Old Wearwell help

[ian c]

Hello, first proper post so please be gentle......

My dad has recently purchased an old "classic" Wearwell bike which he has started to restore. The reasons for the purchase are two-fold, firstly, it gives him something to do, (he's retired and getting under mother's feet), and secondly, his father, (my grandfather), did his apprenticeship at the Wearwell factory before the second world war.
Anyway, I don't know if this is the right place, but could anybody suggest how we go about finding out the age of the bike? We have the frame number, but we can't find any records that could help or even point us in the general direction. It has "rod" brakes, an oval brass badge on the headset and "Wearwell" stamped into the chainwheel.
Any help would be appreciated.
Many thanks

 

[ChrisEyles]

Nice looking bike, should come up a treat!

The Sturmey Archer rear hubs normally have the date of manufacture stamped on them, so if the wheels are the original ones supplied with the frame this will give you the date. Looking at the bolt on seat stays and lovely quadrant shifter on the top tube, I would guess sometime in the 1930s.

This site is a fantastic place to get help and tips, so any questions fire away. Would be great to see some piccies of the work in progress too

 

[biggs682]

@ian c that looks wicked

as per @ChrisEyles rear hub for date code and other parts could also be coded

 

[raleighnut]

That looks a nice project.

 

[User42423]

Hi. This is probably no help to you at all. This cycle looks to date from the late 1930s or early 1940s. Wearwell I think started around 1890.

The front lamp bracket appears to be an 'Ashby' product.

Regards, Rob

 

[ian c]

Hiya,

sorry, dropped the ball a bit on this but, the story so far....

Everything has been dismantled and checked for usability in the rebuild. The frame went away to be shot blasted which, fortunately, showed no issues of any note......

Minor filling, sanding, more filling, more sanding, etc which then led to priming, sanding, more priming, more sanding etc and shiny top coat of black......

More sanding, more spraying, yet more sanding and spraying, (I guess you have got the idea by now), and the frame is as above. Still more work to do to get it to the state where dad is happy with it, not sure how many top coats it has had, but at least two have been completely rubbed off and re-started.

The headset and badge are now as below,

Other bits are at various stages of the rubbing down, re-priming/spraying game whilst the shiny chrome bits haven't yet had too much attention.

Bonus picture of the dog who has been no help whatsoever in the project, but was pretending to look interested while we took the 'photo's.

That's it so far, we haven't done much more research into the age yet, need to get onto that in the near future. More pictures to come as and when progress allows.

Cheers
Ian

 

[classic33]

You know what colours were used on the headbadge, before it was cleaned?

 

[ian c]

Hiya,

only picture we've seen of the particular badge on this bike is as below;

Not sure if these are the authentic original colours, the badge was pretty well worn down to plain when we bought the bike.

Cheers

Ian

 

[classic33]

"Light Tourist" or "Gent's Golden"!
http://www.historywebsite.co.uk/Museum/Transport/bicycles/wearwell1/catalogue.htm
http://www.historywebsite.co.uk/Museum/Transport/bicycles/Cogent.htm

 

[ChrisEyles]

That's a fantastic finish you've got on the frame, should be a real beauty when you're finished with it!

 

[ian c]

Hello all,

It's been a while since my elder brother kindly posted up the info and I thought I would do a quick update.

After a fair old bit of work, refurbishing parts and sourcing replacements where needed (only when the old bits simply can't be re-used), the Wearwell is currently looking like this:

The 3-speed hub in the back has been replaced - it was dated July 1960 and so the old man decided to have a single speed instead. The hub and old rim have been put in store.

The various components that made up the braking system have also been kept for possible re-chroming at a later date, along with the various bits that make up the pedals, plus the handlebars although these are not in good shape. I'm looking into how I can pull the couple of dents out and other minor repairs before they are re-chromed and whether all that effort is really worth it. I'm minded it is but only because it would be fun to have a bash at them with my extensive range of hammers.

An earlier pic showed the rather fancy chainwheel in an untidy old state. It's looking a bit more tasty now.

Not a bad job at all, although it took the chrome platers two attempts to get it right.

So it's steadily coming together.

The front wheel is being a bit of a nuisance. A replacement was bought but the hub was too big for the forks. No problem, take the rim off and rebuild the original hub. Except the new wheel is a 36 spoke and the old hub is a 32. I really should have counted the spokes before stripping everything down. So, after phoning round and round and round I have got my hands on one over at Vintage Cycles in Nuneaton, and as I am vaguely nearby tomorrow will go and fetch it along with a new tyre.

The chain is proving annoying too. Weirdly it is one link short, and new links, as well as looking that bit too new, simply don't fit properly - even though I have specified single gear chain links when buying the things. .

The one bit we are putting off is fitting the brake clamps onto the frame. After all that work getting a half-decent paint job done the last thing we want to do is scratch it by putting the clamps on and then having to do loads of re-adjusting. I've got some tape and put some on the frame as a test (you might be able to make it out in the second pic) but that is the one bit I'm not really looking forward to doing.

The saddle is another part being a bit of an issue. Finding a seat post the correct diameter is so not quite getting there (our local bike shop Jack Hateleys are being really helpful to get this sorted though), and the saddle itself needs a decent clean and lots of hide food to get it back to decent condition.

Anyway, fingers crossed it should be back on its wheels and rolling in plenty of time for the summer and showing it off somewhere.

Cheers,

Pete

 

[mikeymustard]

Looking quite lovely!

 

[ian c]

Thanks, been a fairly straightforward little project and fun to do.

I got the rim yesterday and took it round to Fred Williams Cycles to be built up, letting them know it was no huge rush and let me know over the next week or so. 2 hours later the phone rings - all done and ready to collect. Blimey!

So, this evening the front wheel was refitted, brakes connected up and adjusted, old reflector cleaned up and fitted to the new rear mudguard, and it's now rolling again.

Seat post will be sorted tomorrow along with hopefully the chain, and then it's just deciding what to do with the pedals. Correct period ones are not exactly abundant so it looks like rebuilding the old ones with new (or preferably excellent old) rubber sections. That will take a bit of time as the metal bits will have to go to be re-chromed and the leadtime on this for a lot of places these days can be a good few weeks.

The Wrights saddle will be coming in for some special attention too. While looking far from brand new, a good clean and plenty of food will have it lasting for many more years and it will set the Wearwell off very nicely.

Having said all that, I'm getting picky over it already and it's not even finished. The rear rim is a Westrick type so that's coming off in due course. The old rims might be rechromed with the pedal components as they are not pitted, just the plating has worn off. And while I'm at it I may as well get all the brake parts replated too. The there's the original handlebars to be repaired, a few metric fasteners that I want to replace with Whitworths, the badge to be repainted somehow, I will forever always be on the lookout for a chainguard, and finally do I look for a correct year Sturmey Archer rear hub and refit all the linkage or use what I have to hand. It's never-ending!

Anyway, more pics to follow over the next couple of days and thanks for your encouragement. I'd also like to just mention three places that have helped with parts; Jackson Hateley Cycles, Fred Williams (both in Wolverhampton), and the Village Cycle Centre in Nuneaton. Really appreciated their help.

 

[ian c]

Oh, and I'm also looking for a stablemate for the Wearwell!

 

[mikeymustard]

and finally do I look for a correct year Sturmey Archer rear hub and refit all the linkage

Yes!