1911 Raleigh Modele Superbe Ladies X Frame (Unrestored)

THE WORLD’S MOST EXPENSIVE BICYCLE: The Ladies’ Raleigh X Frame is a confection, a bicycle designed to stand out from the crowd and pay the advertising department’s wages.

A gentleman’s crossframe was supposedly better at withstanding stress under speed. The elegant Centaur crossframe, for example, had a lightweight frame with narrow tubing and was the best for fast riding. Raleigh’s X Frame, meanwhile, was more robust, so was ideal for rough roads and was particularly favoured in the Colonies.

If a woman wanted to ride fast, athletic prowess was best rewarded with a man’s machine. A lady’s loopframe has no top tube so can be mounted discreetly while wearing a dress, and its upright position ensures that it is ridden politely. A lady’s X frame is the ultimate version of the loopframe and, before World War One, the Raleigh X Frame was the world’s most expensive bicycle.

But the additional strengthening afforded by the extra tubes serves no real purpose in a lady’s bicycle, as strength under duress is hardly required at average speeds, and certainly does not justify the extra expenditure for any practical reason.

Miss Phyllis Dare, darling of the theatre, promoted the model in all the cycling magazines and newspapers. With Miss Mabel Love likewise promoting Elswick’s ‘cross truss’, there’s no doubt that such endorsement turned cross-frames, for a while, into the latest fashion in ladies’ cycling.

1911 Raleigh Modele Superbe Ladies X Frame

‘Model No 16’ with

Concealed Roller Lever Brakes

Sturmey-Archer ‘Model FX’ 3-Speed Gear

Brooks ‘Model B66’ Lady’s Saddle

Raleigh Inflator Pump. Lucas spring dome bell

24″ Frame

28″ Wheels

Frame No 329987

(Now sold)

Modele Superbe No 329987 is a barn find that I purchased in 2018, and has recently undergone a total strip-down with every component cleaned and serviced and the original paint carefully treated so as not to damage the transfers and gilt lining. It’s a testament to the high quality of Raleigh’s paintwork that after years of neglect, this much original paint, gold lining and transfers (decals) has survived.

An interesting feature is the ‘Concealed Roller Lever Brake’, patented by Lea Francis and offered as an option by Raleigh in 1910 and 1911.

As befits a 111-year-old beauty making her 21st century debut, I’ve given her some jewellery. For her photoshoot at a frozen Falmer Village Pond this morning, she wears a dainty Lucas lady’s bell, green Raleigh inflator pump and Brooks ‘Model B66’ Lady’s saddle.

The gear is a Sturmey-Archer Model FX, which dates from 1914, so I assume that either the Raleigh received a three-speed a few years after being sold, or it was built in 1911 but sold three years later.