This is my new project for winter: a 1955 Huffy Sportsman, made by Raleigh, with a Sturmey-Archer 3-speed hub. This guy is a bit the worse for the wear, and I think quite a lot is going to have to be replaced. The chrome is mostly shot, and the frame has got a good bit of rust, but it's a solid old "British steel" bike. All of the components are Raleigh-made, and many of them are stamped "Raleigh Industries."
My favorite part is the chainring with the letters "NR", which I can only assume stands for "Nottingham Raleigh" (Update: nope, it's R.I.N. for Raleigh Industries Nottingham; the "I" is a bit hard to see). I haven't been able to find any other examples on the intertubes of this particular chainring design (wrong again--apparently common for brands taken over by Raleigh. See this thread at OldRoads.com, about 2/3 down the page, as well as this bike).
My final goal is for this to be a cargo bike, all fitted out with racks and baskets and whatnot. I've got a lot more photos up at my Flickr account, with a bit of explanatory text, so go check them out. And, of course, I'll be blogging about the restoration here as I go. The previous owner has even promised to check in, as he expressed a desire to see this old bike returned to its former glory. I'll do my best!
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