The CCM looks very British, resembling a Raleigh and in fact has the same fenders and back reflector. The front fender however, differs from a Raleigh Sports fender in that it does not have the chromed nib on the front. The head tube angle and forks are similar to those of a Raleigh. It rides and looks much like a Raleigh Sports except for the top tubes. The use of a Shimano hub rather than a Sturmey Archer hub is surprising but certainly not a detriment to the operation of the bike and I rather prefer the Shimano shifter.

I restored/refurbished the CCM in the summer of 1997. All the painted parts were stripped of paint and rust. Since the original paint was a medium metallic green I chose green for the re-paint. Wanting something striking, I chose a rich metallic green for the primary color and a lighter shade of green for the lugs and striping. I pre-painted automotive striping tape to match the lugs prior to applying the striping tape. Applying the striping was very tedious but the effect is very attractive.

Strangely, for such a well built bicycle, the CCM's decals were of a paper-like material rather than the traditional decal material, however, this made their reproduction much easier. The decals,which I removed very carefully with the aid of a heat gun, were in very poor condition but intact. Once removed, I scanned them into my PC and did extensive pixel by pixel repairs to the graphics. I modified both the head and seat tube decals to better fit the space available while maintaining the original design as much as possible. The decals were then printed on Avery label paper using an ink jet printer and affixed to the frame before several clear coats were applied.

Parts replaced were: handlebars, grips, brake levers and cables, pedals, tires and inner tubes. The Messenger seat was retained. I like the bike so much that I keep it in our family room where It can be seen. I ride it infrequently since our area is quite hilly, however, we do take it to a local park occasionally where the terrain is more suited to a 3 speed. I enjoyed showing the finished product to my friend of the disparaging remark who was reluctant to believe it was the bike he had insulted. I have to add that the CCM's plating is far superior to the plating on British and American bicycles in the same class and period as the CCM. I can't imagine that the plating on any other bicycle could have taken the abuse the CCM has and not be rusted severely. I hope you enjoyed seeing my CCM and I welcome your comments.