Dawes Kingpin. The best kept secret in classic cycling! small wheel 3-speed vintage shopper bicycle

[@malcolmlyon8871]

Well done nice walk round and sensible analysis. I have owned many expensive bikes but my Kingpin is the bike I have loved the most . I have recently electrified one and upgraded wheels and some components - it is wonderful to ride ...and being folder it pops in boot of the car, bus or train. A very cheap to create. I will try to make a little video.

[@lindajesse8250]

What a banner for Kingpin. Bravo Rowan great video. Top ten possibly.😊

[@ragwort3369]

I love these bikes. My first bike back in the early '80s was a Kingpin Junior. I have three of the "adult" Kingpins now: two in standard trim (although I have plans to modernise one of them with alloy rims and maybe drop bars) and one built as a drop bar fixed wheel bike. As you point out in the video, where these bikes really score over Raleigh Twenties as modding platforms is the fact that they take standard fittings: bottom brackets and headsets are standard threads and sizes. You're also right about them being addictive!

[@rudge3speed]

Thanks!

[@Velocipedium]

Thank you so much, and your KZbin name is intriguing. Have you seen my Ulster Tourist?

[@rudge3speed]

@@Velocipedium I love that Ulster Rudge! Mine is an export model from the early '60s that I added a full chain case to. Not as special as yours!

[@p9uma]

As mentioned below the Dawes Kingpin predates the R20 by four years (1964). The R20 is a copy of the Kingpin. Initially the Dawes released the Newpin as a split apart bike, the Newpin developed into the Kingpin, and the Newpin model ran alongside the KP for a while.

[@Velocipedium]

My statement was about the fact that people THINK the Kingpin is the copy, not that I think so.

[@oldelephantstew]

There is also a shopper type of Kingpin with a rack on the front as well as the back. I've owned two of these; the first one was bought from a rubbish dump and cost £2 around the turn of the century. Oddly enough the back brake was seized as yours is and I put on a replacement cable from a Raleigh 20. Also the rear mudguard rubbed on the back tyre - I rode it for a long time with no rear mudguard until I had the idea of extending the struts which support the mudguard with some extra pieces of metal. In the last 20 years or so I've done many miles on my dump find - even taken it away on holidays - Kingpins are a nice size for going on the trains. The 500A tyres were available at cycle shops until around 2016. Now, as you say, the tyres are difficult to get. I retired my dump find last year - the chain has stretched and is slipping and all the nuts and bolts are rusty to the point of being impossible to undo and it's now a source of spares for a replacement Kingpin, also a shopper, that I bought for £30 (found on Gumtree) last year. I was delighted with this one not least because it had two brand new Raleigh Record tyres - it was also clean and smart and much less rusty. As on my old bike, I've fitted an enormous basket (replacing the small basket which came with my dump find designed to clip onto the rack) on the rack on the front and a large bag on the rack on the back. I'm not too worried what they look like - they are there as a means of transport for me and my shopping. I've also fitted a Raleigh style twist grip gear shift as I also did on my old bike as I prefer these to the triggers. Prior to getting my Kingpin I had a Raleigh 20 which was brand new as a Christmas present in 1969 which I rode for 40 years. This one is now retired - it's a garden ornament rusting away; I can see it from my kitchen window - many happy memories.

[@Velocipedium]

Thank you for taking the time to share this interesting story. I didn’t know about the front basket version. That’s useful information for the comparison video because my R20 is a Shopper. Some time soon I’m going to be hunting for a pair of Kingpin mudguards.

[@whitecompany18]

I absolutely love my folding kingpin, her names myfanwy because i picked her up from Wrexham train station . Shes bottle green in almost mint original condition , I've just added a wicker basket on the front and a small picnic hamper on the back , shes currently on Raleigh wheels while i refurbish the slightly pitted originals but when i park it outside icelands theres always an admirer when i come out, and usually shocked that I'm the owner, even the local yobs think "thats well pimp that laa" ...and yes im always on the look out for them in different colour variants for the collection😂👍

[@Velocipedium]

I’m jealous!

[@frankdevaney5156]

Another nice review Mr Rowan. I have several R20's/stowaways, but yet to get my grubby mits on a KP - hoping serendipity will smile on me soon. Am looking forward to your head-to-head comparison video.

[@heikkirautanen]

Lovely bicycle and one day small wheel bicycles will conquer the world ! (I have a Finnish Tunturi "Poni" 22" 44-484,with single speed Torpedo Jet coaster brake hub. It's so fun to ride .)

[@Velocipedium]

I’ve seen your photos ( on Instagram?) and I like it

[@anisekohl4745]

We had one of these in blue in my family as a kid in the 70s. My dad replaced the saddlebag with a large, hardboard topbox with canvas cover and so the bike weighed a ton and became known as "The Trojan!" I was given it after I left home but sadly, it got stolen from outside my flat and was never seen again. We did have amusing thoughts that anybody who rode it may well have found they'd inadvertently stolen an uncontrollable juggernaut and landed up in the river as a result! The funny thing is I never knew this was a lightweight bike until now precisely because of my dad's addition to it!!!

[@kevinhare7037]

Another to compare with my Twenty (when done) is my 1975 Royal Enfield Revelation. Fun bikes to ride.

