1939 Rudge-Whitworth Olympic Road

Rudge-Whitworth Olympic Road
model no. 92
serial no. 46637 47
Made in Hayes, Middlesex, England in April 1939
Purchased on 9 January 2018
Back on the road 19 May 2018

Some History

"Worthy descendant of the long line of Rudge high-speed machines which on road and track have built the unsurpassed records of successes enjoyed by Rudge, this new "True-Poise" model is one of an entirely new range incorporating every modern feature that scientific research has made possible.

It is the ace of clubmen's mounts-- a thoroughbred of Rudge quality."

Rudge advertisement for the the Olympic Road, Cycling 21 January 1939


The last of the "real" Rudge road lightweights, the Olympic Road model for 1939 replaced the Aero-Olympic model as the top-of-the-line road model. It introduced "upright angles" (71 parallel) and a reworked specification to drop its price down to £9. 15s from the £13 of the '38 Aero-Olympic. This entailed replacing the costlier and lighter alloy chainwheel, stem and 'bars with steel ones and fitting Dunlop HP rims in either 26" or 27" as standard. The chainset was a Williams C1000 with Constrictor Boa pedals. The built-up weight for the standard model with fixed/free single-speed gearing was 24 lbs. 14 ozs vs. 20 lbs. for the Aero-Olympic.

Not by coincidence, the new Rudge Olympic Road cost the same as the Raleigh Record Ace yet it was both lighter (24 lbs. 14 ozs. vs 25 lbs. 4 ozs.), boasted all Reynolds butted 531 frame and forks (the RRA was built with older HM tubing in the rear triangle and fork blades and Chrome Molybdenum main triangle), had more modern upright "mass start" geometry and the more contemporary Dunlop high pressure rims and tyres and came in fixed/free, hub or derailleur gear options. By any standard, it was among the best high-end, well spec'd factory made lightweight of the year for the money and represented a remarkable value. Its main competition at the same price point was the comparable Carlton Mass Start model.

The main frame triangle and rear stays were butted Reynolds 531 but advertisements at the time of the Cycle Show in mid November 1938 spec'd the front fork as "A&P [Accles & Pollock] resilient racing type" but this was changed to Reynolds 531 in the main brochure. The colours, too, changed with "Magpie", blue or green first advertised in November 1938, then black, blue, green or "Tango" in the main 1939 brochure and finally, black and white, blue or green in the final "Super Sports" leaflet printed in spring 1939.

Reviewing the Rudge 1939 models, Cycling of 12 October 1938 said "At £9 15s., the Olympic Road is an ideal mount for the connoisseur, with a really high-quality specification, including a frame of '531' tubing, A. and P. resilient racing-type chromium-plated forks, Dunlop high pressure rims and tyres, Airlite hubs, a choice of handlebars, Brooks B17 Champion saddle and an attractive finish."

How I Got It

It's not often one realizes, finally, a "Holy Grail" bicycle but for me, one of the 1937-39 top-end Rudge lightweights by Jack Lauterwasser was always at the top of the list. Hitherto, I had never even seen a photo of a real one "in the flesh" in any stage of restoration or condition. And to find one in my size (or as big they come) and in original paint with some of the original components was more than one could have hoped for.

This came to me by pure chance and circumstance when, in the course of researching for an article on the Rudge lightweights 1937-39, I happened on a recent posting to Bike Forum.com asking for information on an old Rudge. It was easy enough to identify it as a 1939 Olympic Road model albeit with only the remaining original components being the seat pillar, Brooks B17 saddle, headset and handlebar stem. It had, oddly, a late 50s Rudge three-speed chainset, generic early 70s 27”x1¼" wheelset, an alloy stem and set up as a single speed.

In any event, I asked the poster to contact me should he ever wish to sell it. And the rest is as they say, history. The seller purchased it in summer 2017 at a "bike junk sale" at Sports Basement in the San Francisco area. It has an original pre-war Hans Orht bike shop decal on it so most likely never left California in its first 79 years.

The Restoration

Significantly, this came with the original paint, lining and transfers... showing the full measure of 79 years wear and tear but certainly not deserving of being ruined by repainting. But I soon discovered that what arrived as an olive drab bicycle was really a polychromatic platinum blue underneath a horrible and persistent coating of probably decades of tar and nicotine stains. The only traces of the original colour being the bb shell. It took a week of cleaning variously with TCP, ammonia and white vinegar, then rubbing compound, then polishing compound, Meguiars Mirror Glaze No. 7 and then finally waxing to restore it to something approaching its original but still weathered and chipped finish.

