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New to bikes, bought a broken one (apparently..)

Old 07-05-12, 03:46 PM
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I've taken it to a shop where there is a mechanic very familiar with SA hubs and left it. Had to put down $25 deposit on the work... Not sure why.. I feel my bike is enough of a dep? Anyway, he will have a look and hopefully not charge something crazy.
To the above, I have found a 1979 SA hub on craigslist for $40, and I believe my wheel to be just fine, so I could pick that up I suppose. Sigh, I have to leave the bike there all week due to my schedule I have a bad feeling about the quote I'm going to get...
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Old 07-05-12, 04:02 PM
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Those things are supposed to free up when you oil them. Cable adjustment is also important. I hope your mechanic will try those things first. I would definitely have tried some motor oil or automatic transmission fluid because they have detergents which dissolve sludge. The ATF is probably the best bet because it isn't normally changed regularly and automatic transmissions can get plenty hot, so the fluid probably has more detergent.
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Old 07-05-12, 05:33 PM
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Originally Posted by kraemouse
I've taken it to a shop where there is a mechanic very familiar with SA hubs and left it. Had to put down $25 deposit on the work... Not sure why.. I feel my bike is enough of a dep? Anyway, he will have a look and hopefully not charge something crazy.
To the above, I have found a 1979 SA hub on craigslist for $40, and I believe my wheel to be just fine, so I could pick that up I suppose. Sigh, I have to leave the bike there all week due to my schedule I have a bad feeling about the quote I'm going to get...
Well, now that you've dropped it off the hub option is off the table, unless he's not going to charge youi anything for an estimate. It's strange to me not to give you one off the bat for labor - it does not vary all that much as far as the time to overhaul, unless there's a lot of cleaning. The hub is only useful if the seller can loosen the internal part from the hub shell.
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Old 07-05-12, 05:47 PM
  #29  
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Originally Posted by cny-bikeman
Well, now that you've dropped it off the hub option is off the table, unless he's not going to charge youi anything for an estimate. It's strange to me not to give you one off the bat for labor - it does not vary all that much as far as the time to overhaul, unless there's a lot of cleaning. The hub is only useful if the seller can loosen the internal part from the hub shell.
It was just some young kid in today, the old guy who knows SAs will be in tomorrow, that's why I got no quote. They'll call me with it before proceeding with work so I may still decide not to go ahead if the estimate is too much. If I decide to rebuild the hub I will have a mechanic friend of mine do it. He's simply not available to me this week and I'm about as impatient as they come. I want to know what's wrong nowwwwww! Haha
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Old 07-06-12, 07:29 PM
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Update:
Well, as it turns out, someone gummed up the hub with sewing machine oil years ago. So the mechanic cleaned all of that out, and found that the pawl spring on the 1st gear was wrecked, however the hub has very little wear otherwise. Infact he said I have the most complete and unworn Raleigh he's seen. (WOO!) He thinks someone tried to service the hub and broke the pawl spring then because there are few signs of wear.
NOW! To find a pawl spring...
He doesn't have any on hand, but if I can get one, he'll install it cheap.
I looked on Sheldon's site but you have to order $50 to get shipping to Canada... sigh...
So, if I go looking on ebay or something of the likes, is it likely that any sturmey archer pawl spring will fit? Or do I need to look for something specific?
Thanks all!
So glad I didn't run out and buy a new hub on the recommendation of the 1st two shops I tried.
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Old 07-06-12, 08:08 PM
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I like to rig things up. I am thinking that if you can't find a pawl spring that a spring out of a ball point pen cut to length might do just fine.
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Old 07-06-12, 09:58 PM
  #32  
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Originally Posted by kraemouse
Update:
Well, as it turns out, someone gummed up the hub with sewing machine oil years ago. So the mechanic cleaned all of that out, and found that the pawl spring on the 1st gear was wrecked, however the hub has very little wear otherwise. Infact he said I have the most complete and unworn Raleigh he's seen. (WOO!) He thinks someone tried to service the hub and broke the pawl spring then because there are few signs of wear.
NOW! To find a pawl spring...
He doesn't have any on hand, but if I can get one, he'll install it cheap.
I looked on Sheldon's site but you have to order $50 to get shipping to Canada... sigh...
So, if I go looking on ebay or something of the likes, is it likely that any sturmey archer pawl spring will fit? Or do I need to look for something specific?
Thanks all!
So glad I didn't run out and buy a new hub on the recommendation of the 1st two shops I tried.
Post over on C&V. Lots of guys have pawl springs laying around.
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Old 07-06-12, 10:01 PM
  #33  
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Originally Posted by jim p
I like to rig things up. I am thinking that if you can't find a pawl spring that a spring out of a ball point pen cut to length might do just fine.
Ah, no. They look like this:


I have heard of people bending their own from guitar string, though.
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Old 07-06-12, 11:06 PM
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Originally Posted by kraemouse
Update:
NOW! To find a pawl spring...
He doesn't have any on hand, but if I can get one, he'll install it cheap.
I looked on Sheldon's site but you have to order $50 to get shipping to Canada... sigh...
So, if I go looking on ebay or something of the likes, is it likely that any sturmey archer pawl spring will fit? Or do I need to look for something specific?
Thanks all!
So glad I didn't run out and buy a new hub on the recommendation of the 1st two shops I tried.
I'm sure you have Amazon north of the 49th Parallel https://www.amazon.com/Sturmey-Archer...ey+archer+pawl
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Old 07-07-12, 08:50 AM
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As the pawl springs work on both sets of pawls I would suggest your order several. Have all four replaced and keep some extras. You might suggest the shop take on a few as well.
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Old 07-07-12, 09:21 AM
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Originally Posted by 10 Wheels
The bike is 38 years old.
But you got a good deal on it?


