Raleigh's Monopoly on 'English Racers'

I recently found this illustration a publication Raleigh put out in the 1950s. It illustrates how Raleigh Industries owned most of the manufacturers of British built bikes that were imported in the United States, and as much as one might have thought it was cool to have a Rudge or Triumph rather than a Raleigh, they were all owned by Raleigh Industries.

Rudge was acquired during wartime in 1943. Robin Hood was in 1906, Humber was 1932 and Triumph was 1954, and after this publication, they also bought Hercules, Carlton, and a couple more names. (ED. BSA and Sunbeam were also acquired in the late 1950s). It was forward thinking of Raleigh to acquire the manufacturer of one of their main parts, the internal geared hub, early on. Sturmey Archer became part of Raleigh Cycle Co. in 1903, a partnership that proved a perfect match, as the internal 3 speed is forever linked to British bikes that Americans dubbed- English Racers, compared to the cumbersome Schwinn balloon tire bikes.

Raleigh Ladies Tourist bicycle

Raleigh is best known for their black "English Racer" bicycles, made the ever popular, Sturmey Archer 3 speed equipped, bicycle for over 80 years. To the casual looker, the Raleigh bicycle from the 1930s is no different than same model produced in the 1970s. A perfect example is the Raleigh Tourist.

Barring some minor details, the Tourist model known for it's larger wheel size (28" x 1 1/2") and rod -actuated brakes(rather than cables), remained unchanged for decades. It is a common mistake that people see these bikes as early Raleighs, even though Raleigh produced this model into the 1980s.

This particular Ladies model has a hub that is dated from 1978, and dating Raleighs this way is fairly accurate when the wheels are original to the bicycle. The 1977 catalog scan was borrowed from Retro Raleighs , an invaluable source of catalogs and general information about vintage Raleighs.