San Rensho 

The loud tick is usually from lack of oil, so it looks like your hub has enough oil in it. I use a loud, bright tick as a sign to oil the hub.

3speedslow

Nice bike.

Not sure about the problem but possibly
- Phil might not be the best for it
- might not need that much oil every month

My op and take...

BigChief 

The hub isn't original. Can't be. That's a 1950s frame. Personally, I'd be so happy to find a 23" 50s frame that I wouldn't care one bit about the hub.

Beckpatch

Thanks San Rensho and 3speedslow. I will stop oiling for a bit and ride it more to see if the sound will return.

Salubrious

You might want to think again. The 50s hubs seem to have better operation and better bearings.

IronDan

I was thinking it was from the 50's after your post the other day and then seeing this from 1956

https://veterancycleclublibrary.org.u...20Library).pdf

in the 60's catalogue the decals and chain guard were different, the rear rim is about knackered so I think I will keep an eye out for a 50's hub on a good rim

BigChief 

I agree. SA hubs from the 50s do tend to be higher quality and operate more smoothly. It's just me. I've been collecting parts for years and have 4 50s AW hubs sitting here. I'd lace up a pair of CR 18 rims if I had a nice frame like this to work with.

3speedslow

Sounds like a plan. When you got the bike did you have to do any flushing of the hub ?

Beckpatch

Hi 3speed. No, I've never flushed it. Seemed to work just fine, and so I rode it as is. Only owned it since 2012/13.

3speedslow

OK, just checking for my own sake. Since 2012 is a good time to know if something else might be going on.

Brian Mc

My 1958 21" Sports. Flip top oiler on bb & hub. I picked it up for $25 and replaced the rock hard and cracking B72 with an epay B67 for 4 times that (go figgure.) 22 tooth cog makes it much better for me in RAGBRI land. I ride it most days to exercise my German shepherd as long as the snow is not too deep. I replaced the focused Rampar head light bulb with an led and the bottle runs it at a snails pace. It feels cramped in the cockpit for me, but I love it. I have a black early 70s Sports in 23" but it's beat up and doesn't' ride nearly as nice. It's been on three Tweed Rides, last one only a week ago. Hennepin Wheel Goods Company receipt is dated two weeks after my date of birth.

markk900

@Brian Mc: nice ride! How did you score the original receipt on a $25 bike!? Looks like you are keeping it in great shape.

BigChief 

@IronDan. There's a few features that can identify a pre 60s frame. An oil filler in the bottom bracket. Sometimes a flip top, sometimes a spring loaded ball bearing type. Sometime in the 50s Raleigh changed the cable pulley from a 2 piece clamp on to a brazed lug on the top tube. Changed to a one piece clamp on sometime around 1960. You may also notice a round mount with a hole on the right chainstay behind the chainwheel. This is for mounting a enclosed chaincase, but it was still there on 1950s Sports models with the hockey stick chainguard. Not sure exactly when this disappeared but it was gone by the 60s.

Brian Mc

Maybe five years ago I had a client (an older lady) that wanted to trade her deceased brother's bike for something she might ride. I took her and the bike to the LBS and they offered her $20 for it. I said I'd give $25. It was incredibly grimy and the chrome was rusted. A few days later she called and said she had some things that went with the bike. The literature was in the Brooks bag, even the Master Lock padlock and combination tag was in there too.

dweenk

If anyone needs a Sturmey Archer pulley (with issues), I just posted one on "Pay It Forward".

redfoxdogs

The 1970's DL-1 my husband bought to mess around with. He bought new tires and did some basic cleaning. It runs. He road it up to the farm and I rode it part way back. There were some hills. The bike "almost" has brakes! Other than the braking issue...there is quite a difference between it and the Twenty that I have been riding. Much faster...tho couldn't go too fast because of the whole brakes issue...also I really didn't feel much of the bumps and curbs. This trail is mostly gravel but does go through a subdivision at one point, which had a ripped up street. There is also a section of grass and mud. It's kind of like driving my parent's old Buick LaCrosse. The handlebars seem a bit narrow to me and I will definitely have to get used to the front wheel having a limited turn radius. But it is a cool bike. It spent most of it's life outdoors, I think, and is much rusted but a tough cookie. Probably will have to change the gear for the hills sometime.

redfoxdogs

Oh...and when I got the seat as high as I needed it to be, the handlebars were on the low side for me. Not what you see in the old pictures. Maybe those women were shorter than 5'7.5"????

gna

Your bike is a bit of a puzzle. Triumphs were made in Coventry until Raleigh absorbed them in 1954. As your headbadge says "Nottingham" I think it's safe to say it's post '54.

Looking at Kurt's Headbadge site, it looks like an early '50s bike:
Raleigh Serial Numbers & Charts

The decals look late '50s to me.

But your hub is a '64. I'm inclined to think the rear wheel is a later replacement.

IronDan

Yes I'm thinking late fifties and I've got a theory on the hub, My theory is that when it was new it had an unreliable SW hub which was replaced in 1964 with an AW hub

Its a nice theory so I'm going with it lol

gna

Works for me. Mark Stonich, aka "Bikesmith," of cotter press fame, says SW stands for "seldom works," and AW stands for "always works."

dweenk

I have a Frankenbike build under way (full disclosure - it will be entered in Velo Cheapo and then donated to a shelter). The frame was built for 27" wheels, but I have put 26" wheels on it with a Sturmey Archer SC3 hub. I lack a shifter for the hub, but I do have a Shimano "Click Stick" top tube mount shifter that I could use.

My question is - does the Shimano shifter pull the correct amount of cable to shift the Sturmey Archer hub?

noglider 

No. But I have one or two SA shifters.

BigChief 

I live out in the country too. Lots of dirt roads and lumpy if they are paved. My DL-1 handles these well. I geared mine down with a 22T cog and replaced the chain. The new chain needed 112 links to fit the new cog.

Velocivixen

Raleigh Twenty is back from the powder coaters. I told them to mask the thimbles, but they didn't, so the thimbles are now covered. Oh well. The only shimmer clear coat they offered, without a big extra fee, has a bluish silver sparkle in it. Not my favorite, but that's the way it is. Was able to use a different Raleigh heron crank that has good chrome on both crank arms and is a 46t vs 44t chainring. Swapped out the black B17 for an Antique Brown Special, and reinstalled the original grips. With the rear brake stay added at a lower height (the plate was removed), the braking is good.

Hard to get a good sense of the color via camera, so here are several in different light to get the idea. It's in "the spirit" of a Raleigh color of the time.
Sun Image of R20 New Color by velocivixen, on Flickr
R20 Powder Coat Flash by velocivixen, on Flickr
R20 Brown Brooks Special by velocivixen, on Flickr
R20 Shade New Powder Coat by velocivixen, on Flickr
R20 Powder Coat in Light by velocivixen, on Flickr

michaelz28

that looks nice !