_dylan

Hey guys, I just made a solid pickup on the local CL. Found a seriously old Raleigh Sports model that's had a good, long, well-taken after life--and seen many decent (not top of the line) enhancements. I knew going in to it that the frame was too small, but I wanted the Brooks saddle and a few of the components.

Anyways, I figured it'd be a great pickup to get my brother to go on some rides with me. His 15th birthday is in a few days but I won't be able to see him for a few weeks. The bike is ready to ride now, but I was wondering how difficult/expensive it would be to take it from a 3 speed to a 10 speed so he could go a bit faster? The bike has already been changed to drop down bars and doesn't have the original SA shifter, so I don't have a problem changing if I can do it on the cheap.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

sailorbenjamin

Funny, I just bought a Dunelt Racer, basically a Raleigh Sport with 10 speeds. The only difference in the frame is that the dropouts are wider to accept thicker axles and there's a little chunk of metal brazed on to the bottom of the downtube to keep the shifters from sliding down. The guy even claimed that it originally had 27" wheels.
So you'll need to find some wheels with skinny axles, file out the dropouts a little or file down the axles. If you file the dropouts, I'd recommend filing the bottom surface only so that at least the tops will for sure be in alignment. If you file the axles (what I'd do), you usually only have to take the threads off. So you don't actually loose any strength.
Do you want to keep the fenders? I hear skinny 700s will fit under them. I've stashed a wheelset from a 26" Columbia 10 speed just in case I ever get the urge to do this myself, or you can get the wheels from a 26" Raleigh 10 speed (someone remind me what they were called). Or sell me the fenders and go with 27s. I don't know, maybe skinny 27s would fit in there. I can't imagine they would though. You'll likely need different brakes if you go with 27s or 700s.
Oh, cable stops and cable guides. I guess you could run full length cables but they do make clamp on cable stops.

_dylan

I'd like to keep the fenders if I could--I don't suspect you'd like them anyways--they're not original Raleigh ones. Definitely a newer, skinny set. Most of the bike isn't stock, actually. I'm actually pretty sure the only stock items are, like, the frame and the crank. haha. If I planned on keeping it for myself, that would bother me, but since it's for my younger brother, I think it'll be ok.

_dylan

Also, is there anything I should/can treat the Brooks saddle with? I'd search for an old thread talking about it, but the search keeps failing and sending me to an Oops page.

The saddle is in really good shape, but there is some discoloration and I'm wondering what I should go ahead and treat it with to ensure a long life.

gitarzan

Use Brooks Proofide on the saddle.

sailorbenjamin

Oh, I was just trying to put a Raleigh Sport crank on a Super Course for a single speed conversion and remembered that the 3 speed spindles are like 9/16" or something like that while the 10 speed stuff is mostly 14 or 15 millimeter. I'm sure there are exceptions, especially if you have a pile of parts Raleighs in your basement (hehehe).

old's'cool

I prefer derailleur gears myself, but I see no reason why a 3-speed can't be geared for a decent cruising speed. What kind of speed do you have in mind? It may be a simple matter of choosing a new chainring/sprocket combo that gets the top gear you need. Much easier & less intensive conversion than going to dual chainrings & multiple sprockets.

sailorbenjamin

Good point. Actually, the only reason that I prefer ten speeds is not that they have a higher or lower gear but that they have more range. The Sturmey AW will give you 33 percent in either direction and you can choose the cog that best suites your needs but here in the hilly country, it's nice to have a really low granny for climbing and a really high decent gear. If I lived in the flats I'd ride my 3 speeds more often.

SteakKnifeSally

Said Sheldon Brown:
The easiest and fastest method to break in a new saddle is with a liquid leather dressing, such as neats-foot oil, Lexol, seal oil (a French favorite) or baseball glove oil.. These products are available from shoe stores and sporting-goods stores. There are probably lots of other liquid oils that would work as well-RAAM pioneer Lon Haldeman uses SAE 30 motor oil, but his saddles tend to wear out after only 300,000 miles or so (according to Cyclist magazine). Paste or wax type leather dressings, such as Brooks Proofide, Sno-Seal, and saddle soap will work, but it takes much, much longer to break in a saddle that way.

https://sheldonbrown.com/leather.html

I've always used neatsfoot, but am switching to Snowseal (as soon as I can figure out where I put it.) Still you've got to love the Lon Haldeman method. And if you don't know who he is, check it out.

John E

For a few years I commuted on an old cheapo 10 speed which I had converted to a 3 speed. It was fun and different, but I never have liked the 33% ratio progression of an AW hub.

Much more satisfactory was my 14-16-18-20 hybrid conversion cogblock on an AW, which gave me 12 gears 39 to 99 gear inches and only two redundancies.