I apologize for a bit of early-morning foggeyheadedness. When I said that I was not convinced that the frame in question is a genuine lightweight I should have said that, obviously, Humber, by naming it "Special Course," billed it as a racing cycle, but I question how seriously it was taken as such by competitive riders, as the firm was known more for its roadsters and sports cycles.
I suspect it might be one of those machines that was marketed as a racing steed but were targeted at the novice club cycling crowd and the general youthful enthusiast with lofty hopes. That's not to disparage the frameset, which is interesting in and of itself. It's just a musing as to how "special" that "Special Course" really is.
Cheerio,
Peter Jourdain
Whitewater, Wisconsin USA
> From: Peter Jourdain <pjourdain@yahoo.com>
\r?\n> Subject: Re: [CR] Humber frame with 4 barrelled fork
\r?\n> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org, "Thomas Adams" <thomasthomasa@yahoo.com>
\r?\n> Date: Wednesday, April 7, 2010, 7:21 AM
\r?\n> Hi, Tom & CR---
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Humber used that signature twin-bladed fork design, called
\r?\n> the "Duplex," for many years, mainly on roadsters (some with
\r?\n> rod brakes) for which they were primarily known. I believe
\r?\n> the Duplex fork was in use at least as early as the '20s and
\r?\n> kept into the '50s on roadster and "sports" models.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Here is a photo of a 1954 Humber Royal roadster, with the
\r?\n> Duplex forks---
\r?\n> http://www.mvvcc.org.uk/
\r?\n>
\r?\n> By the early to mid-fifties their lightweight models
\r?\n> (really "sports" machines) such as the Beeston Tourist and
\r?\n> the Clipper (both of which were popular with the Cyclists'
\r?\n> Touring Club members) were using standard single-blade forks
\r?\n> of Reynolds 531.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> The claimed mechanical advantages of the Duplex forks
\r?\n> (again, primarily for roadsters) were ruggedness and
\r?\n> comfort. They certainly are rugged and also eye-catching.
\r?\n> Whether or not they deliver additional comfort...well, you'd
\r?\n> have to ask an owner. In addition to the Duplex fork, Humber
\r?\n> pioneered various cross-frame designs, again primarily for
\r?\n> roadsters and "sports" machines.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Humber Cycles, "The Aristocrat of all Bicycles," had a rich
\r?\n> history as one of the grand old firms, dating back to 1869
\r?\n> as Humber & Company Limited, founded by Thomas Humber at
\r?\n> Beeston, Nottinghamshire. They were later acquired by Joseph
\r?\n> Horton of Birmingham and moved their works to Wolverhampton.
\r?\n> Around 1900 new works were built at Stoke in Coventry and
\r?\n> production moved there.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> They were also famous for their motorcars.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> They were one of the first firms gobbled up by Raleigh, in
\r?\n> 1932, and eventually production was moved to Nottingham.
\r?\n> They continued manufacturing under Raleigh ownership until
\r?\n> the '70s.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> I saw the auction listing which you site and, though it is
\r?\n> an interesting frame, I am not convinced that it is a
\r?\n> genuine "lightweight," as it is more likely from a roadster
\r?\n> or "sports" machine, the latter being used more for touring
\r?\n> and all around cycling rather than pure racing. You'll see
\r?\n> very few (if any) Humbers appearing in the racing annals of
\r?\n> the golden lightweight era of the '30s through '50s. The
\r?\n> Duplex-forked Humbers are quite nice and, of course,
\r?\n> interesting, and easily found in Britain (a couple on Ebay
\r?\n> UK right now), but not so often here in the States, where
\r?\n> they are prized by gentlemen and gentlelady cyclists who
\r?\n> ride in the Lake Pepin 3-Speed Tour.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> http://www.3speedtour.com/
\r?\n>
\r?\n> There is what I am told an excellent book on the history of
\r?\n> Humber Cycles, which I occasionally see on Ebay UK.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Hope this bit o' information helps.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Cheerio,
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Peter Jourdain
\r?\n> Whitewater, Wisconsin USA
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n> --- On Tue, 4/6/10, Thomas Adams <thomasthomasa@yahoo.com>
\r?\n> wrote:
\r?\n>
\r?\n> > From: Thomas Adams <thomasthomasa@yahoo.com>
\r?\n> > Subject: [CR] Humber frame with 4 barrelled fork
\r?\n> > To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
\r?\n> > Date: Tuesday, April 6, 2010, 10:06 PM
\r?\n> > Here's one I haven't seen before, a
\r?\n> > Humber frame with a different fork design. Nothing
\r?\n> for
\r?\n> > Humber on the CR GB pages. Archives are down, so I
\r?\n> > apologize if these were discussed before. How long
\r?\n> were
\r?\n> > these on the market? Did they work, or give any
\r?\n> > advantage?
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > http://ebay.com/
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > or ebay item: 160420791805
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > Tom Adams
\r?\n> > Manhattan, KS, USA