The only damage to the frame is a shallow dent on the non-driveside seat tube and one on the top tube.

No "retouching" or "improvements" have been attempted and the only concession in this regard was the use of a correct replica (Lloyd decals) of the early Reynolds 531 butted transfer as the original had weathered to little more than a silvered square with the outlines of the lettering remaining. The remains of the original remain under the replacement.

Being a California bike, there is almost no rust or corrosion and the chrome fork, headset and stem came back to a remarkably good shine. The Brooks saddle, the pre-war version of the B17 Champion Narrow, also came back to astonishingly good condition using Preservation Solutions Leather Rejuvenator for Damaged Leather and Restoration Leather Conditioner.

The fork is original to the machine and clearly a Rudge pattern, but it is track pattern without mudguard eyelets, lamp bracket boss and narrowier crown without mudguard clearance. It is factory drilled for a front brake and the rake is comparable to the standard road version.

The machine has been outfitted almost completely per original catalogue spec although the bottom bracket is not original pending the acquisition of a proper Chater-Lea one.

The Olympic Road came as either three-speed Cyclo derailleur or Sturmey-Archer hub geared or, the traditional fixed/free single speed, and I opted for the later. All of the parts added were carefully chosen for their complimentary "patina" to the original frame and parts. Brake levers identical to those pictured in the 1939 Rudge catalogue were sourced from a 1940 Sun Wasp but these had to be rechromed as they were war-time economy silver painted and rusted out. The brake cable is NOS 1940s silver cloth housing. The handlebar rubber sleeves are NOS Shockstop No. 57 in blue.


Specifications
Frame: Reynolds 531 butted main tubes, Reynolds 531 tapered chainstays and backstays
Bottom bracket shell: Chater-Lea CL1601
Fork: A&P blades, "D" to round pattern, Resilient type with Rudge pattern sloping fork crown. No mudguard clearance, no mudguard fitting eyelets and no lamp bracket pips. Entirely chromium plated. Steerer tube stamped A&P B.S.T. 9/100 B
Braze ons: pump pegs on down tube.
Finish: polychromatic steel blue-gray with white lining and silver transfers. Original Hans Ohrt dealer sticker and U.S. flag (48-stars). Fully chromed front fork.
Size: seat tube 23” (c to t), top tube 22” (c to c)
Angles: 71˚ (head) 71˚ (seat)
Fork rake: 2½”
Wheelbase: 41¼”
Bottom bracket height: 11"
Chainstay length: 17¼"
Rear spacing: 118 mm
Lugs: Chater-Lea fishtailed

Components
Wheelset: Rims: 27”x1¼" Dunlop Special Lightweight 32/40 chromed steel rims. Spoking: 15/17g double-butted galvanised spokes 3x front and 4x rear. Front hub: 32-hole Airlite low-flange. Rear hub: 40-hole Airlite low-flange. Gripfast wingnuts.Tyres: Schwinn Super Sports (clone of Dunlop High Pressure Road Racing) 27x1" wire-on. 90 psi
Chainset: Williams C1000 chromed steel, detachable 3-pin 46t chainring with 6¾” cranks
Pedals: Constrictor Boa quill
Gears: 46t chainwheel. 15t fixed sprocket-- 88.4" gear. 16T Villiers freewheel --82.8" gear
Chain: Coventry ⅛”
Brakes: side-pull calipers and levers, silver cloth cable housing.
Top tube brake cable clips: rubber
Headset: Rudge-Whitworth headclip fixing, chromed steel (original)
Stem & handlebars: Rudge pattern 2" chromed stem (original), chromed 15" 15/16th Bailey pattern 'bars, Shockstop no. 57 6½" rubber sleeve grips
Saddle: Brooks B17 Champion Narrow with black enameled undercarriage (original)
Seat pin: 27mm domed steel (original)
Pump: 15" x ⅞" Bluemel’s silver Tour de France celluloid
Weight:
Bare frame: 4.89 lbs
Fork: 1.9 lbs.
Built up: 25 lbs. 6 ozs.