black paint and poor cleaning of the tube before it was painted. A few minutes spent with a brake hone got it to where it needed to be. If you try this, keep in mind that you need to just take enough to allow the stem to snugly go into the steer tube. Don’t get carried away.

Did I mention I’m really happy I don’t need to find one to use on the bike? 

Ted

[MarkSaltLake]

i did not have to chase down a headclip, i got the clubman frame and forks, orig smalll herons  crankset and hedclip headset for 150$ back in 2010 (that was some money then, but i do'nt regret it) . the flamboyant blu was largely gone, just patina gunmetal gray,,,,,,,ithe headclip thing is tricky as mentioned above, so i  believe i would forgo if i didnt already have one..;..,

[Theodore Schefelbein]

Well, yea, me too, but, it would be for the reason that it would take me the rest of my life to find one I could afford.

Most of these bikes have been rode hard and put away wet. As the Vicar used to say, “ Lord, many of these old bikes are returned from the dead, much like yourself”. I haven’t seen a Clubman that was as it left the factory. As Dylan said, “The hour is getting late”.

I’m looking forward to the first ride, even if there may be some quizzical looks and questions about how it is equipped, and the color it is painted. I have a few bikes that are exactly as they were specified  by Raleigh, back in the day, but, they are all equally fun to ride on a sunny day.