Cycling UK Forum

hercule wrote:Nostalgia! My second bike was a Dawes Kingpin, mid 1970s I think, so contemporaneous with your bikes. I rode miles and miles on it (going much further than my parents ever suspected!). And so a cyclist was made...

Regarding restoration: I'm not aware of a big movement to restore these bikes, unlike 1960s Moultons. The good thing is that I believe Dawes used largely standard parts, unlike Raleigh who made things to their own standards and design. So standard cottered bottom brackets, hubs, headsets should all work fine.

I would actually suggest renovation rather than restoration if you are planning on using the bikes much: modern alloy rims and brakes are far better than their original steel versions. Sturmey dynohubs also work very well, apparently, with modern LED lighting - I remember feeble yellow glows from the original dynamo lights!

You might be able to improve the appearance of the paintwork with some T-Cut or similar but remember that these colour restorers take off the top layer of paint. As one with two Moultons of a slightly older vintage I actually prefer the patina of age! You could get them re-enamelled - period transfers are available for classic bikes, Kingpins aren't usually included in this category so you may not be able to get an exact match. I don't know if there's much you can do about the chrome short of rubbing of the worst of the rust and eventually getting them rechromed.

Again if you're looking for a usable bike rather than a concours restoration, using more modern components brings a number of advantages - better durability and reliability, better braking, corrosion resistance, and potentially a significantly lighter bike. Over the last 25 years that I've had my Moulton Deluxe it's shed 7 pounds off its original weight by incremental upgrade of parts - simply substituting aluminium for steel with NOS parts or things left in the bits box. The result is a reliable bike that's still on the road 48 years after it left the factory.