Katzwerk - Antique Bicycles

Antique Bicycles

My 1885 Rudge Light Roadster Ordinary Bicycle

Photograph taken after my 100 mile Century ride in Yosemite, CA on May 13, 1989.

The Rudge is a Light Roadster model built in 1885 by Daniel Rudge & Co. of Coventry, England. It has a 54 inch driver and a 17 inch trailer and weighs only 38 pounds. It has a George Townsend saddle made in London, England in 1887.

The Rudge has tangential spokes, ball bearing to the front driver and rear trailer, hollow, tapered tubing, hollow felloes (rims), cow horn handlebars with spade grips, Rudge's famous ball pedals, and a Harrington step. It has a spoon brake applied to the front wheel which has a solid red Indian rubber tire as does the rear wheel.

The Rudge originally cost $137.50 in 1885.

I purchased the Rudge in 1987 from a bicycle collector in Concord, Massachusetts. It had been ridden previously on the Wheelmen 700 mile Philadelphia Centenary Run.

I have been a member of The Wheelmen since 1980. The Wheelmen is a bicycle club dedicated to the preservation, history, and riding of antique cycles. I am also a member of The Veteran Cycle Club of England. I have ridden in Ghent, Belgium, Peterborough, England, Edinburgh and Dumfriesshire, Scotland.

More of my antique bicycle to come............