A Raleigh Superbe is a highly desirable vintage classic, not just another used bike. The value goes up with age.

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Old 07-07-12, 03:51 PM
  #37  
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As long as the bike is in the shop, you might consider having the cog changed to ease the gearing. Many folks put a 22T cog back there. You'll probably need a new chain, too, but any single speed chain should work.
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Old 07-07-12, 04:31 PM
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I'd go with the gummed up lube theory for starters. Yes, as stated before, WD- 40 squirted in the hub through the filler cap and the chain hole in the axel. It's messy as hell but it does work. Be very generous with the WD-40. You will have to degrease the wheel and brakes but it can get the hub loosened up to where you do not have to take it apart. Either carefully ride it or suspend it and crank by hand . Shift a lot.
If this works, adjust the chain and lube as recommended.
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Old 07-08-12, 01:06 PM
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Originally Posted by gna
As long as the bike is in the shop, you might consider having the cog changed to ease the gearing. Many folks put a 22T cog back there. You'll probably need a new chain, too, but any single speed chain should work.
Yeah I've read a lot of people like to do this.. now the idea is that with the current cog, 2nd is the "true gear- with one tire rotation to one gear rotation?" .. sorry I can't eloquently explain this, don't know the lingo.. but then the 3rd gear has more "resistance," with more than one tire rotation for a turn of the cog? Yes? .. and the idea of adding a 22T cog is to bring 3rd to the "true" speed 1:1, so that 2nd and 1st are high gears and therefore can bring you up hill more easily... and for downhill, you'd just coast in third (which now feels like 2nd with a 22T cog), as apposed to having a low gear at all...

Is that what this does?

Because I personally like riding with resistance.. I'm torn here. I live at the top of a BIG hill.. but riding in high gear is not comfortable for me on flats.. I like really having to work my legs on the flat... goes back to my 18 speed mountain bike I had when I was a kid, I suppose.. I always had that thing in super low gear.. haha.

Anyway.. thats my own personal trouble to deal with..
But from you guys I need to know.. this 22T cog will do what I've described above, yes? Makes 1&2 high and 3 true?



Originally Posted by Grand Bois


A Raleigh Superbe is a highly desirable vintage classic, not just another used bike. The value goes up with age.

Last edited by kraemouse; 07-08-12 at 01:10 PM.
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Old 07-08-12, 02:36 PM
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Originally Posted by kraemouse
Yeah I've read a lot of people like to do this.. now the idea is that with the current cog, 2nd is the "true gear- with one tire rotation to one gear rotation?" .. sorry I can't eloquently explain this, don't know the lingo.. but then the 3rd gear has more "resistance," with more than one tire rotation for a turn of the cog? Yes? .. and the idea of adding a 22T cog is to bring 3rd to the "true" speed 1:1, so that 2nd and 1st are high gears and therefore can bring you up hill more easily... and for downhill, you'd just coast in third (which now feels like 2nd with a 22T cog), as apposed to having a low gear at all...

Is that what this does?

Because I personally like riding with resistance.. I'm torn here. I live at the top of a BIG hill.. but riding in high gear is not comfortable for me on flats.. I like really having to work my legs on the flat... goes back to my 18 speed mountain bike I had when I was a kid, I suppose.. I always had that thing in super low gear.. haha.

Anyway.. thats my own personal trouble to deal with..
But from you guys I need to know.. this 22T cog will do what I've described above, yes? Makes 1&2 high and 3 true?
OK, first some how the 3 speed hub works, then some terminology, then my recommendation, then a clarification.

You are correct that in 2nd gear the cog in the rear turns one rotation for each rotation of the wheel. Also called direct drive, 1:1 ratio. 1st gear is a 2:3 ratio, or 33% "easier" to pedal. 3rd gear is 3:2, or 50% "harder" to pedal

LOW gears are those where you turn the cranks at a faster rate for a given speed - more leverage, less pedal pressure. HIGH gears are the reverse - you turn the cranks slower at a given speed but have to puress much harder on the pedals. Generally the goal is to use the gears on a bike so that you don't have to pedal at too fast a rate or push too hard on the pedals. Low gears are for starting up, uphill and headwinds, high gears for downhill, tailwinds and when you are up to speed.

The larger cog will lower all of the gears (easier to pedal). Usually the stock gear on a 3 speed is 18 teeth, so changing to 22 teeth lowers all the gears by about 18% (4/22). But that is not enough to make the 2nd gear the same as what 1st used to be - more like halfway in between.

I would recommend doing the 22 tooth, or at least a 20 tooth, because the high gear with the 18 tooth is very, very high even if you like riding harder to push gears.

Finally, the phrases underlined above seem contradictory, and I therefore don't know what you mean by the one in bold.

Do you prefer harder and slower pedaling, or easier and faster?

Last edited by cny-bikeman; 07-08-12 at 02:44 PM.
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Old 07-08-12, 03:48 PM
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Haha, okay.. ya I didn't think I was being clear.. but I admittedly don't know anything ! .. Thanks for the clarification, and I like to have to pedal harder.
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