[@Blodwyn-RobA]

This is a lovely colour and an intriguing bike. I'm very much looking forward to the comparison video with the Raleigh Twenty...it looks set to be an interesting one 🙂

[@linseyyoung1772]

If you reconfigure the seat clamp so that it's behind the seatpost rather than in front, it'll fit better.

[@Velocipedium]

Thanks

[@Velocipedium]

Ahh you mean the actual saddle. Yes I always do it that way. This bike is just how it arrived, and it’s not keeping the white one.in fact the grips and saddle are already brown!

[@lindajesse8250]

Now that I look at it, it actually has a nice attitude relative to a full frame double triangle bike. Possibly sex-appeal. A simplicity.

[@davidpriestley3268]

The Kingpin came before the Raleigh 20 so can’t be accused of copying it. I’ve owned both in the past, both folding models and could not get on with the Kingpin at all. I was a strong cyclist and quite tall and found it felt flimsy and just unpleasant to ride. For perhaps smaller lighter riders the kingpin maybe fine but not for me. The R20 was much nicer ride. The Kingpin does have a conventional bottom bracket so easier than the Raleigh’s wide bb to upgrade to square taper.

[@samuel_excels]

As a Dawes Galaxy owner I'd love to hear the story of what happened to your own Galaxy.

[@Velocipedium]

Maybe for Halloween, although I don’t want to trivialise real-world tragedies (yes, plural). Suffice to say that nobody will ever be allowed to ride it again and it put a few superstitious people off green bikes.

[@kyle8952]

I'm going to be controversial and say that this genre of small wheel bike is superior to the traditional diamond frame bike. Smaller, lighter, more ergonomic, nippier, and yet also capable of carrying more cargo on the back. They're even cheaper and simpler to build. It makes perfect sense that this is the kind of bike that would come about in the 60s with all that thunderbirds optimism about new towns, new ideas, new technology. Of course, two things scupper that. The first is the unwashed masses think it's a girl's bike. The second is our basically post-soviet-collapse level of public works mean potholes big enough to swallow the wheels.

[@Blodwyn-RobA]

Step-through frames in general are greatly underappreciated. For everyday riding they have a lot of advantages.

[@PRH123]

Bikes like this have their place certainly. I have a folder. Mini velos are cool. But to say they’re better than all others is like saying a hammer is better than a screwdriver. The answer depends on what the task is. Of the 7 qualities that you mention, it really has only 1-2 areas of strength, size maybe, and simplicity maybe. Great bike for around town going to the shops and whatnot.

[@Velocipedium]

@PRH123 Mini-Velos have certainly become “cool” for those who follow what they are told. They combine the disadvantage of the diamond frame ( no step-through) with the disadvantage of the small wheeler (the small wheel ride). But apparently some trendy influencers ride them around Tokyo so they are deemed cool.

[@kyle8952]

​​​​@@Velocipediumyeah I think to equate a 60s style small wheeler with a mini velo shows a lack of understanding of either. I'm not sure what, other than riding over bad road surfaces, a traditional bike is meant to be better at. The low rear carrier on my twenty meant I could carry ridiculous amounts of carpet tiles home to my new flat. I did the same a day later on my "normal" bike and it was too wobbly from the weight being so high up. I suppose a diamond frame has the advantage I can shoulder the bike to carry up stairs at the train station, but the twenty just fits in the lift... They handle differently, but I think that could've been tuned out if they got more development. I've seen 1910s bikes with steering dampers coz they had no idea what was appropriate geometry yet.

[@p9uma]

I’m pretty sure I used to own this actual bike. But you didn’t buy it from me. I have photos of the bike with chipped chain guard, and the missing part at the bottom of the ‘K’ of Kingpin.

[@Velocipedium]

I didn’t get it from you. In the video I mentioned how I got it from my mate after he bought it and already had too many

[@TINGVELL]

dont forget the bell and still looking forward to a moulton video

[@Velocipedium]

Wait 3 1/2 hours!😊

[@johngarry7098]

Love the vids,but your audio is very low. Have to crank volume way up. Then when the next vid or a commercial plays it nearly blows out my windows….lol

[@anisekohl4745]

I have a question regarding this model of bike. Can the fold-up version be taken onto a normal bus? I rely on public transport and unfortunately, I have a long bus ride to my nearest rail station and do not have access to a car, van etc.

[@Velocipedium]

Usually they are accepted if covered. A big laundry bag or those under-bed storage bags are good

[@anisekohl4745]

@@Velocipedium That's great news- many thanks for replying. I did wonder as I realise they aren't super compact and some bus drivers can be a bit stroppy over what you are taking on the bus. It's a pity they don't do like in Canada where they can carry bikes on special carriers. I may now have to allow myself to seriously consider a DK- and this time, not a Trojan, lol!

[@alexwilsonpottery3733]

Raleigh had quite the knack for ruining a good thing.

[@johnjob8872]

That's a myth about 2cv kingpins. I've got a kingpin badged as a Dawes 500S, and a kingpin folder with 451 wheels and a 28 38 48 crank set with BB mounted front mech, and a chipped up folding frame with same graphics as yours going spare?

[@Velocipedium]

That sounds like some interesting stuff! I’ve had 2CVs, the kingpins are mostly just a pig to change. At least they don’t snap like Minors.

[@andywalker7582]

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