Classic & Vintage - Show me your 3-speeds with 559 rims and fat tires?

I'm thinking about building an "English beach bike," using a classic English 3-speed frame and hubs, but with 559 rims and Schwalbe Fat Franks or Big Apples. From a utilitarian perspective (riding near, but not on, the beach, with lots of soft sand and grass), it would seem to make sense -- like a beach cruiser, but with better geometry and gearing. But I've never actually seen it done. Does anybody have an example you'd like to show off? Can you say just how wide a tire one can put on a 23" Raleigh Sports? Thanks!

I'm thinking about building an "English beach bike," using a classic English 3-speed frame and hubs, but with 559 rims and Schwalbe Fat Franks or Big Apples. From a utilitarian perspective (riding near, but not on, the beach, with lots of soft sand and grass), it would seem to make sense -- like a beach cruiser, but with better geometry and gearing. But I've never actually seen it done. Does anybody have an example you'd like to show off? Can you say just how wide a tire one can put on a 23" Raleigh Sports? Thanks!

The Schwalbe Marathon 26 x 1.5 is as wide as I've ever gone.

I think you might run into some brake issues with rim brakes,
because you need a pretty long reach and you run into clearances
that are not real ideal for max fat tires.

But you might be able to get away with this using drum or
coaster brakes hubs. Dunno, I never had the need.

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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v493/bikamper/P4200014.jpg
Not exactly fat tired, I run Nashbar 26 x 1 1/4 tires on it. Goes like snot, handles like a cow. As far as brake reach goes, a rat tail file is your best and cheapest friend.

The Schwalbe Marathon 26 x 1.5 is as wide as I've ever gone.

I think you might run into some brake issues with rim brakes,
because you need a pretty long reach and you run into clearances
that are not real ideal for max fat tires.

But you might be able to get away with this using drum or
coaster brakes hubs. Dunno, I never had the need.

Yeah, I've been wondering about brakes. But you did put 26 x decimal rims on it, and get the brakes to reach? Using the original Raleigh brakes, or something else?

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Pretty rad. What kind of generator is that, with the huge wheel?

Pretty rad. What kind of generator is that, with the huge wheel?

+1, that's very cool!

Yeah, I've been wondering about brakes.
But you did put 26 x decimal rims on it, and get the brakes to reach?

Using the original Raleigh brakes, or something else?

They are some kind of standard 26" MTB rims that
were on sale 15 years ago when I did this. Make sure
you invest in decent tires if you do this, because clunky
heavy MTB tires put you back at where you started.

I found some brakes of longer reach. I had to hunt
around for them as scrap on something else, but if
I were doing it today, i'd probably just order Tektro
cheapie side pulls in the correct reach. You couldn't
do that back then.

The Original brakes on these were just awful, so no great
loss to swap them out.




Pretty rad. What kind of generator is that, with the huge wheel?

It's actually a bell that rings continuously
when you pull the cable that engages it
with the wheel.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gtYsW6z5HM

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If Mad Max had a bike...

If Mad Max had a bike...

this is high praise indeed. Of course the books
in the basket are only for show, but I have used
pages from them successfully to start small fires
for the purpose of barbecuing road kill.http://www.runemasterstudios.com/graemlins/images/eating.gif

^LOL! That's a great smiley.