The Raleigh Sports and its deluxe sibling the Superbe were the flagships of Raleigh's line of utility bikes.
For many years, in many parts of the world, the Raleigh "Sports" three-speed bicycle was considered the ultimate in human-powered transportation. These bicycles were not toys, and, despite the model name, they were not sporting equipment...they were serious vehicles. The men and women who built them, by and large, also rode them, as their primary means of transportation.
Most modern bicycles are designed with the primary intent to catch your eye on the sales floor, and persuade you to buy. That is not what a Raleigh Sports was about...these were designed to provide solid, dependable transportation for the British public, at a time when only the upper classes had motorcars. These bikes were built to last 100 years, with reasonable care.
"The All Steel Bicycle"
Contemporary bicycles have many parts made of aluminum (or "aluminium," if you prefer) for lightness, strength and corrosion resistance. Contemporary bicycles that have steel rims, or cranks, or handlebars, or brakes do so as a way of cutting corners and saving a little bit of money, for a low-end bicycle. Modern steel rims, cranks, etc are of low quality, because they are aimed at the cheapest possible price point.
From the mid 19th century, well into the 20th, the word "steel" was magic in Britain. Britain's rise to an industrial superpower on the crest of the Industrial Revolution was based, as much as anything else, on the steel industry and the new technologies it made possible: steel ships, steel bridges, steel buildings...and steel bicycles. Raleigh originally introduced the slogan "The All Steel Bicycle" to differentiate Raleighs from competitors who used cast iron for some critical parts, a heavier and cruder technology.
The mystique of steel caused the British cycle industry to be slow to adopt newfangled materials such as aluminum, and many British cyclists believed, even well into the 1960's, that steel rims, for instance, were superior to aluminum ones. These days, this seems laughable...but if you look at an older Dunlop steel rim, you'll find a very respectable, well-made product.
The fact that Raleigh 3-speeds are made of steel shouldn't fool you into thinking that these bikes were cheap or inferior in any way...they were not...they were the finest utility bicycles money could buy.
Raleigh 3-speed bicycles were introduced around the turn of the century, and kept improving in technology over the years, reaching a peak in quality probably in the mid-to-late 1950s. They continued to be built in Nottingham until the mid-1970's, when the glamour of the 10-speed fad pushed them out of favor with the rising baby boom generation.
From the 1962 catalogue:
The "Superbe" was a deluxe version, of the Sports. The Superbe usually came with a DynoHub lighting system, key locking fork, luggage carrier and upgraded saddle (Brooks B66 instead of the B72 used on the Sports.
From the 1962 catalogue:
It's an interesting sign of the times that the 1962 catalogue copy suggests that the Dynohub would be "ideal for emergency lighting in your fallout shelter."
For reasons of marketing, Raleigh made equivalent bicycles under the "Rudge" and "Humber" name.
From the 1967 catalogue:
The top-line Raleigh/Rudge/Humber models had a number of features that set them apart from lesser models, even lesser Raleigh products.
