nelsonmilum

So I thought as one of my first posts, I'd share what brought me here. I've never been much of a bike 'super-enthusiast', but i'm pretty excited about this.
recently my partner and I purchased a couple of older bikes that we're going to be fixing up this winter. (Here's a flickr gallery for the interested: https://flic.kr/s/aHsk6Gdb5Q)
We're actually only going to be the second users on these bikes, which is pretty neat. The original owners appear to have kept pretty good care of the machines; aside from some expected love-nicks out of the paint I really don't see any issues with these bikes!.

We got some basic tires that will serve for the moment and will be taking the bikes to the shop for tune-ups etc. pretty soon.
I don't think I want to restore mine to "Original" condition, but I'd like to have a good commuter/daily driver out of this thing. I've never had a 'vintage' English Three speed before, but I'm sure I'll find a lot of useful information here!

So, does anyone have any advice on an order of operations for fixing up a bike? If you can't do it all at once, what's first to get fixed/upgraded? What can wait?

jet sanchEz

The tires you need are often hard to find, niagaracycle.com will have them for you, a nice white walled tire would be my recommendation.

Your brake pads will probably also be dried out so you'll want to get new ones as well.

drumbent

I saved one of these years ago: Mark Rehder - Rescuing an old 3-speed bike

Yes, new brake pads, and the tires you need are 26 x 1 3/8 / ISO 590mm. Not every bike shop will have them but they are available (even from Walmart, or so I've heard). The 3-speed hub was made by Sturmey-Archer, which is still around (though now in Taiwan as part of SunRace) and so all the little bits and pieces can still be found.

I would highly recommend taking your bike to one of your local DIY bike shops, so that you can learn how to maintain your bike. Of course time / vs. money may mean you choose to let a regular shop to the work for you, but it's always good to learn! Community Bike Shops - Bike Winnipeg

Don't forget that indispensable Sheldon Brown's Raleigh Twenty Bicycle Page (also Sturmey-Archer Bicycle Hubs)

Mark

markk900

Welcome! I think you will really enjoy those two bikes - my mom had the white step through when I was younger and I have a green one right now.

For tires, Canadian Tire stocks ISO 590 tires from Kenda - not the world's greatest but not bad at all - they roll nicely. And around $10-12 each. Brake pads are very available - I have been using the Kool Stop grey Continental pads (you can get them at Mountain Equipment Coop among other places - trying to keep you shopping in Canada!).

Surprisingly, the Glider has been around as the Eaton's house brand a long time - I have seen some examples from the early 60's (or possibly even late 50s). I believe always made by Raleigh as one of the multitudinous "generic" Raleigh brands - you may find markings on the cranks and handlebar stem with a little RI (Raleigh Industries) logo. The only thing I will say you should watch for is that the pedals are really poorly made, with no provision for lubrication. Squirting some oil or grease in by the crank side is about all you can do. One of mine eventually broke and because the same pedals were used on some years of the Raleigh chopper they are expensive to replace with the same type (though why you would want to is beyond me - I got some nice Union period correct pedals for $10 at the local bike shop).

You might be able to make out the serial number near the top lug of the seat tube. Mine was poorly pressed and the paint was thick enough I can barely see it. The numbers *should* follow the normal Raleigh numbering but I have not been able to verify mine.

Here's mine: .

Salubrious

tons of more information:

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...-3-speeds.html

randyjawa 

I have owned several Gliders, from road bike to the pictured roadster. They are, indeed, Raleigh made and rebadged to meet Eaton's requirements. That said, a warning to markk900 ...

Your steering stem is fitted much to high in the steering tube. The shallow fit will, sooner or later, result in stretched and/or splits in the threaded section of the steering tube. This means replacement, at best and, perhaps, a trip to the hospital, should the stem fall out while riding the bicycle. I have seen this sort of damage on vintage bicycles on many occasions.

markk900

Thanks Randy - there was 1.5" of stem in the tube but I heeded your warning and adjusted it down another 1.5". I am not riding the Glider right now as it is a smidge small (hence the high position of the bars) - found a larger framed english 3-speed for normal riding.

John E

If it were mine and if I wanted to ride it a lot, I would replace the steel rims with aluminum in a size that accommodates easy-to-find tires, and I would replace the brake pads with KoolStops. I have not had a lot of experience with three-speeds, but it has always been fun.

nelsonmilum

Thanks folks! So far we've replaced the old rubber and tubes with inexpensive Kendra K-40s from Canadian tire, and matching puncture resistant tubes. I've ordered some Kool Stop continentals to replace the fossilized pads that are there now. We're going to find new chains today. The Step-Through bike badly needs one.

I'm also looking at options for lighting. I really dislike batteries, and a hub dynamo seems to complex to DIY at the moment... I'm going to get a cheap bottle dynamo off of eBay and see how it goes :-)