From the 1970 catalogue:
From the 1976 catalog:
From the 1977 catalog:
Raleigh Sports na ndugu yake wa kifahari Superbe walikuwa flagships ya Raleigh ya mstari wa baiskeli za matumizi. Kwa miaka mingi, katika sehemu nyingi za ulimwengu, baiskeli ya Raleigh "Sports" yenye kasi tatu ilionwa kuwa njia bora zaidi ya usafiri inayoendeshwa na wanadamu. Baiskeli hizi hazikuwa vitu vya kuchezea, na, licha ya jina la mtindo, hazikuwa vifaa vya michezo... zilikuwa magari mazito. Wanaume na wanawake waliojenga magari hayo, kwa ujumla, pia waliwaendesha, wakiwa njia yao kuu ya usafiri. Baiskeli nyingi za kisasa zimebuniwa kwa kusudi la msingi la kukushika jicho kwenye sakafu ya mauzo, na kukushawishi ununue. Raleigh Sports ilikuwa ni gari la umma la Uingereza, ambalo lilikuwa na uwezo wa kuendesha magari kwa urahisi na kwa urahisi, wakati ambapo watu wa tabaka la juu tu ndio walikuwa na magari. Baiskeli hizo zilitengenezwa kwa ajili ya miaka 100 ikiwa zitazingatiwa kwa uangalifu. Baiskeli za kisasa zina sehemu nyingi zilizotengenezwa kwa alumini (au "alumini", ikiwa unapendelea) kwa ajili ya mwanga, nguvu na upinzani wa kutu. Baiskeli za kisasa ambazo zina vipaji vya chuma, au cranks, au handlebars, au breki hufanya hivyo kama njia ya kukata pembe na kuokoa pesa kidogo, kwa baiskeli ya chini. Vipande vya chuma vya kisasa, cranks, nk ni ya ubora wa chini, kwa sababu zina lengo la bei ya chini iwezekanavyo. "Kuanzia karne ya 19 hadi karne ya 20, neno ""chuma"" lilikuwa neno la kichawi nchini Uingereza." Kuinuka kwa Uingereza kuwa nguvu kubwa ya viwanda kwenye kilele cha Mapinduzi ya Viwanda ilitegemea, kama kitu kingine chochote, sekta ya chuma na teknolojia mpya ilifanya iwezekanavyo: meli za chuma, madaraja ya chuma, majengo ya chuma... na baiskeli za chuma. Raleigh awali ilianzisha kauli mbiu "The All Steel Bicycle" kutofautisha Raleighs kutoka washindani ambao walitumia chuma cha chuma kwa sehemu fulani muhimu, teknolojia nzito na mbaya. Kwa sababu ya ushirika wa chuma, viwanda vya baiskeli vya Uingereza vilikuwa vimechukua muda mrefu kupitisha vifaa vipya kama vile alumini, na baiskeli wengi wa Uingereza waliamini, hata katika miaka ya 1960, kwamba magurudumu ya chuma yalikuwa bora kuliko yale ya alumini. Siku hizi, hii inaonekana laughable... lakini kama wewe kuangalia zamani Dunlop chuma rim, utapata heshima sana, vizuri-kufanywa bidhaa. Raleigh 3G ni ya chuma, na si kuwa na kufikiri kwamba baiskeli hizi walikuwa nafuu au chini ya hali ya juu katika njia yoyote, lakini si. Baiskeli za Raleigh zenye kasi tatu zilianzishwa karibu na mwanzo wa karne, na ziliendelea kuboresha teknolojia kwa miaka, zikifikia kilele cha ubora labda katikati hadi mwishoni mwa miaka ya 1950. "Mara nyingi, magari hayo yaliendelea kutengenezwa huko Nottingham hadi katikati ya miaka ya 1970, wakati ambapo ""mwisho wa miaka kumi"" ulipopigwa marufuku na kizazi cha watu waliozaliwa baada ya kuzaliwa kwa watoto wengi." "Mfano wa ""Superb"" ni toleo la kifahari la Sports." Superb kawaida alikuja na DynoHub mfumo wa taa, ufunguo kufuli, mizigo carrier na upgraded saddle (Brooks B66 badala ya B72 kutumika juu ya Sports). "Katalog ya mwaka 1962 ilionyesha kwamba ""Dynahub"" ilikuwa bora kwa ajili ya taa za dharura katika makazi yako." Kwa sababu za uuzaji, Raleigh alifanya baiskeli sawa chini ya jina la "Rudge" na "Humber". "Kutoka kwenye orodha ya mwaka wa 1967: ""Mifano ya juu ya Raleigh, Rudge, na Humber ilikuwa na sifa kadhaa ambazo ziliwaweka mbali na mifano ya chini, hata bidhaa ndogo za Raleigh." "Katika orodha ya ""Mwaka wa 1976"" na ""Mwaka wa 1977"""